SC County Requires Testing Documents
The Georgetown County [SC] Dept. of Planning and Development is requiring
companies to submit testing and result documents if they wish to comply
with standards set by the International Building Code (IBC) and the International
Residential Code (IRC).
In a letter sent in early March, Robert Cox, building official, said the
requirement includes, but is not limited to, storm shutter manufacturers
and dealers, window manufacturers and dealers and window film manufacturers
and dealers and covers wind borne debris and design pressures requirements
for openings.
The requirement is part of the country’s efforts “to standardize
procedural requirements for all new construction including both commercial
and residential,” the letter states.
The request seeks testing documents that conform to IBC and/or IRC standards
and should include the seal of the testing facility, date, method of testing
and the manufacturer for whom the testing was performed; size schedules
for each product that show results of impact testing if appropriate and
design pressures achieved if appropriate; and fastener schedules and detail
for approved installation methods.
CSU Team Increases Hurricane Forecast
Colorado State University tropical storm researcher William Gray and his
hurricane forecast team at Fort Collins have slightly increased their seasonal
predictions and call for above-average Atlantic basin hurricane activity
in 2004.
“A wide variety of global predictors obtained and analyzed through
March continue to point to the 2004 Atlantic basin hurricane season being
an active one,” said Gray. “We expect tropical cyclone activity
to be about 145 percent of the average season.”
Gray and his colleagues call for a total of 14 named storms to form in the
Atlantic basin this year. Of these, eight are predicted to become hurricanes
and three are anticipated to evolve into intense hurricanes (Saffir/Simpson
Category 3, 4, 5) with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater. The long-term
average is 9.6 named storms, 5.9 hurricanes and 2.3 intense hurricanes per
year. The team’s early December forecast (see HP, Winter 2004, page
6) called for 13 named storms, seven hurricanes and three intense hurricanes.
The Colorado State forecast team also warns of the considerably higher than
average probability of at least one intense hurricane making landfall in
the United States this year. According to the April 2 updated forecast,
there is a 71 percent chance of a major hurricane hitting somewhere along
the U.S. coastline in 2004 (long-term average is 52 percent). For the U.S.
East Coast, including the Florida Peninsula, the probability of an intense
hurricane making landfall is 52 percent (long term average is 31 percent).
For the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle westward to Brownsville, TX,
the probability is 40 percent (the long-term average is 30 percent). The
team also calls for above-average major hurricane landfall risk in the Caribbean.
“The United States has been very lucky over the past few decades in
witnessing very few major hurricanes making landfall in Florida and along
the East Coast, but climatology will eventually right itself and we must
expect a great increase in landfalling hurricanes,” said Gray. “We
don’t know when it will happen, but with the large coastal population
growth in recent decades, it is inevitable that we will see hurricane-spawned
destruction in coming years on a scale many times greater than what we have
seen in the past.”
Gray and his team are consistently working to improve their forecast methodologies
based on a variety of climate-related global and regional predictors.
Mississippi Hurricane Conference
Slated
The 2004 Mississippi Hurricane Conference will be held May 4 to 6 at the
Palace Casino Resort, Biloxi, MS. The three-day conference will offer more
than 20 breakout sessions on a variety of topics. The keynote speaker this
year will be Steve Lyons of The Weather Channel who will open the conference
at a luncheon on May 4.
For more information on this year’s conference, contact John Cartwright,
Natural Hazards Program Manager, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency
at (601) 366-2879; fax: (601) 987-9938; e-mail:
jcartwright@memaorg.com.
Solutia Names Mcelman Hurricane Manager
Nanette McElman has joined Solutia Inc., St. Louis, MO, as the Hurricane
Market Manager. McElman will be responsible for strengthening the company’s
protective glazing presence in the architectural and engineering communities.
She also will be responsible for increasing the demand for impact-resistant
glazing materials in the United States.
McElman’s professional experience includes more than 10 years of consulting
for both civil and environmental engineering firms. Most recently she served
as Director of Building Codes and Engineering for the Institute for Business
and Home Safety (IBHS) where she was responsible for developing and implementing
code changes to increase the resistance of structures to natural disasters
(see HP, Fall 2002, page 12). Prior senior project engineer positions were
held at Progressive Development Group, Inc.; IT Corp.; and GLE Associates.
A registered Professional Engineer (PE), McElman holds a bachelor’s
degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in environmental
engineering from the University of South Florida. Her professional registrations
include Asbestos Consultant and Certified Indoor Air Quality Professional.
Solutia is a world leader in performance films, producing Saflex® and
Vanceva™ brand polyvinyl butyral interlayers for laminated glass in
automotive, architectural and residential applications.
TPS Appointments Kuntz National Sales
Manager
Transparent Protection Systems, Inc. (TPS), West Palm Beach, FL, has
announced the appointment of Scott D. Kuntz to the position of National
Sales Manager.
Kuntz will be responsible for the marketing and sales of all hurricane
protection products manufactured by TPS, as well as developing both new
products and new markets for existing products. He has more than 23 years
of experience in this field, most recently as National Sales and Marketing
Manager of Rolladen, Inc. Prior to that, Kuntz was National Sales &
Marketing Manager for All Broward Hurricane.
Kuntz is a graduate of the University of Florida and a member of the International
Hurricane Protection Association (IHPA) actively involved with the Government
Affairs Committee. He has served on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s
(FEMA) Project Impact, working toward mitigating potential hurricane damage
to structures through use of proper construction techniques and window
protection.
Transparent Protection Systems, Inc. is a wholly-owned division of Nytef
Plastics, Ltd. It manufactures transparent thermoplastic hurricane panels
sold under the trade name ClearGuard®, and is an extruder of custom
thermoplastic profiles.
Pella Helps Create Ultimate Family
Home
The Ultimate Family Home, a zero-energy home, built in Las Vegas, NV, to
coincide with this year’s International Builders’ Show (see page
18) features a host of windows and doors by Pella, Corp., Pella, IA.
The home, designed by Bassenian/Lagoni Architects, Newport Beach, CA, is
a proving ground for energy-efficient products. Ultimate Family Home participants
were required to build to energy-efficiency and quality-construction standards
beyond the Dept. of Energy’s Energy Star® requirements. The Pella
products in the home meet or exceed these guidelines.
The home features Pella Designer Series® sliding patio doors and French
hinged doors, Pella Architect Series® double-hung and casement windows,
and Pella custom windows. The goal for the home is to create just as much
energy as it uses.
PPG Unveils Sustainable Design Collection
PPG Industries, Pittsburgh, PA, has introduced EcoLogical Building Solutions,
a collection of glass, coatings and paint for sustainable design.
Among the notable products in the collection is the Oceans of Color™
collection of spectrally selective tinted glass. As defined by the U.S.
Dept. of Energy, spectrally selective glass has a light to solar gain
(LSG) ratio of 1.25 or better. None of the glazing in the PPG collection
has an LSG radio lower than 1.41. As a result, these glazing options provide
significant energy savings along with a high degree of visible light transmittance.
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