I recently completed a submittal review for Black Roofing Inc. Black Roofing Inc. was submitting a metal siding and solar collector metal wall panel package for review and approval by the Engineer of Record for a project. One of the requirements of the project specifications was a Professional Engineer with a Colorado license submitting calculations showing the panel attachments were adequate for the applicable loads, including dead, live and wind loads.
Typically, the calculations include determining the loads and the tributary area for each connection and verifying the proposed connection pattern is adequate. For example the solar collector wall panel was perforated which allows wind to get behind the panel, causing wind pressure to “push” the panel away from the building’s exterior wall. In addition, it was necessary to determine the wind suction pressure for the wall panel attachments, caused by the wind blowing away from the wall. Once the worst case of load combinations was determined, each attachment condition was analyzed. Usually there are multiple attachments; such as, the panel was attached to a hat channel which was attached to light gage Z-purlins which in turn, are attached to embed plates placed in a precast concrete wall. Once the tributary area was determined for each connection point and multiplied by the loads, the connections can finally be verified.
Black Roofing Inc. has been in business since 1975 and has extensive experience in both commercial and residential projects with all types of roofing systems including flat, sheet metal and shingle roofing.
