Wood construction offers economic, performance and environmental advantages not typically found with other structural materials. Wood is cost effective, versatile and adaptable. It’s renewable and has a light carbon footprint. It also has a proven record for safety, evidenced by its use not only in 90 percent of all U.S. home construction but in some of today’s most innovative non-residential architecture.

Wood was used as a primary construction material for Fire Station 76 in Oregon | Architecture: Hennebery Eddy Architects

In terms of fire protection, building codes require all buildings to perform to the same level of safety regardless of materials. Wood buildings can be designed to meet rigorous standards for performance, which is why the International Building Code (IBC) allows the use of wood in a wide range of building types.

Learning Objectives – After this course, you should be able to:

  1. Analyze fire protection in wood buildings in terms of compliance with the 2009 International Building Code (IBC).
  2. Discuss the fundamentals of passive and active fire protection.
  3. Determine allowable wood use in buildings in accordance with the 2009 IBC.
  4. Describe provisions in the IBC for increasing the height and area of wood buildings beyond the base tabular amounts.
  5. Identify and select tested fire-rated wood-frame assemblies or, to use non-listed assemblies, calculate the fire endurance of load bearing and non-load bearing wood assemblies using the Component Additive Method (CAM).
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