Charleston County Building Official to Speak at ASHRAE

The Charleston Chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) will have Allen Rhudy speak at its next dinner meeting. Mr. Rhudy is the Charleston County Plans Reviewer and Code Manager.

Where: Raddison Hotel, 5991 Rivers Avenue, North Charleston, South Carolina
When: November 14, 2006, 6:30PM to 9:00PM
RSVP Required - e-mail Bo Nutting at John.B.Nutting@jci.com to reserve your seat

According to ASHRAE's meeting notice:
This is a unique opportunity to get the rules right! Mr. Rhudy will discuss the following questions and will answer any other question we may ask:

• In what ways is the city code review different from the county? Are there more local codes in the city? Are they stricter? Is the approval process different?
• Is ASHRAE 62-2004 OK to use now?
• What is the schedule for acceptance of the 2006 international code?
• What are the top 3 things you find in violation of the code? What do we as engineers and contractors need to work on?
• Talk about the Energy code. There are a lot of strict issues that are not always followed. One example is using table 502.2.4. Do you calculate the glass square footage to confirm the minimum ceiling R-value required? I understand that electric reheat with a humidistat is allowed for heat pumps if you set the humidistat no lower than 60%? Are lighting control systems enforced for buildings over 5,000 sqft? Do you see more LEED projects in Charleston? Is the approval process more complicated?
• Are you seeing more sealed crawl spaces and seals attics? Per section R408.2.5, does a dehumidifier comply in order to “supply conditioned air” to a sealed crawlspace? I assume a sealed attic has to have “conditioned air” too?
• Seismic code is another popular topic. I typically provide general details for pad mounted or suspended HVAC equipment and require that components such as guy wires shall be sized by a seismic vendor. Is this acceptable?
• Regarding professional HVAC drawings, how close does the installed product need to be from the drawings? When do you reject the work based on it being too different from the drawings? Is a drawing addendum required to gain acceptance?

FEDcon: Construction Projects and the Federal Government

This program is an exploration of federal agency design and construction programs for the building community

FEDCon sponsored by NIBS, co-sponsored by American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), brings together high-level officials from federal agencies heavily involved in design and construction who will present:

• Current Construction Budgets and Programs
• Planned Budgets for Future Years
• Predominant Building Types to be Designed
• The Direction of the Design/Construction Programs of the Presenting Agencies at the Regional and International level

FEDCon is co-located with AEC-ST Federal - Science & Technology for Architecture Engineering and Construction and Ecobuild Federal - Sustainable, Green and High- Performance Solutions for the Built Environment event: Conference Dec. 5-7, Exhibition Dec. 6-7, 2006.

Vist the EcoBuild website for more information.

Cement Plaster (Stucco) Training

Subject: Cement Plaster (stucco) Training
Cement plaster (stucco) is the most common building cladding in California, but it is also perhaps the most abused and most frequently associated with leaks, decay, mold and other damage. The Western Construction Consultants Association (WESTCON) is sponsoring the most detailed and comprehensive course on stucco design and construction ever offered in California on November 2, 2006, in Berkeley, CA. Here is the link for additional information:http://www.westcon.org/sympos.htm for a copy of the symposium program and registration form.Please forward this information to anyone in the design, construction and inspection/plan check professions that may be interested.

See the information on the BCDG: http://bcodes.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4710982861/m/63510305631

Online Building Envelope Forum

When I first started in this building science gig, one of the most encouraging people I encountered was Jacques Rousseau with CMHC. After retiring, he disappeared for a bit (to a white sandy beach by an azur sea in Mexico I believe) but the sirens of moisture migration have called him back!

Jacques is now the editor of Building Envelope Forum (www.buildingforum.com). I encourage you to visit the site - it has a wealth of information - and to subscribe to the quarterly e-mails.

Great work Jacques and bon champs with future editions!

Next Meeting September 28, 2006

Reminder!

The Building Enclosure Council - Charleston and The Sustainability Institute are pleased to offer a special joint meeting on Thursday, September 28, 2006 at 6:00 – 7:30 PM. This event will be a tour of the Verdi Group’s SIPS fabrication facility at 3265 Benchmark Drive, Ladson, SC 29456; Phone: 843.863.9830.

Our host will be architect David Hill, who will show us Verdi’s special techniques for fabrication of Structural Insulated Panel Systems (SIPS) for energy efficiency, structural strength, time savings, lower construction costs and sustainable features.

Refreshments will be served.

Air Barrier University Sells Out Two Dates

Registration for ABAA's Air Barrier University is now closed.

BEC-Charleston is hosting the Air Barrier Association of America's Air Barrier University on October 26 and 27, 2006. Originally intended to be a one day course limited to 25 people; the response to this course offering allowed us to expand to a second date. All 50 seats for the ABU are now filled.