Live Zoom Webinar. Pre-registration is required at the link below.
As the complexity of building geometries and façade systems grows, consultants may have reservations about the applicability of code-based methods for design. The performance of novel façade systems may be better understood through a performance-based wind design (PBWD) approach.
Application of PBWD requires wind tunnel generated building-specific wind loading inputs. The measurement of wind loads on façades of buildings can be carried out with a high degree of accuracy in boundary layer wind tunnels, and when incorporated properly into the design these data will lead to more efficient and economical outcomes.
Topics related to the prediction of facade design wind loads are examined in this presentation, including a thorough review of the wind tunnel testing and analysis process, integration of wind tunnel data with local wind climate, internal pressures considerations, and application of the wind tunnel technique to novel façade features and systems. A brief overview of the recently released Prestandard for Performance-Based Wind Design developed by the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) will also be provided.
John Kilpatrick, Ph.D., P.Eng., C.Eng., F.ICE, is the Wind Engineering Practice Leader at RWDI and a Principal of the firm. John is a former Chair of the UK Wind Engineering Society, and is a contributing author to the ASCE/SEI Prestandard for Performance-Based Wind Design and ASCE 49 Standard for Wind Tunnel Testing for Buildings and Other Structures.