Pre-Conference Workshops
Prior to the Main Event that begins on Friday, we will host three Pre-Conference workshops and a bus tour on Thursday, October 13th. The workshops are an opportunity to hone your skills in an all-day intensive session with a small group of participants and expert instructors
Separate registration fee required. Note that the Main Conference fee is not included with Pre-Conference tuitions. All workshop fees are $100 for TFG members, $125 non-members (includes lunch and breaks).
Bus Tour of Historic Shelburne Farms & Shelburne Museum
Thursday, Oct. 13
Prior to the start of the main conference at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel and Conference Center, we will have a day-long tour of historic Shelburne Farms and the nearby Shelburne Museum. The 1,400-acre Farms was built as a model agricultural estate in 1886, is a national historic site and has magnificent 19th century buildings in a beautiful pastoral setting. One of the premier country estates of its time, it was well known for the architectural achievements of Robert H. Robertson and Frederick Law Olmstead. It includes a number of massive barns, one of which included the largest clear span truss of its time. We will get up into a number of roofs in the barns. Visit the Farm’s website at www.shelburnefarms.org.
The Shelburne Museum features one of America's most extensive and diverse collections of folk art, housed in 37 historic buildings (a dozen restored timber frames among them), including a covered bridge, a horseshoe barn, and round barn. Tour their website at www.shelburnemuseum.org.
Tour fee: $100, including transportation, admission fees to sites, guides and lunch. The bus will depart the Sheraton Burlington Hotel promptly at 8:00 AM on Thursday, Oct. 13th. Limited to 50 people.
Workshop #1: Let The Crane Take the Strain with Gord Macdonald and Steve Lawrence
Learn about a broad range of skills and techniques to enhance the safety and productivity of your crew when working with cranes. A mixture of classroom theory and hands on practical demonstrations designed to expand your repertoire and lift your skills to new heights.
In the morning we will be covering:
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Lift Planning:
Drawings, engineering, center of gravity calculations, rigging lists, briefings and documentation.
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Lifting Equipment:
Sling types, shackles, master links, hoists and spreader bars.
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Training:
What is the difference between slinging, signaling, inspection and lift supervisor and what constitutes good training for each?
In the afternoon we will be outside playing with a very large crane to demonstrate the following:
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Machine selection and safety checks before work
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General rigging practice, signaling blind and use of radios
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Rigging for rolling lifts and transfer lifts
Gordon and Steve have extensive experience with big lifts at Carpenter Oak and Woodland in Scotland. They now reside in British Columbia, and recently supervised the raising at the Guild’s Salem (OR) project. They will be assisted at the workshop by a brand new 90-ton crane generously provided by Classen Crane Service.
Workshop #2: Dimensioning and Layout of Compound Joinery with Wil Dancey and Tony Wall
A roof system containing complex compound joinery is a
challenge from start to finish. How can we communicate the
details of the structure, with the least amount of confusion and
errors, especially when more than one person is involved?
Through the analysis of many examples of compound joinery, participants will have the opportunity to experience two equally important perspectives. The first is the point of view of the
designer, who in this case will also be the person responsible for dimensioning the shop
drawings. We will encourage lively discussion regarding what needs to be dimensioned – or not!
The second is through the eyes of the layout person, who has to make sense of the information that is provided by the designer. Hands-on layout of timbers will demonstrate the importance of
understanding how to dimension compound joinery.
It doesn’t matter whether the designer is drawing by hand or
using CAD/CAM software; or whether the production team is
using a chisel or a power tool. What does matter is that each
person in this workshop will experience both perspectives.
The goal isn’t therapy for the workplace, although that would
be a bonus! The goal is effective communication of the design details for efficient and accurate layout in the shop.
Wil Dancey is a timber framer with experience in both Europe and North America. Over the past four years, he has presented many workshops on compound joinery for the TFG, log building associations, and the University of British Columbia. Wil is also the Managing Director of Dietrich's NA.
Tony Wall graduated from Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, as a Manufacturing Engineering Technician in 1994. His background in AutoCAD and architectural drawing are complimented by his expertise with Dietrich's software. Tony also has theoretical and practical timber frame training in Europe and North America.
Workshop #3: Best Practices for Completing a Timber Frame Home Within Budget with Al Wallace: Proven Solutions for Comfort, Safety, Energy Efficiency and Environmental Stewardship
This workshop and conference presentation is targeted to individuals and company principals who are interested in completing a house apart from physically erecting the timber frame. The workshop will identify the basic issues associated with general contracting a home from site selection to completion plus discuss system integration issues specific to timber framing are presented and discussed in detail.
The selected topics incorporate best industry practices to realize comfort, safety and energy efficiency without breaking the budget. Workshop registrants should leave with the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions about technology and cost trade-offs in timber frame infrastructure, and the tools to select and communicate effectively with subcontractors to implement these choices. The format is multiple content-rich lectures designed for extensive audience participation, hands-on exposure to systems components, and one-on-one consulting as time permits. Workshop attendees should bring house plans, current building challenges and systems requirements, which can be incorporated in discussions.
Al Wallace has worked with architects and builders to improve the construction quality and utility of residential and commercial buildings that are healthy, comfortable, and energy efficient, yet affordable. While every owner desires these attributes in their home, very few achieve these goals. Most are under the false assumption that building codes provide these benefits. Timber frame homes are even more daunting in that most construction professionals do not understand how to integrate systems designed for stick-built structures with "big beam" construction. By default, these trades people apply stick-built techniques to timber framing failing to comprehend the opportunities presented by a structure, which is separate from the skin and encloses great spaces. The result is often poor material selection and systems integration (plumbing, electrical, heating/cooling, security, and communications) within the timber frame at a much higher price than stick built homes. By selecting the appropriate mainstream technologies and methods appropriate to the timber frame, the owner, architect, or general contractor will reduce life cycle costs significantly while creating a beautiful, comfortable and energy efficient home, which contributes to environmental sustainability.
This workshop assumes no prior construction knowledge by the attendees, yet most construction professionals would benefit from its content. Al incorporates design ideas with specific building recommendations - picking up where codebooks and construction references fall short. He provides an overview of the general contracting process and steps to complete the home from site selection to obtaining a certificate of occupancy. Using a systems approach to home construction, he advocates and provides clear advice how the owner, architect or general contractor can create a design/build team to make a dream a reality. Contract vehicles are compared in order that attendees can best select legal documents to meet their needs.
As a consultant on building science, Al makes specific recommendations for site selection and considerations, foundations, moisture control, skin and insulation material selection, windows selection and orientation, state-of-the-art systems including plumbing and hot water recirculation, waste and grey water issues, geothermal heating and cooling options, radiant floor heating selection, installation and operation, roofing considerations, and a variety of best practices that provide great value at little or no additional cost. His extensive handouts address pitfalls to traditional construction practices and documents much of the material covered in lectures, and result from years consulting with professionals to address similar issues. He will bring a library of books relevant to the topics presented.
Timber framers, architects, and homeowners-to-be should leave this workshop with the ability to select systems which enable better integration with the frame while providing far superior comfort, indoor air quality, and energy efficiency than traditional construction methods.
Facilitator Information
Al Wallace, a TFG member for a decade and a half, is the principal of TechECO Corporation. In this role, he assists homeowners, architects and builders incorporating energy efficient and sustainable technologies in residential and commercial buildings. Recently he has worked with several owners to incorporate these technologies into their future homes. Al has a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering for the U.S. Air Force Academy, an MBA in Management, and recently completed dual Masters Degrees in Architecture and Landscape Architecture. He holds certificates from the University of Colorado in Design/Build Construction and Preservation/Restoration, certification from the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association, Water Furnace, and Wirsbo for the design and installation of geothermal and radiant floor systems, and certification as an E-Star Energy Rater. His passion is providing alternative energy, and enabling water and communications capabilities to off-grid villages in remote parts of the world. He was last seen in Angola, Indiana with a sore thumb.
Al can be reached at alwallace@covad.net, or at (303) 877-5776. He lives with his family in a stick-built unsustainable suburban residence outside of Denver with indoor plumbing, and he often sleeps in the doghouse: heated and ventilated with radon-ridden warm crawlspace air.
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