BSSC presented 2009 Honor Awards to five individuals in recognition of their passion, energy, and unselfish contributions of expertise and leadership to advancing the purpose and goals of the BSSC and the National Institute of Building Sciences.

Kelly Cobeen, PE, SE, a Structural Engineer at Wiss Janney and Elstner Associates, Inc., in Emeryville, Calif., and J. Daniel Dolan, PhD, PE, a Professor at the Washington State University Wood Materials and Engineering Laboratory in Pullman, both received Honor Awards for their pivotal roles in the development of the 2006 edition of the Homebuilders’ Guide to Earthquake-Resistant Design and Construction. They were also recognized for their service as members of the Code Resource Support Committee (CRSC) and the Provisions Update Committee (PUC) during development of the 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2009 editions of the NEHRP (National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program) Recommended Seismic Provisions.

Michael G. Mahoney, a Geophysicist in the Mitigation Directorate, Risk Reduction Division, Building Science Branch, at the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, D.C., received a 2009 Honor Award for his role in development of the Homebuilders’ Guide. BSSC also acknowledged Mahoney's vision in establishing a framework for the Council’s codes and standards work and his support of the Council’s efforts to develop the 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2009 editions of the NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions.

William T. Holmes, Principal at Rutherford and Chekene, Structural and Consulting Engineers in San Francisco, Calif., and Ronald O. Hamburger, SE, SECB, Senior Principal at Simpson Gumpertz and Heger, Inc., in San Francisco, both received Honor Awards in recognition of their extraordinary contributions of expertise and leadership as chairmen of the PUC. Holmes served as PUC chair for the 1997 and 2000 editions and as an ex-officio member for the 2003 and 2009 editions of the Provisions. Hamburger chaired the PUC for the 2003 and 2009 editions and served as chair of the PUC Technical Subcommittee on Design Criteria and Analysis for the 1997 and 2000 editions.

The BSSC Board of Direction also met in San Francisco. William T. Holmes was elected chair for 2010, leaving a vacancy on the Council for a representative of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. James R. Cagley, PE, SE, chairman of the board for Cagley and Associates, Inc., in Rockville, Md., representing the Applied Technology Council (ATC), was elected vice-chair. Curtis Campbell, vice president of pre-construction services at J.E. Dunn Construction in Mission Viejo, Calif., representing the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), was elected secretary. BSSC recognized retiring Board members Edwin Dean of Dean and Nishkian who represented ATC, James Rinner of J.E. Dunn who represented AGC, and James Rossberg who represented the American Society of Civil Engineers from 2001 to 2009.

The Board also approved the appointment of David Bonneville, PE, SE, Senior Principal at Degenkolb Engineers in San Francisco, Calif., as chair of the 2014 PUC. Bonneville previously served as chair of the BSSC Board.

During the meeting, the Council addressed the 2009 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions and Emerging Issues for 2014. Presentations provided a brief overview of changes for the 2009 Provisions and additional update; an explanation of how the 2009 Provisions are being translated into ASCE 7-10; plans for updating the standards for existing buildings and for developing simplified seismic design procedures for new buildings; an introduction to the 2014 update structure; a review of potential topics for in-depth issue team study during the 2014 update including improving existing seismic performance factors, soil factors and soil-structure interaction, performance-based seismic design, weak-beam/strong-column requirements, response-history analysis and ground motion scaling, wood structure design, concrete structure design, steel structure design, nonbuilding structures, and nonstructural components; and brief overviews of NEHRP agency research agendas.