This course provides an overview of sheet metal detailing and fabrication, including a review of the SMACNA manual. The presentation will take an in depth look at the fabrication process, industry standards for selection of gauge and material for various applications, and common deviations from industry practices in construction documents.

For our March 4, 2025 Portland BEC meeting, we are excited to extend an invitation to you for a guided tour of General Sheet Metal’s state-of-the-art sheet metal fabrication facility located at 16345 SE Evelyn St, Clackamas, OR 97015. This will be a great opportunity for you to explore their manufacturing processes, see their cutting-edge equipment, and understand how the various specified sheet metal fabrications are produced.

This presentation is a technical discussion about using field measurements to validate thermal assumptions for existing buildings and help make energy models more accurate. In deep energy retrofits, the thermal performance of existing building envelopes is often difficult to determine with a high level of accuracy. For older buildings, the records of existing assemblies are often incomplete or inaccurate. To obtain greater baseline performance accuracy for energy models, in-field measurement tools can be used to obtain data on the thermal performance of the existing assemblies.

This course will provide a brief history of significant historical fires and how these have influenced the development of our current model building codes. Some more recent fires will be discussed, reinforcing the importance of mitigating fire propagation in cladding assemblies. A review of the five main building types will lead into a discussion of material combustibility followed by an overview of the Code requirements around flame propagation.

Installing a solar roof system on a building should be a decision that rewards the building owner with energy savings as well as piece of mind knowing they are doing their part to help the environment. What many building owners may not realize is that installing a solar roof system could damage their roof, void their roof warranty and end up costing them more in the long run. “Solar Roof Systems- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” will identify the potential issues with a rooftop solar installation, what questions they should be asking and how to avoid serious, costly problems.

Please note that this meeting will occur on a Thursday

Architectural Aluminum Framing Systems can be broken down into a number of subcategories. These are: Storefront, Curtain Wall, Window Wall, Overhead or Sloped Glazing, Windows, Entrances, Interior Frames and Sliding Storefronts. The first three categories: Storefront, Curtain Wall and Window Wall are most commonly used for fixed exterior glazing on commercial applications. Each shares some common characteristics but for the most part, each is very different and designed for specific applications.

For our October 1, 2024 Portland BEC meeting, we have arranged for a unique opportunity to tour the ongoing construction of the OHSU Hospital Expansion Project (OHEP). This 14-story, $540M immediate care facility features approximately 500,000 sf of programmed space and parking, planned accommodations for up to 192 beds, 250,000 sf of unitized curtain wall, 10,000 sf of vegetated roof, and three (3) bridge connections to adjacent campus buildings.

Building science is a dynamic field that integrates age-old practices with cutting-edge research, offering critical insights into the design and construction of buildings. While some principles have been established for centuries, our understanding of building science continues to evolve as new research and industry experiences emerge. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of its value, especially in addressing the complexities of modern construction and mitigating risks.