Instructor: Paul Spite

Board: South Carolina Architects

Credit Hours: 2.00
Rating:
387 ratings

Approval Number: J607BGS17


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Course Description


With erosion paths cut into solid rock as solid evidence, water in various forms contains immense power to eat away or destroy whatever is in its path. Whether it takes a year, two hundred or ten thousand, without intervention, water can and will destroy our man-made structures. Once a problem develops that opens a pathway for intrusion, one rainy season can render a building unsuitable for human use.
 
We have the knowledge and tools to combat such destruction of our structures. We implement counterattacks in the design stage, during construction, and afterwards with proactive maintenance. But the battle against water begins in the design phase.
 
Moisture resistance principles and methods are discussed in a systematic fashion, as in one building system at a time. Fundamentals are first covered including basic principles of water behavior, and the multiple paths it takes while invading buildings. A thorough knowledge of how destruction begins and escalates, drives the known design principles and material decisions used to stop such migration. Then practical solutions are discussed in detail.
 
The discussion is needed. The physical price tag for both our structures and their occupants, is too high to allow water free entry into our occupied spaces.


Course Objectives


Upon successful completion of this course, the participant will be able to:
  • Summarize how water moves, migrates, and behaves
     
  • Identify typical sources of excess moisture in our built environments
     
  • Discuss proactive prevention of unwanted moisture through planning and design
     
  • Explain methods used during construction to prevent the intrusion of water
     
  • Describe post-construction prevention of leakage by building envelope inspection and the prevention of water intrusion through control of condensation
     
  • Recognize common points of failure through which water can gain entrance

 



Instructor Bio


Paul SpitePaul Spite, BS, BA
AFD Consulting, Founder and Principal

Paul is a Registered Architect with over forty years of experience, a course developer and has been a teacher in multiple venues in the past. He is also a writer in many venues, having developed many studies, a few published articles, numerous short stories, multiple screenplays, two non-fiction manuals for church design and one novel. More to the focus of this endeavor, Paul has also created presentations for twenty-six lunch and learn presentations for building material manufacturers, webinars covering the subjects of Aging-in-Place and Architectural Acoustics and eleven distance learning courses for architects, engineers and contractors. As he nears retirement from managing his small architectural practice, Paul hopes to focus even more of his energy on teaching and on course development.



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