2007 Eastern Conference

Conference Schedule

The Main Event

The main Conference begins with breakfast on Friday morning, October 19th and runs until noon on Sunday, October 21st. There are five main seminar tracks to the Conference along with additional events and presentations. For the first time, we will include a log track to show the possibilities available with round timber in a frame design.

A detailed schedule will be posted here shortly, but the following speakers are tentatively slated to present.

• David Moses: Challenging Designs and Innovative Solutions in Heavy Timber Construction.
  When we choose to build with natural materials, we support our environment, our health and our communities. In conventional construction, decisions to build with timber are often hampered by
  • lack of design experience
  • lack of skilled craftspeople
  • lack of courage, by all parties, to embrace something out of the ordinary.
  This talk will review the challenges that designers face every day, trying to convince (and educate) clients, building officials, other members of the design team and builders. A good designer needs to be a champion of the cause and advocate on behalf of the project.
  
  David Moses is a structural engineer specializing in timber engineering. After joining Equilibrium Consulting Inc. in Vancouver in 1999, he recently opened an office in Toronto for Equilibrium. His work includes innovative commercial, residential and community-based projects in Canada, the United States and parts of Asia. A growing number of his projects involve green design, where timber is the material of choice. David received his PhD in structural engineering from UBC in 2000 and has published research articles on timber connections and wood composites. David has contributed general interest articles to Wood le Bois and Wood Design & Building magazines and sits on a number of CSA committees.
• Mike Beganyi: SketchUp for Timber Framers (and Designers, Architects and Others).
  This demonstration will include:
  • Quick Overview and intro to the program
  • Create a Floor Plan
  • Build a Roof Plan
  • Timber Frame (post plan, components, roof) )
  • Presentation (People, furniture, shading, slide shows, movies, etc.)
  • Open Forum for questions and sharing of ideas
  Mike Beganyi has wandered through the design, woodworking, and timber framing world for the past 14 years. He has played sculptor, carpenter, architecture student, instructor, barn restorer, timber framer, designer, project manager, and mover of heavy objects. He currently lives and works in Vermont pushing pixels as an independent designer and is the New England design consultant for New Energy Works Timber Framers.
• Clark Bremer: Adapting and Customizing Sketchup™ for Use in Timber Frame Modeling.
  While Mike Beganyi's talk is more an introduction to Sketchup™ and its integration with other CAD programs, Clark expands this knowledge with dedicated plug-ins and adaptations specific to timber framing.
• Steve Houseman & Wendy Fraser: Integrating Building Envelopes with Timber Framed Structures.
  With growing interest in energy efficiency, sustainability, durability and interior air quality, home buyers are inquiring about new and innovative building envelope systems, from light gauge steel framing, to insulated concrete forms and structural insulated panels.
  
  The building envelope designer faces a number of regulatory code requirements related to structural capacity, thermal and moisture performance, and durability. Current codes utilize conventional light-wood framing as their bench mark for the evaluation of residential structural and building envelope systems. The presentation will identify the factors to be evaluated in the design of the building envelope, looking in detail at the building envelope performance of conventional light framed wood walls in comparison to SIP walls, and how the regulatory agencies review the two systems.
  
  Following the North Ridge and Kobe earthquakes, building codes and material standards are requiring that designers provide increasingly rigorous structural evaluation of the lateral load capacities -- wind and seismic -- of residential structural systems. The presentation will outline the information that structural designers require to meet these code and lateral loads requirements, with specific attention to the integration of timber frames and structural insulated panels.
  
  Steve Houseman, P.Eng., is a Structural Engineer and is employed as the Vice-President - Engineering Services for IRC Batten Sears Group Inc., building envelope and structural consultants providing engineering services across Canada. Before obtaining his Civil Engineering degree at Lakehead University in 1986, Steve worked as a residential framer, barn-builder, and other hands-on occupations in the building industry. His experience as an engineer includes substantial commercial engineering design, and includes light-steel framing and general wood based structural engineering for residential construction. He provided engineering evaluation and design for the development of wood stressed-skin panel system, and recently has provided structural engineering for traditional timber framing using structural insulated panel enclosures. Within IRC's building envelope group, Steve provides expertise related to deterioration and durability.
  
  Wendy Fraser, P.Eng., is a Civil Engineer and is employed as the Manager- Building Envelope Systems for IRC Batten Sears Inc. Wendy obtained a degree in Civil Engineering from Carleton University in 2000. Since graduation Wendy has been employed by IRC starting as an Engineer in Training progressing to the Manager of the Building Envelope Division. Wendy has been involved in numerous commercial, institutional and residential projects. Her specific expertise is thermal and moisture evaluation of building envelope systems.
• Frank Baker: How to Achieve Net-Zero Energy Consumption, Using Geothermal and Photo-voltaic Systems and a High-Efficiency Building Envelope.
  A "net zero energy" building is a general term applied to a building with a net energy consumption of zero over a typical year. This can be measured in different ways (relating to cost, energy, or carbon emissions). A net-zero energy home at a minimum supplies to the grid an annual output of electricity that is equal to the amount of power purchased from the grid. In many cases the entire energy consumption (heating, cooling and electrical) of a net-zero energy home can be provided by renewable energy sources.
  
  Frank will look at conservation strategies (the most efficient way to attain net-zero) as well as energy generation and construction techniques, how various systems contribute and what the balance looks like when net-zero is achieved. He will discuss ratings systems and initiatives in the U.S. and Canada.
  
  Frank Baker is on the Board of Directors of the Net Zero Energy Home Coalition, an organization comprised of Canadian champions in advanced energy efficient residential construction and building products.
• Jim DeStefano: Iron and Timber.
  Iron technology dates back to the second millennium BC when iron made bronze tools and implements obsolete. Yet it was not until the industrial revolution that iron and timber framing were combined to produce hybrid structures that took advantage of the inherent strength of each material. But the marriage between iron and timber has not always been a happy one. It seems that carpenters and timber framers have never fully appreciated iron and steel.
  
  This talk will cover the basics of iron technology and demonstrate how steel weldments, cast iron and hand forged iron can be utilized to strengthen, enhance and embellish a timber frame structure.
• Erik Jokinen, P.E.: Maintenance and Restoration of Timber Frame Buildings
  Eric will deal with code issues related to existing structures in general and as they apply to timber structures. He will address the likely causes of problems in timber structures including errors in original construction, environmental problems, design deficiencies and lack of maintenance. Based on the above, the full range of options to repair and modify timber structures will be explored.
  
  After an initial question and answer period, a hands-on case study exercise involving all attendees will be completed to illustrate the process of developing a repair strategy. The principle of good repair design, using the standards for heritage conservation developed by the U.S. National Parks Service and Parks Canada will be illustrated by this exercise.
  
  Eric will then suggest to the group some local timber structures within an hour's drive of the Chateau Montebello that attendees can visit on their own. This will include a number of covered bridges. Maps will be provided. A final Q and A period will wrap up the session.
  
  Eric Jokinen, Ing., P.Eng. founded Jokinen Engineering Services in 1999 after a number of years with international consulting firms. The main focus of the practice is the repair, upgrading and evaluation of historic structures.
  
  Since graduating in Civil Engineering from Queen's University, Eric has gained 40 years of experience in the investigation, repair and renewal of existing structures. Many of these projects have included historic buildings. He has been involved in heritage conservation projects in the United States (including Puerto Rico), Barbados, St. Lucia, Bermuda, Mexico and Canada. He was the primary consultant for the recent renovation to the Royal Suite at Rideau Hall, Ottawa, and is currently structural and conservation engineer for the Mappin Façade Restoration, Rideau Hall and the West Block of the Canadian Parliament Buildings. He is the author of Canadian Heritage Preservation, a text on structural engineering techniques for building conservation. He is a Licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario.
• Glenn Overk: Soapstone Masonry Heaters

• Whit Holder: Introduction to Scribe Techniques (3-hour presentation).
  A hands-on workshop designed to introduce plumb line scribing to those familiar with Square Rule or Mill Rule. The following topics will be presented:
  • Scribing theory: Considering two-dimensional frames within a building. Determining sequence. Reference planes. Straight and curley. Identifying primary and secondary limbers within an individual frame.
  • Preparing a stick for the lay-up: Picking reference ("best face" and "best edge"). The level mark and dealing with wind (twist). Datum lines and the X-Y axis. Setting-out points. Mortise locations. The two-foot mark.
  • Positioning a frame for scribing by measurement: Proper positioning defined and its importance explained. Strategies for stacking. Lofting. Establishing two-dimensional geometry. Following a positioning sequence.
  • Marking joinery
  • Assembly: Checking the geometry. Drawbore. Positioning secondary timbers.
  The following topics will be demonstrated with timber in a hands-on setting, and participants will get a chance to scribe a joint:
  • Preparing a stick for the lay-up: Picking reference "best face" and "best edge"). Finding the level mark and dealing with wind (twist). Snapping datum lines. Locating setting out points.
  • Positioning a frame for scribing by measurement: Establishing two-dimensional geometry. Following a positioning sequence. The two-foot mark. Carpenters marks.
  • Marking joinery with a plumb line: Marking the shoulder, mortise and tenon.
  • Secondary timbers. Scribing braces.
  • Other scribing techniques: Tumbling studs. Double-cutting with a two-foot mark.
  
  Whit Holder is co-owner and production manager of Holder Brothers Timber Frames in Monroe, Georgia. He came to Scribe Rule with a background in Square Rule and currently uses both framing methods on historic and commercial projects in the southeastern United States. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and lives in a timber framed house with his wife, Ansley, and their two black labs, Emma and Lily.
• Andrea Warchaizer: Sketching the Concept- Communicating Your Ideas Through Freehand Drawing
  This session is meant to be a companion to the CAD sessions offered at the conference. As much as I rely on the computer for generating finished 2D and 3D construction plans, I have not abandoned my trusty pen for communicating ideas to myself and others. I draw by hand:
  • When I am on a job site, and want to quickly communicate ideas without having to bring out the laptop. A detail sketch on a piece of scrap lumber still works in many situations.
  • When meeting with clients. I might bring out the laptop to show potential clients finished drawings and photos, but usually put it away once we get to work. The computer can be a great tool for quickly creating conceptual drawings (SketchUp is a favorite program) but it puts the clients into a passive position as I tap away on the keys. In contrast, when sketching ideas freehand during a client meeting I make sure to leave a few extra pens on the table; soon enough everyone is leaning in and adding their two cents.
  • When trying to think through a problem. I could stare at the screen all day and get nowhere. Maybe because the CAD program is so precise I feel locked into getting it right from the start. As soon as I take it to pen and paper I feel free to sketch, scribble, try a few ideas, start over, go back to an earlier version, and finally hit on a good idea.
  I'm no artist. I was never that girl in junior high who could draw horses. What I have learned over the years are simple techniques for communicating ideas through freehand drawing. We will hit on a few concepts during the session including:
  • Drawing with authority. Drawing what you see.
  • Perspective sketching. Relative scale and proportion.
  • Tips and tricks (yes, we will use jigs!).
  After an intro, the session will become hands-on. Materials will be provided; we may take a short walk on the Montebello property to our "job site" where we will do some sketching. Bring a jacket.
• Al Cobb: Basic and Advanced (2 sessions) on Advanced Tips and Techniques for Building with SIPs.
  The program will cover tips and techniques for integrating SIPs into modern timber frame structures. Attendees will learn about the latest tools and techniques for installing SIPs and the interrelationship between SIPs and other systems such as HVAC within timber frame structures.
• Jim Rogers: Creating Timber Frame Models.
  Part one will show how to create a timber frame drawing at a scale that will allow the drawings to be used to measure and cut timber frame scale model pieces to size and shape. Some drawing methods will be discussed and displayed showing how to create scale model drawings and the drawing tools needed to do so. These drawings will include bent drawings, floor plan drawings, as well as wall drawings. Some finished drawing will be on hand for display.
  
  Part two will show how to and where to purchase stock for a timber frame scale model. Also shown will be how to prepare the scale model pieces by cutting them to length. This will include the showing of simple hand tools with a brief explanation of each. It will also include a live demo of using some of these tools. A small hand saw will be used to show how to cut scale model pieces to length using a mini-miter box.
  
  Part three will show how to assemble each bent of the scale model. And then assemble these bents into the actual scale model. Tools such as brad nail pushers and hot glue guns will be shown and demonstrated.
  
  Conclusion will review the methods used to create the scale model drawings, prepare the stock, and assemble the frame. Question period at the end.
• Gary Richter: Sharpening of Timber Framing Tools, including Mortiser Chains.
  Steel consists of multitudes of mineral compositions making up the alloy used in edge tools. These alloys change character of hardness, toughness and resilience of tool edges, such as on chisels and planer blades. This presentation will briefly explain some common alloys, hardening and tempering of steel, and will focus on practical use with hands-on application, using wet and dry wheel bench grinder, belt drive and various bench stones to create a sharp long lasting edge, and one that can be easily re-honed.
  
  Participants will leave having an understanding of various steel alloys and their effective hardness, being able to distinguish and select between different sharpening systems, and being able to use various tools to sharpen a chisel.
  
  Gary Richter, owner of Timber Tools (TFBC member) has a mechanical apprenticeship and electronic manufacturing background and is an avid sailo and repressed bike rider. A member of the TFG for the last 5 years, he has built 2 timber frame buildings for himself and also restored a 200-year-old post and beam house, which got him started in the tool business. Gary is keenly interested in learning the virtues of various tools and their efficient use in timber framing and log building.
• Curtis Milton: Roof Math Primer
  Ninety minutes can seem like a long time in certain circumstances, but it is not nearly enough to deliver a math course that will prepare carpenters for compound roof work. That said, the goal of our Sunday morning session will be a brief exploration of the mathematical tools necessary and some practical applications of them. You will all leave with paperwork, a bibliography and folding models that can be used as references materials and worksheets as you continue to learn the mathematics of building.
  
  Vocabulary is a big part of the skill set: without a common language all things are difficult. We need to define and demonstrate the following:
  • Rise, run, pitch, plumb and level.
  • The right triangle and similar triangles, Pythagoras.
  • Ratios, proportions, multipliers, trigonometry (just another ratio).
  • The rafter square: body, tongue, and the tables stamped or printed on the square.
  • Building planes: Ground or deck plane, Roof planes.
  • Calculator tricks.
  • Introduction to the folding model.
  It is only ninety minutes, what do you have to lose?
• CNC Users Group Meeting

• André Fauteux: Health Impacts from Chemical and Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity.
  12.6 % of Americans suffer from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and an increasing number have become ultra sensitive to electromagnetic radiation. The latest news on recognition, diagnosis and (mostly-environmental) treatment of these costly and debilitating conditions, including the views of Canadian agencies CMHC and the Human Rights Commission.
  
  André holds a bachelor's degree in political science and a graduate diploma in journalism. He has been on the green housing beat since 1990. In 1994, he launched Canada's first magazine on green housing. La Maison du 21e siecle covers all aspects of homes that are Healthy for People and the Planet.
• Alwin Jedelhauser: Hands-on Slate Workshop.
  A quality slate roof or wall can last over 100 years. In this workshop, Alwin Jedelhauser, a German trained Master Roofer, will share his tools so you can learn to evaluate the quality of slates and create custom shaped slates. He'll discuss variations in color, thickness and size; maintenance; and the structural and underlayment requirements for a roof. At sixteen, Alwin Jedelhauser began his timber frame apprenticeship in Germany. At twenty-five he was a Master Timber Framer and then began his own company. During the twelve years he ran this company, he also became a Master Roofer, specializing in slate and clay tile construction. In 2000, Alwin and his family moved to Kintore, Ontario, where he continues his traditional building techniques.
• Tina Therrien: Straw Homes From Around the World.
  Straw bale dwellings are gaining in popularity, despite the fact that civilizations have been building with straw and clay for thousands of years. Tina will take you on a tour of straw homes from around the world, highlighting different building techniques along the way. Recently returned from teaching and plastering in France, Tina is owner/builder of Camel's Back Construction, with whom she has helped build over 80 bale buildings. Co-author of 'More Straw Bale Building', Tina builds, teaches workshops, and does presentations in addition to being a board member of the Ontario Straw Bale Building Coalition.
• Joshua Thornton: Living and Working with Clay and Straw.
  Clay is an excellent choice for coating and binding an aggregate for an insulation system, especially when the source of the clay is from the building site. Joshua Thornton's specialty is straw light clay 'outsulation'; however, he will also discuss the versatility of clay with other materials and techniques. Joshua Thornton was an apprentice at Heartwood in the summer of 1998 and then began to work on various timber framing projects, until settling in Durham, Ontario, where he was employed for four years at Thistlewood Timber Frame Homes. Joshua now works independently and in collaboration with EcoNest, a natural building company specializing in straw-clay homes.
• Gabriel Gauthier & Chris Dancey: Living and Working with Lime and Hemp.
  Lime can be used as a binder or plaster. There are many advantages that make lime an attractive choice with proven, diverse, construction methods. Gabriel Gauthier and Chris Dancey will discuss a variety of aggregates that can be used with lime, including chipped hemp stalks, wood chips, wood shavings, and straw. During the past nine years, Gabriel Gauthier, has built many hemp homes. While working for Canosmose in France between 1998-2000, he learned the technique Artcan uses today to build and renovate using hemp and lime insulation. Soon, hemp panels will be available for quick, natural projects. Currently, he is also the president of Archibio, an organization that promotes ecological design for construction. Chris and Wil Dancey began researching the use of hemp as a building material about twelve years ago. The walls of their round log, timber frame in SW Ontario were formed with hemp and lime binder and many of the finishes use a lime base. For two years a research plot of industrial hemp has been grown on their certified organic farm.
• Natural Building Forum

• Jim Hassi: Selective Marketing - Finding the Right Customers for You!
  Learn how to critically analyze your company's strengths and weaknesses in order to attract customers that are a good fit for your company. Learn how to maximize your marketing efforts and be more successful in what you do. Learn how to use your web site to get desire results and read your site's statistics. Learn to use online advertising as a way to reach your target customers.
• Jim DeStefano: The Care and Feeding of Structural Engineers.
  Few major timber frame projects are built today without some involvement of a structural engineer. The more successful timber frame businesses have gravitated away from the "do-it-yourself" approach to engineering that was common a decade ago. The TFBC has long recognized that engineering of timber frame structures is a sensible strategy for staying out of trouble. When a timber framer and engineer work together as a team it can be a very rewarding experience for both. It is necessary to get past the "all I need is a stamp" mentality and appreciate that the fees paid to an engineer will not only keep you out of trouble but it can also save the timber framer unnecessary costs of oversized timbers and inefficient joinery.
• Maureen Blackwell: Coaching Skills for Managers.
  In this breakout session, managers will learn how to conduct more effective and productive coaching discussions with employees to support improved performance and development. Managers will learn about how to give effective feedback with a simple 3-step process. In addition, using interactive exercises, participants will identify specific areas of improvement required to develop a coaching leadership style through practical application of coaching skills. Listening, asking powerful questions, goal setting and accountability, challenging, acknowledgment and self-management are just some of the coaching skills that managers will practice in this session.
• Jeff Arvin: Veteran Voices.
  From garages, droplights and resurrected antique chisels to computers, health insurance and asset-liability ratios, the timber frame industry has grown and matured. It had to. Where once we were given extraordinary slack because of the new and groundbreaking work of the early timber framers, we are now faced with requirements for fully engineered frames and professionally executed contracts. We've learned that turnover has a cost to quality and bottom line, and indeed we've even learned what a bottom line actually is.
  
  Veteran Voices is a series of seminars given by timber frame company owners or managers with more than 15 and even 20+ years on the job, as a way to share their experiences, tricks, heartbreaks and victories. In recent talks by Tedd Benson, Jonathan Orpin and John Abrams, it was clear that many in the audience enjoyed the discussion of their history and their roots. Whether to benchmark our own progress, re-invigorate our efforts or simply re-focus on our successes, it's natural to do so in discussions with our peers and our predecessors.
  
  The seminar will be presented roughly in three parts: a narrative of the speaker's company, a specific management system or skill to share, and a final time of open discussion as a group. Whether your own company is small or larger, growth-oriented or comfortable, this is an opportunity to share a laugh, learn a trick, and ask a question.
  
  Jeff Arvin says when he started timber framing he had hair and his hair had pigment. Click here to see a few photos of Jeff's appearance on This Old House back in 1989. A "big picture" kind of guy, Jeff has been the president of the Timber Framers Guild and was the founding chairman of the Timber Frame Business Council. Jeff enjoys working with clients to develop beautiful timber buildings. He is also rumored to be working on a book on contemporary timber frame practice to be published in the fall of 2007.
• Bruce Lindsay: Customer Qualifying, Sales, and Closing.
  Buying and Selling is the basis of what we do. Until someone buys something, NOTHING happens.
  
  Do you feel that all your customers are too cheap? Are you spending a lot of time dealing with prospective customers that end up buying from someone else or not buying a timber frame at all? Do you get the feeling that some Architects, General Contractors, and Home Owners are using you as a free consulting service? Do you find that after spending months developing designs, plans, budgets that nothing happens? If you answered yes to any of the above, then you need to attend this seminar.
  
  Timber Framers are great at timber framing, but, with the exception of a few Type A personalities in the crowd, they suck as Salesmen. Lets face it, slicing and dicing timbers is a lot more fun than trying to sell the next job. But if we don't sell we don't get to do the stuff that we all like to do. The problem is learn how to sort through inquiries, interested clients, and prospective customers quickly. Then you can back to doing what you are good at, which is slicing and dicing timbers. The result will be less stress, more fun, and co-incidentally, more money.
  If we can share, develop, discuss some simple strategies for converting a prospect into a buyer you can spend less time wearing your selling shoes, and more time wearing your timber framers boots. That doesn't mean that you have to put on your car salesman polyester suit, white belt, and high pressure selling act. It DOES mean:
  1. Qualifying Prospects: Can he buy?
     What will it take for him to buy from you?
     When will he buy?
  2. Learn to get the type of Customers that match you. General contractors, home owners, institutional clients, architects all have different needs.
  3. Deal with objections. Responding, restating, minimizing; probe for hidden objections.
  4. Questioning techniques: Closed end questions, pregnant pauses, open end questions, rhetorical questions.
  5. Closing Techniques: Trial Close, Assumed Close, Order Blank Close, Direct Close, Balance Sheet Close, Alternate Choice Close, Minor Decision Close
  6. Wrap Up: Finalizing the order; getting a commitment.
  If you can take away a handful of selling techniques from this seminar, then you can become more confident and more productive and spend less time selling.
• A Primer on the TFBC's new Affinity Health Insurance Plan.

• Robert Savignac: Tech Talk - Jigs and Tools for Working in the Round
  This Tech Talk session will offer you the opportunity to share jigs, tools and techniques that assist in the log building industry. A successful jig should do some of or all of the following: make a job easier, safer, and faster, while producing a more accurate and repeatable end result. A jig often will allow you to physically manifest and multiply your brain power. A good jig incorporates your understanding of a problem and allows a relatively inexperienced worker to apply your solution in a very predictable manner. As with any good system, it can help ordinary workers produce extraordinary results. Come share and learn from Robert Savignac, a journeyman log builder with 30+ years of experience in the industry.
• Pat Clark: Projects Using Round Logs in a Timber Frame

• Martin St. Jacques & Martin Slager: Round and Round We Go: Layout and Cutting Log Hip and Valley Systems (3-hour Demonstration)
  During this skills-based workshop, Martin and Martin will demonstrate general layout principles and cutting techniques used when working with round log or undimensional material. The crafting of a round log valley with jack purlin connection is the context for the demonstration. Elements to be touched on will include squaring of round log ends, raking out a valley trough, projecting a housing on a round surface, and the free hand cutting of log joinery.
  
  Martin St-Jacques and Martin Slager are the co-owners of John DeVries Log & Timber Homes Ltd, a company dedicated to the design and crafting of timber structures since 1976. Their operation, one with deep family roots, is based near the village of Tweed, in the rolling countryside of Hastings County, Ontario. The two craftsmen, with more than 40 years combined experience in the log home industry, lead a team of veteran log fitters and timber framers in the construction of Scandinavian Full Scribe, hewn dovetail, round-log post-and-beam, piece-en-piece, and traditional timber frame buildings.
• Robert Savignac: Preview of the New ICC Standard on the Design and Construction of Log Structures.
  ICC-400 is the new standard for the design and construction of log structures. The standard establishes the minimum general requirements for log structures (including residential and commercial structures) to safeguard the public health, safety and welfare by addressing the issues of structural, thermal properties, fire resistive construction, and settling provisions. Log construction-related terminology, definitions and building practices will be addressed. Just exactly how this affects your building practices will be addressed! Also included:
  • Discussion of log grading as it applies to span, moisture content and settling.
  • Discussion of boring, notching and bored holes with respect to log walls and rafters.
  • Settling discussed as it applies to openings and "involved heights."
  • Fire resistance and fire blocking as it applies to log structures.
  • Thermal envelope discussion.
  Experienced in handcrafted log construction since 1977, including the operation of a substantial manufacturing operation, and delivering training programs and fibre-related management advise for several years, Robert "Log Bob" Savignac is the foundation of the Arbor Vitae organization. Log Bob brings a comprehensive and practical approach to the art and science of log building complimented by his double major in Biology and Outdoor/Experiential Education. An advanced graduate of the Mackie School, Savignac has dedicated himself to honing his log building skills and offering his accumulated knowledge to others committed to the pursuit of this incredible craft. As the ILBA past executive Director from 2000 - 2005, he currently maintains his position as vice-chair of the ICC Log Standards consensus committee, and is Chair of the equivalent CSA committee in Canada. Robert is still doing research and teaching log building around the world, and is Forintek Canada's Log and Timber construction specialist.
• Marianne Berube of the Canadian Wood Council/Wood WORKS! Canadian Design in Wood Award Winners.
  This session will highlight the recipients of the North American Wood Design Awards and the Canadian Wood WORKS! awards program for 2006. Award winning projects include hospitals, schools, community centers, and wineries, to name a few, and will demonstrate innovation and creativity using wood's inherent qualities.
  
  Marianne Berube has been the Ontario Wood WORKS! Executive Director for the past 7 years. She has been successful in launching the Wood WORKS! project in Ontario, and is now implementing an aggressive growth plan to increase wood consumption in the Southern Ontario urban market. Over 100 municipalities, associations and ministries in Ontario, have adopted a "Build with Wood" culture. The results have been showcased in numerous case studies and publications. She was the founder of the annual Wood Awards Gala, an annual event across Canada that honors innovative wood buildings and the people who are creating them.