Construction Innovation, December 2003

Canada's Institute for Research In Construction December 2003 Newsletter Construction Innovation includes the following items that may be of interest to users of Fundamentals of Building Construction:

• Fire researchers develop new tool for assessing fire resistance of wall assemblies using numerical modelling describes numerical modeling techniques being applied to the prediction of structural failure of residential building assemblies exposed to fire. This model is being verified experimentally, and when completed will allow assessment of the fire-resistance of assemblies for less cost than required by traditional testing techniques. For example, the buckling of a wood stud assembly under structural loads, due to fire's effects of heat, advance of char layer, and gradual joint openings can be predicted for untested assemblies.
• Realistic fire simulations will be used in fire-safety analysis and design describes the development of improved fire load modeling for use in the prediction of fire effects. Data developed from these simulations will allow the more realistic modeling of fire characteristics such as release of heat energy, size of fire, rate of spread, yield of products of combustion, and hot gas temperatures.
• Results of IRC's material properties studies now available describes IRC's database of over 100 building materials and their properites of heat capacity, thermal conductivity, water vapor permeance, equilibrium moisture content, liquid water diffusivity, and air permeance. The influence of relative humidity, water concentration, and air pressure differentials on these properites are also considered.
• IRC will host world building congress in Toronto details the upcoming CIB World Building Congress 2004, scheduled for May 2 to 7. This event is expected to draw approximately 700 participants from 40 countries and covers various aspects of building technology and construction, such as the construction process, trends in codes and regulatory systems, security in tall buildings, fire and structural safety, indoor air quality, energy conservation, and more.