Tipping Mar

Post-tensioned Hybrid Walls Win Top Seismic Project Award: Innovations in Seismic Strengthening over the last Decade
The Applied Technology Council and the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers selected Tipping Mar’s seismic retrofit project 2850 Telegraph as the winner of the ATC-SEI Top Seismic Project Award in the concrete category. The awards were presented on December 10 at the ATC-SEI Gala Awards Dinner, “Celebrating New Innovations in Seismic Strengthening Over the Last Decade,” held in San Francisco. Click on the photo at left to see Tipping Mar’s seismic strengthening solution.

David Brower Center Design Team: Green Building Super Heroes!
In October, the Northern California chapter of the US Green Building Council announced the winners of the Third Annual Green Building Super Heroes Awards, with the Green Team Award going to the David Brower Center. The Green Team, led by architects Solomon ETC, includes Equity Community Builders, Loisos and Ubbelohde, Tipping Mar, Rumsey Engineers, LEED consultants Siegel and Strain, and Cahill Contractors. Tipping Mar’s high-slag, low-cement concrete mix slashed the building’s carbon footprint on the order of forty percent. The design team has applied for two LEED innovation credits for the structural design: one for the low-cement concrete, the other for the self-healing post-tensioned lateral system. Click on the David Brower photo above to see an animation of the PT shear-wall structure.

SEAOC Excellence Award for Corrugated-Metal Shear Walls
Tipping Mar’s entry to the SEAOC 2009 Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards Program received an Award of Excellence in the category of Study / Research / Guidelines. “Corrugated Sheet-Steel Shear-Wall Research” examined a new shear-wall system that can dramatically lower the construction costs of seismic-resistant, multistory, multiunit residential building using inexpensive, off-the-shelf components. Funded by a grant from the Charles Pankow Foundation, it was conducted at UC Berkeley under the direction of Professor Bodizar Stojadinovic and Steve Tipping. You can read the entire report, which details this innovative wall construction.

Structural Innovation Recognized by USGBC
Orinda City Hall recently received LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council, including two innovation points for its rocking-frame structure and specially designed high-slag concrete. The design team was led by architects Siegel and Strain and included Tipping Mar and Taylor Mechanical. Click on the Orinda City Hall photo to watch the rocking frame in action.

All of us at Tipping Mar wish you a structurally sound holiday and a robust and resilient 2010!