Shaken, Not Broken: Designing Enclosures for a Moving World

This session will delve into commercial construction materials and their performance in response to natural building movements such as wind-induced deflection, thermal expansion and contraction, creep, and seismic activity.
Join us to examine how building materials behave under dynamic loads and how these forces influence the long-term durability and functionality of building enclosures. Plus, learn about fundamental material properties along with the comparative performance of traditional and emerging technologies. You'll leave with the ability to assess critically how a variety of façade systems respond to building movement and to design more robust, adaptable building enclosure assemblies.

Learning Objectives

1. Examine the primary natural forces that cause building movement—including wind loads, seismic events, thermal cycles, and structural settlement—and how these forces influence commercial construction assemblies.
2. Evaluate the behavior and performance characteristics of common commercial construction materials when subject to dynamic movement.
3. Learn how to apply industry-standard testing procedures related to building movement (e.g., AAMA/FGIA, ASTM, and ICC-ES protocols) to determine material compatibility, movement capacity, and failure modes.
4. Assess how building enclosure interfaces and transitions respond to movement, and propose design strategies, detailing solutions, and product selections to minimize system failures and enhance long-term performance.

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