Evaluating Products & Building Systems

RobPickett &Associates, LLC

Providing technical services since 2001

Evaluating Products & Building Systems

How Green Are You?

Log homes qualify for the NGBP certification, but the log portion is just a piece of the overall project and the overall certification. In a sample project (northern climate, hydronic heating, few innovative technologies), it was not difficult to achieve a Silver rating (out of Bronze, Silver, or Gold). Yet 70% of the points were provided by decisions made by the builder/contractor/homeowner. Leaving only 30% of the points for the log home producer, the majority of these points were generated by documentation in the plans or construction manual.

If you are interested in having a verifier's view of your plans and construction manual to see how "green" they are, please contact Rob Pickett.

LOG:

► Renewable

► Sustainable

► Integrates insulation, thermal mass & structure

One way to improve the ability of your building product or system to gain approvals through building departments is to follow the Acceptance Criteria (AC) developed by ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES). The various AC’s have been written by ICC-ES staff, industry participants, and other experts and are largely based on ANSI consensus standards.

While there are a couple of competitive organizations (IAMPO and Architectural Testing) that provide similar services, Rob’s affiliation and experience with ICC has been fruitful in producing quality results. As a member of the ICC-ES Advisory Committee, Rob also has contributed to efforts to improve the services of ICC-ES.

The process of evaluating products is one of thorough review, analysis, testing and certified documentation. Working with the TimberLogic team, the submission process is of top quality. Examples of our work include AC233 on Alternate Dowel-type Threaded Fasteners and OMG/FastenMaster’s ESR-1078.

Just as in the evaluation of a green certification, quality assurance is extremely important in this process. One of the single most expensive elements of a submittal for an evaluation report can be the Quality Assurance Program. The ICC-ES AC for quality control programs is clear and very detailed. The importance of a third-party verification of and enforcement of an on-going quality control program is required to insure that the evaluation report reflects performance of the product that is manufactured. Changes made to the product without due process through the Quality Assurance Program can void the report.

Contact us for assistance with an evaluation report submission or the preparation of materials, documentation, quality control programs/manuals, and testing.

Evaluation Reports & Acceptance Criteria:

Contact Info

P.O. Box 490

11 Stimpson Hill

Hartland, V 05048

Phone & Fax: 802-436-1325

E-mail: robpickett@vemontel.net

This site was last updated

June 8, 2010

Click on the logos below to see how clients have put green to work ...

► Coordination and organization of testing, analysis, and quality documentation (per AC10) for submission for Evaluation Reports

► Drafting new Acceptance Criteria and working with industry to achieve consensus agreement for approval of new and/or revised criteria by the ICC-ES Evaluation Committee

Compliance with codes and standards:

Representing

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