Wood Education Institute
The Wood Education Institute was created in 2008 to address the glaring lack of wood design education at the university level. The national recognition of the value of the eco-friendly construction materials has elevated the need for using wood beyond residential construction. Not only wood is one of the oldest construction materials it is also recognized as being renewable, biodegradable, carbon negative, cost effective and a naturally pleasing material. The understanding of this material and its expanded and effective use in construction of non-residential structures is consistent with our National Goals and International obligations as it relates to the reduction of the carbon footprint.
Wood Educational Institute/Woodworks
Description:
This is an online course intended for practicing professionals who have not had timber design class and would like to improve their knowledge of this material.
CE433/CE433L Timber Design/Timber Design Lab, Cal Poly Pomona
Description:
This course is intended for undergraduate students in their third year of a four year civil engineering program and have completed course in structural analysis of determinate structures. This course would typically be their first design course.
The primary goal of this course is to introduce students to basic design principles and to teach them how to design a wood frame building to resist vertical and lateral loads acting on it. This includes, but not limited to, understanding of the demand-capacity relationship, behavior of a bearing wall structural system, conceptual and code based design process, and basic construction practices and detailing that ensure complete load path for the forces acting on the structure during its life.
The course includes in-class lectures, online lectures and hands-on design lab.
General
One of the essential understandings of the structural design is the the concept of demand-capacity relationship. Regardless of the materials or systems used, ultimately structural engineer has to evaluate the demand on a system and its elements, determine their capacity and develop design that meets the performance criteria.
This course is divided into three distinct sections.
The first three weeks are devoted to evaluating the DEMAND on low-rise wood structures generated by dead, live, wind and seismic loads. The next three weeks focus on evaluating the CAPACITY of the structural elements of the Vertical Load Carrying System to resist internal forces, such as tension, compression, bending, their combinations and shear. The last three weeks are devoted to evaluating the DEMAND - CAPACITY relationship of the various elements of the Lateral Load Resisting System, such as diaphragms, shear walls and drag struts, under wind and seismic loads.
