Design and Reference Books


These associations comprise the Wood Products Council. Click on any logo to open their web site.

Design and Reference Books

American Forest & Paper Association

Allowable Stress Design (ASD) Manual for Engineered Wood Construction – Packaged with the National Design Specification® (NDS®) for Wood Construction (2001 Edition) and its Supplement: Design Values for Wood Construction. Brings together all required elements for design of wood structures in one comprehensive package. Includes design information and examples for structural lumber, structural glued-laminated timber, structural-use panels, timber poles and piles, structural connections, wood I-joists, metal-plate-connected wood trusses, structural composite lumber, and pre-engineered metal connectors. Over 900 pages. #T101.
Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Manual for Engineered Wood Construction (1996 Edition) – Parallels the format of the Allowable Stress Design (ASD) Manual and includes the AF&PA/ASCE 16-95 Standard for LRFD for Engineered Wood Construction. Brings together all required elements for design of wood structures in one comprehensive package. Includes design information and examples for structural lumber, structural glued-laminated timber, structural-use panels, timber poles and piles, structural connections, wood I-joists, metal-plate-connected wood trusses, structural composite lumber, and pre-engineered metal connectors. Over 700 pages. #T80.
Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM) for One- and Two-Family Dwellings – (2001 Edition): Provides engineered and prescriptive requirements for wood frame construction based on dead, live, snow, seismic and wind loads derived from the 2000 International Building Code (IBC). Includes commentary. 312 pages. #T10-01.

American Institute of Timber Construction

Timber Construction Manual – Fifth Edition, 2004: Design information on sawn and glued-laminated timber members and their fastenings. Emphasis is on single members such as columns, beams, arches, and trusses. Includes AITC standards, section properties and design values for both sawn and glued-laminated timber, plus design-aid tables. Based on the 1991 NDS®. 904 pages.

American Society of Agricultural Engineers

Post-Frame Building Design – edited by John N. Walker and Frank E. Woeste, 1992: Documents the engineering analysis and design of postframe buildings. Covers structural loads and design, diaphragms, posts, foundations, lumber treatments, a full-scale building test, and a one-hour wall fire test. 358 pages.

American Society of Civil Engineers

Wood Engineering in the 21st Century: Research Needs and Goals – edited by Kenneth J. Fridley, 1998: Proceedings of workshop to develop a framework for future coordinated research in wood engineering. 168 pages.

Canadian Wood Council

Introduction to Wood Building Technology – Wood-frame construction, building envelopes, and inspection of new and existing structures. Design and construction details with more than 200 drawings. 430 pages.
Wood Reference Handbook – Covers specifications for structural wood products, connections, and finishes. Provides details for products, techniques, and applications. Contains over 400 photos and drawings and more than 80 tables. 560 pages.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Canadian Wood-Frame House Construction – Guide on building woodframe houses from excavation to finishing touches. Includes illustrations, sizing tables, metric and imperial measurements, Planning Ahead and Checking Back notes, plus Healthy Housing TM tips to improve indoor air quality and minimize environmental impacts. 300 pages.

Forest Products Laboratory

Clark C. Heritage Memorial Series – Available from Materials Education Council. Four-volume series providing educational materials on wood in a form adaptable for use in colleges of engineering. Intended as ready packages of information that can be incorporated into existing courses or form the basis of new courses for engineers and architects.

Volume I, Wood: Its Structure and Properties,1981, 465 pages.

Volume II, Wood as a Structural Material,1982.

Volume III, Adhesive Bonding of Wood and Other Structural Materials, 1983.

Volume IV, Wood: Engineering Design Concepts,1987, 606 pages.

Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material – 1999: Available from Forest Products Society or U.S. Government Printing Office. Summarizes information on wood as an engineering material. Provides physical and mechanical properties of wood and how these properties are affected by variations in the wood itself. 466 pages.

Forest Products Society

Manual for the Inspection of Residential Wood Desks and Balconies
Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material
The Nature of Wood and Wood Products CD-ROM
Wood Decks: Materials, Construction and Finishing
Nondestructive Evaluation of Wood
Building an Industrial Wood Finish
Finishes for Exterior Wood: Selection, Application, and Maintenance
Enhancing the Durability of Lumber and Engineered Wood Products

Kluwer Academic Publishers

Structural Design in Wood – Second Edition by Judith J. Stalnaker and Ernest C. Harris, 1997: Integrates theory with practical design and contains step-by-step explanations. Contains numerous example problems using Allowable Stress Design (ASD) and selected examples using Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD). Based on the 1991 NDS® and the 1995 LRFD Standard. 448 pages. (ISBN 0412106310)

The McGraw-Hill Companies

APA Engineered Wood Handbook – Thomas G. Williamson, P.E., Editor, 2002: The handbook addresses the design and use of glued engineered wood composite products in building construction applications. An APA scientist or engineer wrote each of the handbook’s 13 chapters.
Design and Construction of Wood-Framed Buildings – by Morton Newman, 1994: Practical and graphic medium of communication among architects, engineers, and contractors. 350 design details and diagrams. 400 pages. (ISBN 0070463638)
Design of Wood Structures: Allowable Stress Design – Fourth Edition by Donald E. Breyer, Kenneth J. Fridley and Kelly Cobeen, 1999: Focuses on Allowable Stress Design (ASD). Provides the latest information on loading criteria and lateral force design (wind or earthquake). Based on the 1997 NDS®. 950 pages. (ISBN 0070077169)
Timber Construction for Architects and Engineers – by Eliot E. Goldstein, 1998: Construction details illustrate how wood is used with other materials. Advantages of wood products are compared with alternatives such as steel and concrete. 140 illustrations. 400 pages. (ISBN 0070245800)
Wood Engineering and Construction Handbook – Third Edition edited by Keith F. Faherty and Thomas G. Williamson, 1998: One-stop resource for designing wood structures and wood components. Discusses basic engineering properties of wood and provides design procedures, design equations, and many examples in Allowable Stress Design (ASD). Based on the 1997 NDS®. 340 illustrations. (ISBN 0070220700)
Wood Framing Portable Handbook – by Jonathan F. Hutchings, 1999. (ISBN 0071342478)

National Frame Builders Association

Post-Frame Building Design Manual – 2000: Proper design of postframe buildings, including building codes, structural loads and deflection criteria, structural design, diaphragm design, post properties, post foundation design, and design examples. 95 pages.

National Wood in Transportation Information Center

Timber Bridges: Design, Construction, Inspection, and Maintenance – by Michael A. Ritter, 1990: Information on modern timber bridge technology. A comprehensive source for timber bridge design, construction, inspection, and maintenance. 1000 pages.

West Publishing Company

by Shan Somayaji, 1990: Designed for upper level wood courses in civil engineering and architecture. Broad coverage ranges from the design of trusses, arches, and beam columns to wind and seismic analysis. Emphasizes element rather than systems design. 600 pages. (ISBN 0314481451)

Western Wood Products Association

Western Woods Use Book (WWUB) – Fourth Edition, 1996: Western species and grade information, design data, formulas and example problems, shear and moment diagrams, beam design, tables for Western lumber and timbers, column tables, lateral forces information, mechanical connections. Update package includes the 2001 NDS® and other updated technical data. More than 200 pages.

Wiley Publishers

Simplified Design of Wood Structures – Fifth Edition by Harry Parker and James Ambrose, 1997: Complete and practical introduction to the design of wood structures for buildings. Intended for readers with limited experience in engineering mechanics, structural analysis, or advanced mathematics. 351 pages. (ISBN 0471179892)

Wood Truss Council of America

Metal Plate Connected Wood Truss Handbook, Third Edition: The reference book on metal plate connected wood trusses was updated in 2002 with the most current industry standards and building codes, history, design, fabrication, testing, quality assurance, connection details, fire resistance assemblies and much more - over 50 pages have been added since the last edition. Also included are appendices containing span tables, design aids, specifications, a glossary, industry associations, and a list of WTCA members. This is the most comprehensive industry reference of its kind. 480 pages.

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