1939 to Present

In 1939, inventor William E. Urschel created the world’s first 3-D printed building behind a small warehouse in Valparaiso, Indiana. The following year he would file a series of patents for a “Wall Building Machine” (Figure 1). This simple yet ingenious machine would be used to fabricate multistory structures with integrated reinforcement and a self-supporting dome, all printed in concrete without formwork. In the late 30s, this process might have been described as layered, horizontal slip forming. With these early prototypes, Urschel matched much of the innovation we see today in Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM) 60 years before the first modern examples of construction 3-D printing were published by Behrokh Khoshnevis in the early 2000s (Khoshnevis 2004). Urschel explored geometric design freedom, reinforcement, variable extrusion, material compaction, and, most notably, created full-scale buildings, the very first of which is a still an occupied, working structure. A look at the details of Urschel’s Wall Building Machine (Figure 1) provides a critical lens for engineers and designers to view the rapidly growing industry adoption of 3-D printing technology.

A Supertall Hybrid Timber Response to the Climate Crisis

Sustainably harvested mass timber significantly reduces embodied carbon. And yet it remains a niche technology in the global construction industry. Given the rather urgent timeline of the climate crisis, how can we make mass timber mass-market…and fast?

Assisting in Innovation, Development, and Progress

Over the last three decades, structural design standards have clearly grown more prescriptive and complex. Some engineers argue that this has stifled structural engineering innovation. While this may be true to some extent, our codes and standards have always left the door open for engineers to design structures that do not fully meet the letter of the prescriptive codes and standards via demonstrating equivalent performance. In fact, ASCE 7, Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures, and the International Building Code (IBC) both now have specifically recognized performance-based design procedures (see Section 1.3.1.3 of ASCE 7-16, e.g.).

Anyone remotely involved in the building sector cannot help but notice the industry’s monumental shift in acknowledging the intensity of the climate crisis and in formulating strategies focused on meeting the urgent need to achieve net-zero carbon goals by midcentury. The heightened awareness and sustainability-driven activity will continue to gain momentum as highly influential players in the field, such as the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (SEI) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) lead the charge.

Over the last few years, Virtual Reality (VR) has moved from a gimmick to a valuable tool in the construction industry.

Studies show that a large and unnecessary part of a construction budget is typically allocated towards fixing mistakes made during planning and execution or correcting bad solutions after work is completed. The root cause of this is a lack of clear communication among stakeholders. The cost of fixing completed work becomes more expensive late in the project. Too often, it results in either high costs or sub-optimal solutions for the end-user. A large percentage of these issues can be prevented with clear and understandable communication early in the project.

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck near Sparta, North Carolina, on August 9, 2020, at 8:07 a.m. local time. The event was the strongest North Carolina earthquake since 1916, producing “very strong” shaking and over 100,000 Did You Feel It? reports throughout the southern, midwestern, and northeastern United States. More than 500 residential and commercial structures were damaged during the quake. As a result, North Carolina Emergency Management deployed eight post-disaster building safety evaluators, including four engineers, to evaluate the damaged structures for safe occupancy.

The Top Non-Technical Skill Structural Engineers Need in an Evolving AEC Industry

In 1996, a bespectacled nerdy high school student leaped out of her car with a movie rental. She slid in the rain, dashing to the Blockbuster drop-off a mere minute before closing. Her singular focus: to return the movie and avoid the late fees that cost more than the initial rental. That teenager was me.

Fire is the most common devastating event a building can experience. The structural integrity of a building is vulnerable to high temperatures from a fire because steel melts, wood burns, and concrete cracks! Yet, these are the materials structural engineers use to hold up the building. The materials must maintain integrity during a fire long enough to protect the building occupants and allow firefighters to put out the fire.

For centuries, structural engineers have been intrigued by the unique allure of designing buildings that rise higher, span longer, and assemble materials in new and counterintuitive ways. One of the current frontiers is building taller with wood. The introduction of cross-laminated timber has accelerated this pursuit, most notably in Europe and North America. While pushing the envelope is a noble objective, doing so just to secure bragging rights misses the mark. Just as the structural engineering community asks if it makes sense to build ever taller with concrete and steel, the same question can apply to tall wood towers.

The climate crisis has shifted priorities in all sectors. For structural engineers, improving performance, such as reducing emissions embodied in structural materials, can improve low-carbon building design. Parametric design can enhance current structural design methods by enabling designers to more readily explore the design space, the space of available design solutions, and optimize within it for single or multiple objectives. This exploration can reveal high-performance or optimal structural solutions that may otherwise have been overlooked. While many architects have started using parametric design methods in recent years, there are untapped opportunities for structural engineers to use such approaches to enhance collaborations with architects and play a more active role in the design process. This article presents both theoretical background and practical tips for structural engineers to implement parametric design in their work.