2009 Eastern Conference

Pre-Conference Workshops:
Thursday, November 5^th, 2009

These workshops are an opportunity to hone your skills in an all-day intensive session with a small group of participants and expert instructors.

A separate registration fee is required. Tuition for all pre-Conference workshops is $175/day ($200/day for non-TFG members), including lunch and breaks; all fees are in U.S. dollars. The Forklift Certification Workshop (morning) and Aerial Lift Certification Workshop (afternoon) can be taken separately for $90 each ($110 for non-TFG members), including lunch and break. Note that the Main Conference fee is not included with pre-Conference tuitions. Workshops begin at 8:30 AM unless otherwise stated.

The Symposium brings together the latest research and the brightest minds in the timber frame design world. This is an advanced workshop designed for structural engineers and others who are actively involved in or knowledgeable about the design and engineering of timber framed structures.

It will include talks on these diverse topics:

• Jeremy Bonin: Sustainable Timber and SIP Design
  There are numerous definitions of sustainable. However once designer and client understand one another's perceptions and intentions are clear about the project's vision, where does one typically start the building envelope? How does a timber frame and SIP structure stack up to conventional stick construction relative to green standards? How do they compare from a materials resource standpoint, from a field vs. manufacturing standpoint? What impact does this construction method have on other building systems and how does it affect the numerous green rating systems?
• Jim DeStefano: The Fire Resistance of Timber
  Despite the fact that wood is a combustible material, timber frame construction exhibits impressive fire endurance. This talk will cover basic building code requirements for fire-resistant construction and how to apply both prescriptive and performance-based methods of evaluating the fire endurance of timber frame construction. The recently released Structural Engineers Guide to Fire Protection will be introduced.
• Tom Nehil: Covered Bridge Restoration - A Case Study
  Rehabilitation of the Langley Covered Bridge over the St. Joseph River in Southwest Michigan was completed in the summer of 2009. The Langley Bridge is one of only four remaining historic covered bridges in Michigan. This three-span white pine Howe truss bridge was constructed in 1887 and, at 280 ft. in length, is the longest in Michigan and one of the longest in the United States. I will review our analysis of the bridge, discuss some of the whys and hows of the repair process, and review some of the historic connections. Some of the behind-the-scenes discussions among structural engineer, historic preservation architect, the County Road Commission, and the State Department of Transportation will be shared.
• Jim DeStefano: SIP Engineering
  In the past, the engineering of structural insulated panels (SIPs) has occurred mostly with smoke and mirrors along with a healthy dose of marketing folklore. But the times are changing: rational analytical methods are replacing simplistic load tables. This talk will summarize recent research efforts and give a sneak peak at the Engineering Design Guide for SIPs.
• David Hourdequin and Grigg Mullen: Timber Joinery Calculations
  This session and the previous one will cover the structural analysis and design of a typical king-post truss and a scissor truss of comparable spacing, span and pitch. Simple two-dimensional frame analysis programs will be used to determine the member forces and stresses. Joinery will focus on using a variety of connection details for the tension ties (all-thread tie bolts, knife plates, side plates and Timberlinx™). Due to the magnitude of the tension in the bottom chord, mortise and tenon connections will be considered but not utilized.
• Ben Brungraber and Duncan McElroy: Wooddale Covered Bridge, New Castle County, Delaware: Updating an Old Building Technique to Meet Modern Design Loads.
  This presentation will describe the range of analyses and detailing upgrades made to a new 50' Town Lattice covered bridge carrying highway loads in Delaware. The analyses ranged from simple girder structural analogy used to analyze the lattice truss, to a hairy Visual Analysis powered treatment of zones around the point loading areas . The design of the bridge will be shown, focusing on aspects of the Town lattice that have been altered or updated to reflect modern design loads. Many different materials and structural systems were used throughout the bridge, including "tuned" Bongassi Bolster Beams and steel moment frames buried in the portal siding and trim. These will be illustrated with excerpts from the 3D Cadwork model of the bridge during design, as well as digital images of the bridge during construction and after completion. Of particular interest is the design and analysis of the large diameter oak pegs, of which several hundred were used in the construction of the bridge.

About the Presenters

Jeremy Bonin, AIA NCARB LEED AP, principal partner of Bonin Architects & Associates, is an award-winning architect and the author of Timber Frames: Designing Your Custom Home. Jeremy is a member of the AIA licensed in New Hampshire, Maine, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. He is a LEED-accredited professional with a special interest in timber framing and energy efficiency as it relates to green living and sustainable design, renewable energy sources, and environmentally sound material selections. He is currently working on his second book, which focuses on green building and sustainable building practices.

Jim DeStefano is the Senior Partner in the structural engineering firm DeStefano Associates in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Tom Nehil is Chairman of the Timber Frame Engineering Council (TFEC) and a principal of Nihil-Sivak Consulting Structural Engineers in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a general practice engineering firm with a special interest in timber framing and barn preservation.

David Hourdequin received his Bachelor of Civil Engineering Degree from the University of Florida in 1964 after studying pre-engineering at Florida State University. He earned a Master's Degree in Engineer Management at the University of South Florida in 1992 while working full time as an owner and manager of a commercial construction company. During his career, Mr. Hourdequin has been engaged as a structural sub-contractor, general contractor, construction manager, development manager, and structural engineer.

Grigg Mullen serves on the Guild's Board of Directors and teaches engineering at the Virginia Military Institute.

While there are many valuable books on barns, few are written by carpenters, much less present the invaluable perspective of the traditional builder. This workshop provides the carpenter's point of view using examples from 22 barn restorations in the Upper Midwest.

In the workshop, Rick will address these topics:

• How much damage is too much damage? (Short answer: 30%)
• Which types of barns (for example, timber, plank, or balloon) are least challenging to restore and which are the most challenging?
• Why?
• What can I do to restore a barn?

Most of the workshop will focus on this last question by providing numerous examples of technical solutions to common restoration challenges. Examples include:

• Free tenon repairs to replace rotted tenons
• Sheer plate and strap installation to restore tension to spreading tie beams in situ
• The use of deadmans and rigging to straighten racked buildings
• Modular or Panelization Dismantling Method
• Moving barns intact on dollies
• Traditional scarf joints such as the splayed, under-squinted, wedged scarf joint, and the edge-halved scarf with bridled abutments

In addition to these technical aspects of restoration, Rick will discuss the traditional carpenter's use of daisy wheel geometry, regulatory lines, and proportion to establish layout and proportion; this often piques considerable interest and lively conversation. The Daisy Wheel Method, for example, often establishes a 1:2 relationship between the width of the barn and the hypotenuse of its footprint. Similarly, daisy wheel geometry explains why some roof pitches are typical (e.g., 6", 9", and 12" in 12"), while others atypical. Simply stated, this geometry helps explain why traditional barns simply look right. This discussion will demonstrate the importance of understanding traditional building geometry and methods when restoring barns.

All in all, this two-part presentation is a whirlwind tour of some of the many historic barns Trillium Dell Timberworks has had the honor to preserve in its 14-year history. Rick will provide specific how-to information to help builders and homeowners approach their own barn restoration, and will leave many with a new appreciation for the historic and technical aspects of traditional barn building. The workshop will allow audience members of all backgrounds to walk in the footsteps of the traditional carpenter from the comfort of their own chair.

About the Instructor

Rick Collins is Guild President and co-owner and founder of Trillium Dell Timberworks in Knoxville, Illinois.

Green building is the future of building. By early 2007, green building demand had outpaced supply. Green building is projected to double over the next five years, reaching a 20% share of the U.S. housing market with $60 billion in sales in 2010. To survive the current recession in residential construction, designers and builders must understand what "green" means and how to market this competitive advantage to clients.

The purpose of this workshop is to educate and equip homeowners, contractors and timber framers for a green economy whereby every house comes with certification guaranteeing high indoor air quality, comfort and energy efficiency. Attendees will learn why and how an integrated building system developed through a team-oriented design/build methodology is the only proven strategy to thrive in the current construction crisis. Avoiding green clichés, this course focuses on the "bare maximum" information that builders need. It will address multiple perspectives: renewable technology, financing strategies, certification standards, product positioning, market development, and buyer priorities and incentives. Most importantly, the goal of this workshop is to get timber framers back to work timber framing by serving as consultants to homeowners, instead of positioning themselves as specialty subcontractors to struggling general contractors.

Al Wallace has been proselytizing renewable systems, green technology, and sustainable design for over a decade. Working as a general contractor on historic preservation projects to pay his way through architecture school, he recognized that truly sustainable projects had to be financial viable. In the past three years, he has applied basic business principles to develop leading edge renewable technologies, which bring elegant comfort to homeowners at an affordable price. He has seen his business grow from a $50,000/year start-up to over $1M in revenues - with demand escalating in the midst of a financial crisis for homebuilders. Loaded with photos, case studies, hand-on demonstrations and real time software modeling, the course is fast-paced and exciting. Al uses a practical approach to teaching technology, which includes building science (insulating, air sealing, moisture control), renewable energy (solar and wind power), sustainable energy efficient systems (solar thermal, energy recovery, ground source heat pumps, integrated domestic hot water with radiant heating), and basic knowledge of certification programs such as LEED, Energy Star, and Zero Energy Homes. He then addresses business solutions for implementing these systems at the lowest cost and highest margins to create market differentiation and competitive advantage.

For anyone considering green construction, working as a renewable systems contractor, or planning to build or retrofit to a sustainable home, this workshop is for you.

About the Instructor

Albert Wallace is President of Energy Environmental Corporation (www.energyhomes.org), a firm specializing in the design and installation of energy efficient and sustainable heating, cooling, ventilation, and indoor air quality systems. His expertise lies in the integration of these systems in order to reduce building loads as a prerequisite to installing alternative power systems in on-grid applications (solar, wind, and micro-hydro). Al has been a member of the TFG for 18 years and is a regular contributor to the Ecologic column of Scantlings. He consults worldwide with major projects throughout the western U.S. and South America. Most recently, Al lead a team of TFG members, college, high school and middle school students to Pucusana, Peru to complete a timber-framed patient wing for a hospital, in order to provide in-patient services for a community of 8,000 low income families. Al holds a B.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy, an MBA from Golden Gate University, and Master's Degrees in Architecture and Landscape Architecture from the University of Colorado. In addition to a wedding, his latest endeavor can be found at www.platinumLEEDhome.com.

Google SketchUp™ is a CAD program available free from Google, and is very well suited for modeling timber frame designs in 3D. It is also flexible and accurate enough to use for joinery design and creating shop drawings directly from your whole-frame models! Using custom extensions designed specifically for timber framers (by the presenter), you can create timber frame models that can be used to automatically generate precise shop drawings. In this workshop, you will learn the basics of using SketchUp to create simple models of timber frame designs. You will also learn how to use existing timber and joinery component libraries to create detailed timber frame models that include joinery, and how to generate shop drawings from them. Additionally, you will learn how to create you own joinery models to use in this system, and build your own joinery component library. This is a hands-on workshop, where the participants will follow along on their own computers. Participants should come with a laptop computer with the latest free version of Sketchup loaded, and a mouse with a wheel. Details will be sent upon receipt of your registration.

The target audience consists of timber framing professionals who are responsible for timber frame design, joinery design, and creating shop drawings. The presentation will be of particular interest to those who currently draw shop drawings by hand, or use a drawing program that is not integrated with their whole-frame design program.

Presentation Outcomes:

• Participants will learn how to customize SketchUp for timber framing.
• Participants will learn how to use existing timber and joinery component libraries to create timber frame models that can be used to create precise shop drawings.
• Participants will learn how to create their own joinery models to use in this system, and how to build their own timber and joinery component libraries.

Presentation Overview:

• Teaser Example. The presentation will open with a demonstration: the creation of a set complex shop drawings from an existing model, to show how easy it is if you've laid the proper groundwork beforehand.
• We will then learn the basics of Sketchup while building a simple timber frame model from scratch. This model will not include joinery, but will be suitable for getting feedback on the design from the client.
• We will then discuss how to customize Sketchup for timber framing using Ruby plugins (developed by the instructor). Each student will install them on his/her computer.
• Finally, we will go through a detailed example of how to create a timber frame model that can be used for creating shop drawings. The following broad points will be covered:
• Timber Component Libraries. Discuss and demonstrate the use of component libraries to quickly assemble a frame from pre-defined timber components.
• Joinery Creation. I will discuss and demonstrate how to create new joinery components for expanding the joinery library.
• Joinery Libraries. Discuss and demonstrate how to create new timber components using pre-defined joinery components, which are used to expand the timber component library.
• Joinery Creation. Discuss and demonstrate how to create new joinery components for expanding the joinery library.
• Shop Drawings. Discuss and demonstrate how to create precise, four-sided shop drawings automatically. We will then polish them off with dimensions, and shop notes.
• Participants will leave the seminar with a list of resources, including:
• Where to find general tutorials for using SketchUp
• Where to get more timber frame ruby scripts
• Where to get joinery and timber libraries
• Where to share their timber and joinery components with the rest of us

To view the workshop outline, click here.

About the Instructor

Clark Bremer is the owner of Northern Lights Timber Framing in Minneapolis. He also teaches timber framing at North House Folk School, in Grand Marais, Minnesota. His former career was as a computer designer and researcher for Bell Labs. He enjoys inventing new tools for timber framing, both hardware and software.

Click on the graphic to view a larger version.

The morning workshop covers the safe and efficient operation of fork trucks, while the afternoon workshop covers the safe and efficient operation of an elevated aerial platform. Participants can take one or both courses; included in each will be operational safety, inspection and general upkeep. Upon completion of the course, participants will understand the hazards and requirements necessary to avoid accidents. They will be familiar with the characteristics, operational modes and operational components of fork trucks and/or aerial lifts.

This is the classroom-only portion of OSHA and TFG Curriculum compliant training for your co-workers, as described in OSHA 1910.67 and 1910.178.

Dry instructional materials will be brought to life in a fast-paced classroom environment augmented with analog and digital presentations. There will be some time set aside for the presentation of "Never do this" anecdotes from participants. There is a pre-test (establishing participants' experience and knowledge to date) and a post-test or final exam, which they must pass in order to receive a certificate. Retesting may be available if time allows.

Participants will receive a professionally prepared training manual that can be used as a refresher and reference going forward. Participants who complete the final exam will receive a certificate and a wallet card.

Please note: This is the classroom portion only; complete certification requires supervised practical experience.

For both classes the presentations will include:

• Equipment family overview
• Principles of operation
• Critical inspections
• Operator responsibilities
• Safe practices
• Special hazards

Reference and presentation materials have been prepared by Crane Tech.