[Source: WTCA Press Release, www.sbcindustry.com, January 17, 2007]
Construction is progressing at a steady pace on WTCA’s SBC Research Institute, the structural building component industry’s research and testing facility in Madison, WI. After breaking ground in November 2006, the 5,730 square-foot facility is scheduled to officially begin calibrating testing equipment in March of this year. Plans are already underway for several full-scale testing projects that will mark the inauguration of the testing facility.
“The SBC Research Institute couldn’t come at a better time,” said Barry Dixon, WTCA President and CEO of True House, Inc. in Jacksonville, FL. “Building components have been in the construction marketplace for over 50 years, but we still don’t fully understand the range of capabilities that various combinations of components have when acting as a single unit. Our goal is to invest in our industry to better understand how the rules and guidelines used in the design of components truly apply. The fact-based analysis that will come out of the testing facility will increase quality and decrease costs of houses and other structures, positively changing our industry forever.”
Once construction is complete, the SBC Research Institute will take on the 95 critical testing projects that WTCA members have suggested are important to them. These projects are being prioritized with the goal of improving structural integrity and cost efficiency of buildings, and ultimately increasing the presence of structural building components in the marketplace. With a ceiling height of 38 feet, the facility will allow for accurate full-scale testing and analysis of a variety of construction products in a real-world environment.
The facility was designed with flexibility in mind to allow testing of many different materials such as trusses, wall panels, engineered lumber, fiber reinforced products, field repair methods and cold formed steel. In each test, multiple sensors within the structural system will collect data on various properties of the structural framework including flow of loads through the various interconnected framing products. “This will allow the component industry to perform an in-depth analysis on loading and resistance and make much better technical decisions on behalf of our industry,” said Kendall Hoyd, SBC Research Institute President and President of Idaho Truss & Component Company in Meridian, ID. “Ultimately, the industry will have a much better feel for the anticipated field performance of the products tested.”
To kick off initial testing, WTCA and the Truss Plate Institute (TPI) have entered into a TPI/WTCA Testing Venture Agreement to jointly fund truss industry testing to advance the development of our industry standard ANSI/TPI 1 and the effective use of trusses. Industry professionals are already helping shape the facility’s goals and key testing projects. Earlier this month, more than 400 WTCA and TPI members replied to a survey in which they ranked 95 key industry testing issues. Top-rated topics included testing multi-ply girder design, capacity of a variety of bearing conditions, flow of loads to optimize bracing and truss repair designs. By addressing critical issues facing the structural building components industry, the SBC Research Institute will greatly advance the industry’s goal of developing a fresh body of knowledge that will add new value to the industry and lead the next generation of growth.
Many construction materials and funding for the facility are being supplied by the generous donations of SBC Research Institute sponsors. To learn more about the SBC Research Institute, contact Peggy Pichette at 608/310-6723 or visit www.sbcindustry.com/testingfacility.php
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