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NBCC 2020Canada

Wind Loads (NBCC 2020)

Canadian structural engineers establishing design wind pressures to NBCC 2020 for a building's structure and cladding. Select the site location and the calculator pulls the reference wind pressure and climatic data from the NBCC 2020 tables, so the design pressure build-up starts from the correct site values.

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What it calculates

Establish design wind loads to NBCC 2020. Select the site location to pull the reference wind pressure and climatic data from the NBCC 2020 tables (Appendix C, Table C-2) as the basis for the pressure build-up.

Code standards

  • NBCC 2020

How it calculates

This calculator establishes wind loads on a structure to the National Building Code of Canada 2020. The template supplied for this page is an early build, so the description below covers only what the template confirms; the full pressure coefficient and load-case detail is not yet present in it.

Site location and climatic data

The calculation starts from the site location. Selecting the geographic location of the structure populates the reference wind pressure and other site-specific climate data from the NBCC 2020 climatic data tables (Appendix C, Table C-2). Locations are provided from the NBCC 2020 climatic data set, with Toronto (City Hall) as the default, and both metric and imperial unit systems are supported. This reference wind pressure is the site value that the NBCC 2020 wind pressure build-up is based on.

Further inputs and checks (for example exposure, gust, and pressure coefficient factors, and the resulting design pressures on the main structural system and on cladding) were not present in the template provided for this page and have been omitted rather than assumed. This section should be regenerated once a fuller template is available.

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Frequently asked questions

What code does this wind load calculator use?
It establishes wind loads to the National Building Code of Canada 2020. The site location drives the reference wind pressure and associated climatic data drawn from the NBCC 2020 climatic data tables (Appendix C, Table C-2).
How is the site wind data determined?
You select the geographic location of the structure, and the calculator populates the reference (hourly) wind pressure and other site-specific climate data for that location from the NBCC 2020 climatic data tables, rather than requiring the values to be looked up and entered by hand.
Which locations are available?
Locations are taken from the NBCC 2020 climatic data set (for example, Toronto (City Hall) is the default). Selecting a location sets the reference wind pressure used as the starting point for the design pressure calculation.
Is this for the main structural system or cladding?
Wind loads to NBCC 2020 are used for both the main structural system and for cladding and components. Confirm the specific pressure coefficients and load cases for your element against NBCC 2020 Subsection 4.1.7 when applying the results.
Does it work in metric and imperial units?
Yes. The location and site data support both metric (MKS) and imperial (FPS) unit systems, so the reference wind pressure and results can be reported in the units used on your project.

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