NRCA updates Roof Wind Designer

The National Roofing Contractors Association, Rosemont, Ill., has updated its online wind-load calculator, Roof Wind Designer. Available at www.roofwinddesigner.com, Roof Wind Designer is a web-based application intended to provide roofing professionals with an easy way to determine roof systems’ design wind loads for many commonly encountered building types subject to building code compliance. Roof Wind Designer is based on ASCE 7-05, “Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures,” a widely recognized consensus standard method for determining design wind loads on buildings and other structures. Roof Wind Designer previously was limited to low-slope roof systems with slopes equal to or less than 1 1/2:12; the application has been updated to include buildings’ roofs with slopes up to 12:12 and hip roofs with slopes up to 6:12. In addition, safety factors addressing steel or aluminum metal panel roof systems have been incorporated. For more information about Roof Wind Designer, contact Joan P. Crowe, AIA, NRCA’s director of technical services, at (800) 323-9545, ext. 7576 or jcrowe@nrca.net. For information about NRCA and its services and offerings, visit www.nrca.net.