MC026 Structural Engineering
Enrolment open
Five Modules, Ten Lectures, One Continuous Chain of Numbers — From Load Path and Wind Pressure to Brackets, Framing, Glass, Reports, and Movement
About This CPD
A façade is fixed to the structure but must never help to hold the building up. Almost everything in façade structural engineering follows from that one sentence — what the façade carries, what it must be allowed to follow, and where the responsibility of the façade engineer ends. This complete technical CPD course covers the discipline in five modules and ten lectures, in the order real projects follow: the fundamentals, every calculation, the reports, and the movement and tolerance coordination that draws it all together.
Presented by Eugene Korch (IAST), the course is built as a single chain rather than a set of separate sessions. The wind pressure calculated in lecture 04 becomes the line load on the mullion in lecture 07; the mullion reactions become the bracket loads of lectures 05 and 06; the same pressures set the glass build-up in lecture 08; and every result ends up in a report that someone who was not there has to trust. Real project material runs through all of it — wind calculations, bracket schedules, load tables and European Technical Assessments, glass static analysis reports, and tolerance schedules.
This course covers:
Introduction to Structural Aspects — what façade structural engineering is, where the façade engineer’s responsibility ends, and the load path, movement, and stiffness ideas every later lecture is built on
Structural Logic of Façade Systems — every common system compared: its elements in order, its load path, its critical element, and its governing calculation
Engineering the Envelope: Structural Load Assessment — the complete load list from dead load and wind to impact, thermal, seismic, snow, and maintenance, and the combinations that govern
Wind in Action — the full wind calculation from the national wind map through terrain, orography, and peak velocity pressure to the net design pressure on every zone
Bracket and Fixing Design for Cladding Systems — the five-step rainscreen design, from the rail capacity through the eccentricity moments to the anchor and the pull-out test on site
Bracket and Fixing Design for Curtain Walling Systems — one fixed point per mullion section, angle brackets and spigots, the hole logic, and anchors in the narrow slab edge
Mullion and Transom Design for Curtain Walling Systems — the four-step framing calculation, the deflection limit solved for the required second moment of area, and why stiffness governs
Theory and Standards for Insulating Glass Unit Analysis — glass types and safety classification, sealed unit behaviour, the cavity pressure load, and the calculation framework in Europe and North America
Reports Preparation: General Requirements — traceability, findable conclusions, limits of applicability, and the anatomy of every report in the façade package
Façade Movement and Tolerances — movement types, tolerance stacking, joint and sealant sizing, and the failures that follow when the worst combination is missed
Using complete worked calculations, real project material, and clear diagrams, this CPD focuses on the practical goal: façade calculations you can carry out, check, and defend — and reports that can be trusted by someone who was not there when the work was done.
What You'll Learn
Explain what façade structural engineering covers and where the façade engineer’s responsibility ends
Read the structural hierarchy of any common façade system and name its critical element and governing calculation
Compile the complete load schedule for a project and separate genuine loads from the movements the façade must follow
Carry out a full wind load calculation from the wind map to the net design pressure on every zone
Design and verify brackets and fixings for both rainscreen and curtain walling, eccentricity moments and anchors included
Size curtain wall mullions and transoms from the deflection limit, and explain why stiffness governs the framing
Check an insulating glass unit for every load it carries, cavity pressure included, with load shared between the panes
Calculate movements and tolerance stacks, and size joints and sealants for the worst credible combination
Write and review calculation reports that are traceable, conclusive, and bounded by stated limits of applicability
Target Audience
This course is designed for design professionals working on residential, commercial, and mixed-use developments where the façade package carries the highest technical risk — and for anyone who writes, reviews, or relies on the calculations behind it.
This Short Course is designed for:
Architects
Architectural Technologists
Envelope Designers
Façade Specialist Contractors
Junior Façade Engineers
Building Envelope Consultants
Structural Engineers
Developers
Project Managers
Building Control Officers
Regulators
Cost Consultants
Design Managers
Speaker
Eugene Korch
Programme Director, IASTEugene is a facade engineer and educator who leads educational initiatives through the Institute for Architectural Science and Technology (IAST) and Facade Intelligence, delivering training to construction professionals.
Course Details
Format: On-demand video course
Certificate: CPD certificate provided upon completion
MC026
Structural Engineering
The complete structural calculation course for building façades: five modules and ten lectures covering system load paths, every load acting on the envelope, wind pressures, brackets and fixings, mullions and transoms, insulating glass units, calculation reports, and movement and tolerance coordination. Presented by Eugene Korch, it follows one continuous chain of numbers from wind pressure to anchor capacity — calculations you can carry out, check, and defend.
Course Fee £120
