Simpson Strong-Tie Participates in 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake Test of 10-Story Mass Timber Building

Spackle by Dave Coverly

People News

Armstrong World Industries Acquires BŌK Modern

Huntsman Building Solutions Celebrates HBSU Curriculum for Spray Foam Contractors

Winning “Rock the Block” Design Features Elegant Nichiha Cladding

RIDGID Employees Donate Food and Personal Care Items to Elyria’s Pioneer Freedge

Armstrong World Industries Acquires BŌK Modern

Armstrong further expands its architectural metal portfolio with new design capabilities.

Armstrong World Industries announced that it has acquired BŌK Modern, a manufacturer of integrated architectural metal systems for a broad range of interior and exterior applications.

BŌK has built its business on collaborating with architects, designers, general contractors and installers to create an expanding portfolio of innovative architectural metal solutions, including façades, rainscreens, fencing, and interior and exterior partitions.

“BŌK is a strong complement to our growing metal category and will add new design capabilities to Armstrong, with a particular focus on innovation that delivers a customer’s design intent with greater efficiency,” said Vic Grizzle, CEO and president of Armstrong World Industries.

BŌK was founded in Northern California in 2009 by designer Heddie Chu and architect Russ Naylor, who are both remaining with the company. With a unique approach to metal fabrication, design and engineering, BŌK works to bring design visions into reality by combining the best design and technical approach to provide superior aesthetics with simplicity and efficiency.

“Much like Armstrong, we pride ourselves on helping designers and architects bring their vision to life with simple, elegant solutions,” Chu and Naylor said. “Armstrong has built a unique position in the industry for metal architectural solutions, and we’re excited about the growth we can achieve by partnering with Armstrong. We look forward to collaborating with the Armstrong Móz and Arktura businesses, along with our broader metal network, as we share common design and innovation DNA.”

To learn more, visit armstrongceilings.com/BOKModern.

Huntsman Building Solutions Celebrates HBSU Curriculum for Spray Foam Contractors

Huntsman Building Solutions celebrated the success of HBS University, the company’s educational program for spray foam contractors and installers.

Established in January 2021, HBSU offers curricula for both brand-new and seasoned professionals, providing courses spanning building science and engineering, applicator training, applicator assistant training, sales, roofing and concrete lifting.

“With more than two-and-a-half years under our belt, we are extremely proud of the program and its role in the professional enrichment of our industry’s contractors and installers,” said Vincent Kerr, director of technical service with Huntsman Building Solutions. “HBS University is designed to [guide] contractors of all professional skill levels, whether new to the industry or simply in need of a refresher course; the interest and participation in the program continue to grow.”

HBSU courses are offered virtually, with several sessions scheduled each month. Contractors and installers may easily sign up online to participate by clicking here.

Existing courses include:

• HBSU Building Science and Engineering Training, a one-hour course.
• HBSU 101 Applicator Training, a two-day (14-hour) course.
• HBSU Applicator Assistant Training, a three-hour course.
• HBSU 201 Sales Training, a two-day (14-hour) course.
• HBSU 301 Roofing, a two-day (14-hour) course.
• HBSU Alt 1 Concrete Lifting.

Additionally, two new courses will debut in the fall of 2023:

• HBSU Alt 2 Retrofit Application.
• HBSU Applicator 101 Training in Spanish.

As a global provider of spray foam systems, HBS emphasized that it is committed to safety and best practices in installing its products.

“No matter what class is taken, these will always be two driving themes that inform the material and that contractors will walk away knowing much more about,” said Doug Brady, HBS’s chief strategy officer.

“Based on consistent demand, we are confident that interest in HBSU will only continue to grow,” Brady said. “And our team is proud to do our part in bettering the spray foam community and its members with the education that will help ensure product performance, safety, satisfied customers and…growth of spray polyurethane foam.”

For more information, visit huntsmanbuildingsolutions.com.

Winning “Rock the Block” Design Features Elegant Nichiha Cladding

Nichiha USA was an integral part of the design for the winning house on the recently completed season 4 of “Rock the Block,” which airs on HGTV. Nichiha worked directly with Michel Smith Boyd, the victorious designer, donating products that would help him realize his vision for the project.

Boyd and partner Anthony Elle of Luxe for Less were one of four designer teams that competed on the fourth season of the show, which took place in Berthoud, Colorado. The show challenged the design teams to renovate a 5,000-square-foot home for a budget of $250,000. As winners, the pair not only hold bragging rights, but they also have the block named in their honor.

In partnership with Boyd, Nichiha supplied their VintageWood cladding in Cedar as well as TuffBlock in Pewter. Both products were installed with matching corner pieces, a unique Nichiha offering.

“We were delighted to see that Michel’s design was victorious,” said Jason Monday, vice president of sales and marketing at Nichiha. “His use of Nichiha’s VintageWood and TuffBlock is cutting-edge in its incorporation of wood and concrete looks in a side-by-side layout. His eye for design is certainly worthy of high praise, and it was a delight for Nichiha to collaborate with him in the winning home’s façade.”

“Using sustainable materials in the past, I always felt like I would be compromising my aesthetic,” Boyd said. “With Nichiha, I wasn’t. I always loved a natural look, with the concrete and with stone. I love texture inside and out. So, the idea of having a more minimal exterior but not compromising on the palette I would have chosen if it was natural wood or natural stone was incredible. I’ve got the look and I’ve got better durability. That’s a win.”

The cladding that Boyd specified for the home isn’t just for show. Like all of Nichiha’s top-tier fiber cement products, the products chosen will perform for years to come. Both VintageWood and TuffBlock are part of the Architectural Wall Panel series at Nichiha, thicker cladding options that feature built-in rainscreens and install easily with Nichiha’s Ultimate Clip System.

“These particular products are an ideal blend of elegance and durability,” Monday added. “Like the other options in Nichiha’s roster, VintageWood and TuffBlock are fiber cement interpretations of classic materials. But unlike the wood and cement cladding they mimic, these two products install more easily and require less maintenance.”

For more information, visit nichiha.com.

RIDGID Employees Donate Food and Personal Care Items to Elyria’s Pioneer Freedge

RIDGID and its employees donated more than 400 food and personal care items, including vegetables, canned goods, box meals, pasta and soup to Elyria, Ohio’s Pioneer Freedge as part of a donation drive sponsored by Mosaic, an Emerson employee resource group focused on serving the community, celebrating diversity and creating an inclusive work environment for people working away from their home location.

The Freedge, located at the Elyria Public Library South Branch, is a place where people can leave surplus food items for others to take, reducing food waste and promoting community connections. It operates on the principle of “take what you need, leave what you can.”

“RIDGID is proud to be able to make a donation to the Freedge thanks to the generosity of our employees,” said Billy Yrad, industrial designer at RIDGID and coordinator of Mosaic for Emerson. “One of the goals of Mosaic is to participate in activities that bring us together as a community, and helping to fill the communal refrigerator is a wonderful way for us to connect and have a positive impact with our Elyria neighbors.”

The donation is the latest Mosaic-led supply drive for community benefit. The group last collected school supplies to provide Elyria school students with needed supplies to kick off the new school year. The group has also participated in several community service activities with Leaders of Today, a local organization helping the youth of Lorain County.

Simpson Strong-Tie Participates in 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake Test of 10-Story Mass Timber Building

Simpson Strong-Tie announced the successful completion of a series of seismic tests on the tallest building yet subjected to earthquake simulations. Tests on the 10-story mass timber structure were conducted as part of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure TallWood Project, a research project funded by the National Science Foundation and building industry partners to prove the strength and seismic resiliency of mass timber as a low-carbon structural building material.

Seismic tests simulating both the 1994 magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake and the 1999 magnitude 7.7 Jiji earthquake were conducted at the Englekirk Structural Engineering Center at the University of California San Diego, home to North America’s largest outdoor shake table and one of the two biggest earthquake simulators in the world, with a capacity of carrying and shaking structures weighing up to 2,000 metric tons across six axes of movement.

In addition to UCSD, a consortium of universities collaborated on the NHERI TallWood project, including the Colorado School of Mines; the University of Nevada, Reno; Colorado State University; the University of Washington; Washington State University; Oregon State University and Lehigh University. The project also received support from the U.S. Forest Service and the USDA Forest Products Laboratory.

“Mass timber is part of a massive trend in architecture and construction, but the seismic performance of tall buildings made with these new systems is not as well understood as other existing building systems,” said Shiling Pei, principal investigator and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Colorado School of Mines.

The 10-story-tall building is the tallest full-scale building ever tested on an earthquake simulation shake table and features a new rocking wall lateral system designed for resilient performance, meaning the building will have minimal damage from design-level earthquakes and be quickly repairable after rare earthquakes.

In 2017, Simpson Strong-Tie collaborated with the project team to test a two-story mass timber building by simulating the Northridge earthquake. In addition to demonstrating that mass timber building systems can be seismically resilient, those tests helped the research team develop the design and analysis methods that were used for the 10-story building. Simpson Strong-Tie also conducts seismic research on earthquake simulators located at the company’s Tyrell Gilb research facility in Stockton, California.

“As a pioneer in the development of stronger, more resilient structural systems, Simpson Strong-Tie is excited to partner with the NHERI project team to advance the research of mass timber performance during seismic events,” said Steve Pryor, advanced research manager at Simpson Strong-Tie. “These powerful earthquake simulations will help us better understand the resiliency of both structural and safety-critical nonstructural components in mass timber construction and will help to validate mass timber as a building material for tall structures in seismically prone areas.”

During the tests, an array of sensors measured the impact of seismic forces across a variety of building systems. In addition to the rocking wall lateral system, the building features four exterior façade assemblies, a number of interior walls and a 10-story stair tower.

The full findings of the construction and testing of the building will be published later this year and are expected to support continued adoption of mass timber as a strong and versatile building material for residential and commercial structures in areas prone to seismic activity.

For more information on the NHERI TallWood tests, visit nheritallwood.mines.edu. For photography and video of the testing, visit shaketable.ucsd.edu. Additional media resources, including video and photography, are available here.