On Friday October 19th, the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) will provide several presentations to inform design professionals and the construction industry about important design considerations and about conducting inspections in the City, as well as about the recent initiatives by the department. The event will be held at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering (NYU-Poly), Pfizer Auditorium, 5 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201. For more information and to RSVP to the event CLICK HERE.

The full day event will begin with a keynote speech by DOB’s First Deputy Commissioner Thomas Fariello R.A., who will discuss recent developments and an update on the online filing system being implemented by the department. DOB’s Chief Structural Engineer Dan Eschenasy, PE, F.SEI, SECB, will provide an overview of post fire structural investigations by design professionals (1 PDH). Chief of DOB’s Forensic Engineering Unit, Tim Lynch PE, will discuss Building Typology and NYC’s building classifications system (1 PDH) as well as lessons from the recent damage assessments in Puerto Rico (1 PDH). In addition, DOB’s Director of Sustainability Enforcement, Holly Savoia PE will discuss TR-8 energy progress inspections conducted by design professionals in New York City (1 PDH).

In addition, the Deputy Commissioner of the NYC Department of Design & Construction (DDC) Eric Macfarlane, PE, M.ASCE, will provide an overview of New York City’s efforts to engineer sustainability and resiliency in the face of Global warming and associated sea level rise projection and extreme weather events (1 PDH). Mr. Macfarlane will discuss NYC’s emissions reduction efforts to date and NYC’s Roadmap to 80% GHG reduction by 2050. Also discussed will be a few DDC projects and case studies related to sustainability and resiliency and 80X20 efforts to preserve and improve the quality of life for NYC residents. For more information and to RSVP to the event use the following link: RSVP to Event.

The presentation by DOB’s Director of Sustainability Enforcement, Holly Savoia PE will include a discussion on changes in the energy code and the continually evolving knowledge base of design professionals in an effort to improve energy performance and sustainable building practices in construction. Strong enforcement and education are a necessary component of this effort, and TR-8 progress inspectors play a crucial part in the bridge between the design phase and construction. The presentation will identify the resources available to design professionals for the conduct of progress inspections with respect to the energy code, the administration process to be followed, lessons learned by the Department of Buildings during a recent pilot study of alteration projects, a discussion of challenges, and what is coming up on the horizon.

The presentation by DOB’s Chief Structural Engineer Dan Eschenasy, PE, F.SEI, SECB, will include an overview of Post Fire Structural Investigations. Material specific methods of post-fire inspection and evaluation will be presented. Following a fire incident structural engineers are called to evaluate the structural stability and condition of the remaining structure and determine the needs for structural repairs. Fire characteristics and the effect of fire on various construction materials will be discussed (steel, concrete, stone and wood). [Read more…]