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Partners for Tornado Certificati

NSSA NEWS 

INTERTEK PARTNERS WITH TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY AND NSSA
FOR TORNADO PRODUCT CERTIFICATION

Leaders in Wind Resistant Building Materials Research, Testing and Certification join to bring Tornado Product Certification to Market

March 2005; CHICAGO, IL- The ETL SEMKO division of Intertek recently partnered with Texas Tech University's Wind Science and Engineering Research Center (WISE) and the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) to provide product testing and certification for products intended for use in tornado resistant shelters.

"Intertek was proud to be selected by the leaders in tornado resistant materials research to bring Tornado Product Certification to market," said Jeff Turcotte, vice president, Intertek ETL SEMKO.  "This important work is certain to save lives by raising the bar of quality on wind and flying debris resistant materials, and tornado shelter construction."

Leveraging WISE's state-of-the-art research facilities and Intertek's certification expertise, manufacturers of all types of wind and flying debris resistant materials, and components (i.e., door assemblies), now have an industry recognized source for their product testing and certification needs. What's more, products that are tested and comply with the prescribed standards will bear Intertek's well known Warnock Hersey Certification Mark for building materials.

"The partnership between Intertek, WISE and NSSA is a significant step toward upgrading the quality in tornado shelter construction," said Ernst W. Kiesling, Ph.D., P.E., executive director of NSSA and Texas Tech University Professor of Civil Engineering.

About Intertek

Intertek Group plc. (ITRK), a global leader in testing, inspection and certification services, operates in over 273 laboratories and 521 offices in 100 countries throughout the world. The ETL SEMKO division of Intertek provides access to global markets through its local services including product safety testing and certification, EMC testing and performance/benchmark testing for customers in such industries as building products, appliances, HVAC, cables and wiring accessories, industrial machinery, medical devices, telecommunications, lighting, automotive, semiconductor, and electronics. For more information about Intertek's services, visit www.intertek-etlsemko.com or e-mail icenter@intertek.com.

About WISE

The Wind Science and Engineering (WISE) Research Center at Texas Tech University was established in 1970, following a tornado in Lubbock that caused 26 fatalities and over $100 million in damage.

The WISE Center is focused on research, education and information outreach.

The comprehensive and interdisciplinary research program aspires to exploit the useful qualities of wind and to mitigate its detrimental effects. The Center offers an interdisciplinary education in wind science and engineering to develop professionals who are experts in design for windstorms and wind-induced effects. The Center develops information on windstorm disaster mitigation and other wind-related subjects that can be made available to professionals and the public. For more information visit www.wind.ttu.edu.

About NSSA

The NSSA was formed to ensure the highest quality of manufactured and constructed storm shelters for protecting people from injury or loss of life from the effects of tornadoes, hurricanes and other devastating natural disasters. The association is self-policing to maintain public confidence and respect for the storm shelter industry. For more information visit www.nssa.cc.

 

ICC/ NSSA Standards Development

Under an agreement with the International Code Council (ICC ), the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) is cooperating in developing a national consensus standard for storm shelters. The new standard, to be accredited by the American National Standards Institute, will be called the ICC/NSSA Standard for Design and Construction of Storm Shelters. All types and sizes of shelters will be included as well as all geographic regions of the country. The current thinking of the committee is that tornadoes and hurricanes will be considered separately and that separate criteria will be established.

Under the agreement, NSSA may continue to post the NSSA industry standard, along with changes, on the web at www.NSSA.cc Hence, the NSSA Standard can be used effective to get standards provisions into practice long before the consensus process is complete and the ANSI-accredited standard is published. Upon publication of the ICC/NSSA Standard, NSSA will cease to make the industry standard available on the web and ICC will market the consensus standard. NSSA will be allowed volume discounts so that we might profit from the sale of the standard.

Mark Levitan, P.E., Ph.D., Director of the Hurricane Research Center at Louisiana State University and a professional member of NSSA, chairs the ICC/NSSA Committee. Serving as members of the ICC/NSSA Standards Committee are James Waller, P.E., President of NSSA and President of Remagen Corporation, Ernst Kiesling, P.E., Ph.D., Executive Director of NSSA, Dennis Graber, P.E., of the National Concrete Masonry Association and a Professional Member of NSSA and Kurt Roeper of IR Security. Jeremy Gilstrap, P.E., of Simpson Strong-Tie and Professional Member and Secretary of NSSA serves as an alternate to James Waller. Russell Carter, P.E., former Research Associate of Texas Tech and now a Ph. D. Student at Clemson University, serves as an alternate to Ernst Kiesling.

 

  McDonald Appointed for Third-Party Standards Verification

The firm of McDonald & Mehta, LLP, Wind Engineers of Lubbock, Texas has been appointed as a third-party agency for confirming verification of shelter designs with the NSSA Standard.  Dr. James R. McDonald, P.E., Ph.D., Professional Member of NSSA and a principal in McDonald & Mehta, will conduct the standards compliance verifications. Dr. McDonald has over 30 years of experience as a researcher in wind engineering and was involved in the development of shelter concepts, testing, and design while a faculty member at Texas Tech University.

C-Buck Engineering Third-Party Standards Verification

(Effective November 7, 2007)
  The firm of C-Buck Engineering of West Palm Beach, Florida has been appointed as a third-party agency to verify compliance of shelter designs with the NSSA Standard.  James L. (Jimmy) Buckner, P.E., SECB & President of C-Buck Engineering and Professional Member of NSSA will conduct standards compliance verifications.  Mr. Buckner's experience includes over thirty years in the evaluation, testing, design and construction of buildings and covering systems in the United States, and the Caribbean. He is active in code development and serves on Florida Building Code Roofing Technical Advising Committee and product approval workgroup. Awards include "1981 Engineer of the Year in Construction" by thirty Atlanta engineering societies.  Mr. Buckner is a Licensed Professional Engineer in the states of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.