Technical Magazines
by Ed Buch, CSI, CCS, AIA
Staying current with the latest developments in materials and construction technology is a never ending process. Finding the time for this in our busy professional lives is one concern but, even more difficult, is finding authoritative sources of information. Certainly, The Construction Specifier has to be considered the premier periodical for information on construction materials and building systems. However, there are many others sources available and many of them are free. I’ve listed here a few that I’ve found useful and, in succeeding months, I will list more. If you receive similar magazines or newsletters that you think would be of interest to other members, please share their names with me and I will include them in the list.

Metalmag. www.metalmag.com. Published bi-monthly and includes articles on metal buildings, metal roofing and metal siding. It had an excellent article last year on the skin of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Industry news, useful product ads are included along with technical articles for architects and specifiers.

HPAC Engineering. www.hpac.com. Published monthly by Penton Publishing. Includes technical articles, and great graphics, on heating, piping, air conditioning, and fire protection aimed at building services engineers. Some of the information is useful for architects and specifiers like the recent articles on building skin considerations in HVAC design.

Walls & Ceilings. www.wconline.com. Published monthly by bnp Media. Aimed at both designers and builders, it includes articles on plaster, gypsum wallboard, metal stud framing, and EIFS. An issue last year described the unique wall framing challenges encountered on the interior construction of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Articles are frequently included on sound control and fire resistance issues. A lot of construction industry articles and useful product news and advertisements are also included.

California Construction Link. www.californiaconstructionlink.com. Published monthly by McGraw-Hill Construction. Each issue includes construction and design industry news with an emphasis on contractors and subcontractors work on recent building projects. Project reports from both northern and southern Califor nia are included.

Glass Magazine. www.glass.org. Published monthly by the National Glass Association. Aimed primarily at glass and glazing subcontractors but it also has useful information for architects and specifiers. Projects are presented to illustrate different aspect of windows, skylights, glass storefronts, and curtain walls. A recent issue had a thorough summary of the building codes related to glass and glazing.

Doors and Hardware. www.publications@dhi.org. Published monthly by the Door and Hardware Institute. The magazine provides a blend of information for door hardware suppliers as well as for architects and specifiers. A recent issue included three articles of interest. One was on selecting wood door face veneers, another was on aspects of fire rated doors and the third presented considerations on specifying specialty metal doors.

Next month, we will continue this survey with more magazines covering roofing, architectural lighting, architectural woodwork, and architectural stonework.

Ed Buch is an architect in the Los Angeles office of Leo A Daly. A Nebraska native, he has worked in Los Angeles since 1988. Prior to that, he worked in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, and 5 years in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has been member since 1981, and is currently an Institute director from the West Region, CSI.