By Scott Kriner, Green Metal Consulting
I was reading a magazine article recently and I got progressively more angry as the article went on. It was mentioning “AR” throughout the article, assuming that the reader knew what “AR” means, but never explained what the “AR” acronym meant. Finally, after wading through the entire article, I found the meaning of “AR”. It stands for “Augmented Reality.”
I’m sure that many of you have been in a meeting where it seems everyone except you can speak the alphabet soup litany of acronyms. Most of the time we stay quiet hoping someone else will stop the discussion to ask what a specific acronym means. Any meeting with government or military attendees normally dives into acronyms almost as soon as the introductions are made.
But the frustration can also take place at general industry meetings or conference calls.
Many of our industry’s meetings cover a wide variety of topics ranging from codes and standards to sustainability, or general discussion about marketing or technical topics. The large number of acronyms used in the dialogue at these meetings makes it difficult and frustrating to stay up to speed on the conversation. This is especially the case for the younger professionals that are getting involved in the metal construction industry. For years, the lingo of meetings went on with some of the attendees struggling through the dozens of references to acronyms that were not always explained. Often attendees were confronted with many new acronyms that often were not spelled out. But rather than complaining, two organizations took it on themselves to create a “cheat sheet” that covered acronyms spoken at the popular meetings. Thanks to the work by the Steel Deck Institute and the Steel Joist Institute a list of acronyms used within the metal construction industry has been created. This is a work in progress with new additions to the list being added monthly. It is far from complete but it is an excellent guide for a large number of acronyms that you may encounter.
The list to-date is shown at the end of this article. It is there for you to familiarize yourself with the alphabet soup of acronyms used during meetings. Feel free to personalize it and to add to it so that you can be a part of the conversations, rather than guessing what the acronyms stand for. With this tool you can relax and LOL. (that’s “laugh out loud”)
ACI - American Concrete Institute
ACLCA - American Center for Life Cycle Assessment
AHSS - Advanced High Strength Steel
AISC - American Institute of Steel Construction
AISI - American Iron and Steel Institute
AIST - Association for Iron and Steel Technology
ALCA - Attributional Life Cycle Assessment
ANSI - American National Standards Institute
APA - American Plywood Association
ASABE - American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
ASAE - American Society of Agricultural Engineers - Now ASABE
ASCC - American Society of Concrete Contractors
ASCE - American Society of Civil Engineers
ASD - Accredited Standards Developer - ANSI
ASHRAE - American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers
ASSE - American Society of Safety Engineers
ASTC - Association of Science-Technology Centers
ASTC - Apparent Sound Transmission Class
ASTM - American Society for Testing and Materials
ATC - Applied Technology Council
AWC - American Wood Council
AWS - American Welding Society
BCAC - Building Code Action Committee - ICC
BIM - Building Information Modeling
BSSC - Building Seismic Safety Council - NIBS
CABO - Council of American Building Officials - ICC
CCFSS - Center for Cold-Formed Steel Structures
CCPII - Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute - Material Health Certificate
CDP - Code Development Process
CDX - Grade Designation for Plywood
CFS - Cold-Formed Steel
CFSEI - Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute
CFSRC - Cold-Formed Steel Research Consortium
CISC - Canadian Institute of Steel Construction
CLCA - Consequential Life Cycle Assessment
CLT - Cross Laminated Timber
CMC - Construction Market Council - AISI
COFS - Committee on Framing Standards - AISI
COS - Committee on Specifications - AISI
CSC - Construction Sustainability Council - AISI
CSSBI - Canadian Sheet Steel Building Institute
CSSC - Canadian Steel Construction Council
CTP - Construction Technical Program – AISI
CWC - Canadian Wood Council
DOE - Department of Energy
ESCSI - Expanded Shale Clay and Slate Institute
EMS - Environmental Management System
EPD - Environmental Product Declaration
FBC - Florida Building Commission - Florida Building Code
FEM - Finite Element Method
FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency - Department of Homeland Security
FM - Factory Mutual
FSC - Forest Stewardship Council
GaBi - Life Cycle Assessment Software
GBI - Green Building Initiative
GHG - Green House Gas
GHS - Globally Harmonized System - Classification and Labelling of Chemicals - United Nations
GLT - Glue Laminated Timber
HCS - Hazard Communication Standard
HPBC - High Performance Building Council - NIBS
HPD - Health Product Declaration - HPD Collaborative
HVHZ - High Velocity Hurricane Zones
IAB - Industry Advisory Board - SDII
IAC - Industry Advisory Committee
IAPMO - International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials
IAS - International Accreditation Service - ICC
IBC - International Building Code
IBHS - Institute for Business and Home Safety
IBR - Included By Reference
ICC - International Code Council
IEBC - International Existing Building Code
IECC - International Energy Conservation Code
IEQ - Indoor Environmental Quality
IERE - Institute for Environmental Research and Education
IgCC - International Green Construction Code
IIC - Impact Insulation Class
ILFI - International Living Future Institute - Declare
IMCA - Mexican Institute of Steel Construction
IMPACT - Ironworker Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust
IPS - Investment Policy Statement
IRC - International Residential Code
ISG - Industry Steering Group - SDII
ISO - International Organization for Standardization
IWBI - International WELL Building Institute
LBC - Living Building Challenge - ILFI
LCA - Life Cycle Assessment
LCC - Life Cycle Costing
LCI - Life Cycle Inventory
LCIA - Life Cycle Impact Assessment
LCM - Life Cycle Management
LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
LOD - Level of Development - BIM
MBDC - Consulting Firm (Founders of Cradle to Cradle)
MBMA - Metal Building Manufacturers Association
MCA - Metal Construction Association
MEC - Model Energy Code – DOE
MHC - Material Health Certificate - CCPII
MHI - Materials Handling Industry
MMC - Multi-Hazard Mitigation Council - NIBS
MSDS - Material Safety Data Sheets (now SDS)
MSS - Management System Standards
NAAMM - North American Architectural Metal Manufacturers
NACE - National Association of Corrosion Engineers
NAHB - National Association of Home Builders
NARA - National Archives and Records Administration
NASCC - North American Steel Construction Conference - AISC
NASCLA - National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies
NCAC - National Council of Acoustical Consultants
NCCA - National Coil Coating Association
NCEES - National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying
NCSEA - National Council of Structural Engineers Associations
NDS - National Design Specification (for Wood Construction) - AWC
NGO - Non-Governmental Organization
NEA - National Erectors Association
NEES - Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation
NEHRP - National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program
NFBA - National Frame Building Association
NFPA - National Fire Protection Association
NIBS - National Institute of Building Sciences
NISD - National Institute of Steel Detailing
NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology
NHERI - National Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure - NSF
NLT - Nail Laminated Timber
NRC - Noise Reduction Coefficient
NRCC - National Research Council Canada
NRCA - National Roofing Contractors Association
NSBA - National Steel Bridge Alliance
NSF - National Science Foundation
NTTAA - National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
NWIP - New Work Item Proposal - ISO
OFR - Office of the Federal Registrar
OMB - Office of Management and Budget
OMF - Organizational Member Forum - ANSI
OSB - Oriented Strand Board
OSHPD - Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development - California
PAF - Power Actuated Fastener
PBD - Performance Based Design
PCA - Portland Cement Association
PCI - Precast/Pre-stressed Concrete Institute
PCR - Product Category Rules - EPD
PERF - Product Environmental Performance Footprint
PINS - Project Initiation Notification System - ANSI
PTD - Product Transparency Declaration - ASTM E60
PUC - Provisions Update Committee - BSSC
PWG - Project Work Group - BSSC
RCI - Roofing Consultants Institute
RFCI - Resilient Flooring Institute
RICOWI - Roofing Industry Committee on Weather Issues
RMI - Rack Manufacturers Institute
RWFD - Rigid Wall Flexible Diaphragm – BSSC
SBCA - Structural Building Components Association
SCWF - Steel-Clad Wood-Framed
SDC - Seismic Design Category - ASCE
SDII - Steel Diaphragm Innovative Initiative
SDO - Standards Development Organization - ANSI
SDS - Safety Data Sheets (formerly MSDS)
SDI - Steel Deck Institute
SEAA - Steel Erectors Association of America
SEAOC - Structural Engineers Association of California
SECB - Structural Engineering Certification Board - NCSEA
SEI - Structural Engineering Institute - ASCE
SFA - Steel Framing Alliance
SFIA - Steel Framing Industry Association
SFPE - Society of Fire Protection Engineers
SICF - Steel Industry Code Forum
SJI - Steel Joist Institute
SMDI - Steel Market Development Institute
SPRI - Single Ply Roofing Industry
SSCC - Structural Standards Coordinating Council
SSMA - Steel Stud Manufacturers Association
STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
STI - Steel Tube Institute
TAG - Technical Advisory Group - ISO
TC - Technical Committee – AISC
TCNJ - The College of New Jersey
TPI - Truss Plate Institute
UES - Uniform Evaluation Service - IAPMO
UL - Underwriters Laboratories
ULE - UL Environment
USGBC - U.S. Green Building Council
USGS - United States Geological Survey
WRI - Wire Reinforcement Institute