Development of Wind Load Criteria for Commercial Roof Edge Metals

Abstract

Edge metal covers the majority of commercial roofs to maintain waterproofing. It acts as the first line of defense against wind effects on commercial roofs. First, this article summarizes the in situ measurement site (the Canada Post building located in Vancouver, Canada) and compares the measured pressures with the existing wind standards. This study aimed to develop appropriate wind design pressure coefficients for roof edges, for incorporation in the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC). During this process, the following observations were made: (a) Comparison of the in situ measured pressures with existing wind standards suggested that design specifications on wind loads acting on roof edge metal systems in current building codes and standards are not adequate; (b) a systematic procedure to calculate code-comparable pressure coefficients from the in situ measured data is a challenging process; (c) correlation exists between edge metal design coefficients with those of the roof, to simplify the components and cladding design process.