The Fall 2024 semester is now in full swing. SEAoT-TAMU kicked off the fall semester by hosting Mr. Joel Barron and Ms. Sarah Courson from Thornton Tomasetti. Joel Barron, PE, has more than 20 years of experience designing structural systems for commercial, educational, healthcare, residential, retail, and sports projects. Sarah Courson just recently graduated and has already had the opportunity to work on multiple aviation projects. Both presenters received their undergraduate and masters degrees from Texas
A&M University. Their former faculty advisors and classmates were happy to see them again and sat in
for the presentation.
Joel Barron and Sarah Courson presented an overview of embodied carbon and what Thornton Tomasetti is doing to reduce embodied carbon in a shared effort to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. As structural designers, their team has more control over the design and materials of a building rather than continued maintenance. As such, Thornton Tomasetti has begun compiling data and strategies for cement replacement solutions, such as use of mass timber in place of concrete or steel. Mass timber, specifically the use of cross laminated timber (CLT), inherently has significantly less embodied carbon than other conventional building materials and does not rely on coal-fired furnaces or coal byproducts like other structural materials. Additionally, architects and owners love the aesthetics of exposed lumber.
Joel Barron and Sarah Courson shared a case study of the mass timber framed Southstone Yards in Frisco, TX. This is a project that Joel worked on personally. As such, he was able to give detailed accounts of the
design and building process as well as the specific challenges and techniques encountered when
designing for mass timber structures. The students had many questions about how working with CLT
differed from conventional building materials and if it posed any unique challenges. One interesting
difference was the care that had to be taken when ultimately sealing up the building and activating the
temperature controls. The rate of cooling and dehumidification had to be taken into account as to not
crack the wood. Further, calculations for fire safety are also different. When evaluating for fire, a certain
amount of a member’s cross-sectional area can be considered “charred”. The damaged area no longer
contributes to the strength of the structural member, but the load capacity is not completely lost.
In the end, the presentation given by Thornton Tomasetti was a success and marked a new record for
meeting attendance. The SEAoT-TAMU officers hope to continue the good momentum for the rest of the semester. In addition to Thornton Tomasetti, SEAoT-TAMU has a great lineup of presenters for the fall semester. The schedule for the presentations is listed below.
Fall 2024 SEAoT-TAMU Schedule
- Sept. 3, 2024 – Thornton Tomasetti
- Sept. 17, 2024 – L.A. Fuess Partners
- Oct. 1, 2024 – Datum Engineers
- Oct. 15, 2024 – MiTek
- Oct. 29, 2024 – BakerRisk
- Nov. 12, 2024 – Pape-Dawson Engineers
