AWC releases 2015 Manual for Engineered Wood Construction

Leesburg, Va. — The American Wood Council (AWC) released a revised 2015 Manual for Engineered Wood Construction, which contains design information for structural lumber, glued laminated timber, structural-use panels, cross-laminated timber, poles and piles, I-joists, and structural composite lumber.

The manual provides design information for structural applications of many wood-based products and their connections in accordance with requirements of the standards referenced. The manual incorporates dual formats, providing design provisions for both allowable stress design and load and resistance factor design. Informational chapters are organized to parallel those found in the National Design Specification for Wood Construction (NDS).

Some of the updates in the manual include:

• A new chapter on cross-laminated timber (CLT)
• New and updated tables on minimum sizes to qualify for heavy timber (Type IV) construction which now includes structural composite lumber (SCL) and CLT

The manual is organized for use with the AWC 2015 Wood Design Package which includes the 2015 NDS and Commentary, 2015 NDS Supplement: Design Values for Wood Construction, and 2015 Special Design Provisions for Wind and Seismic and Commentary.

“With the introduction of CLT in the 2015 NDS and 2015 International Building Code, this Manual provides another tool designers and code officials have at their disposal to assist with wood design and construction,” said AWC Vice President of Technology Transfer John “Buddy” Showalter. “For example, a new table in Chapter 16 of the Manual clearly shows where CLT and SCL can be used in Heavy Timber (Type IV) construction.”

The 2015 Manual is available as a free view-only download from the AWC website at www.awc.org/codes-standards/publications/nds-2015.