ALA Fall Conference · Registration Open

High Wind, Tornado and Safe Room Design

Tuesday, September 15, 2026 · 11:30 AM check-in · program 12:00 to 5:15 PM CT · reception to follow · IMI / BAC District Council Training Center

A moderated panel on designing for extreme wind, followed by an afternoon of hands-on masonry and envelope stations at the IMI Training Center. Half a day, six full-scale mock-ups, and the people who build this work standing next to it.

The educational session, 12:30 to 1:45

  • Insurance: Melissa S. Roberts, AAI, USI Insurance Services. The standard of care, whether you met it, and how that changes your risk
  • Legal: Joshua B. Levy, Husch Blackwell. What surfaces in a dispute after a wind event and how design decisions get read afterward
  • Code: Christopher E. Chwedyk, AIA, CSI, NCARB, Burnham Nationwide. What the code requires for wind and safe room design and where practitioners get tripped up
  • Architect: Rob Wroble, AIA, LEED AP, Legat Architects. What you detail, what you document, and what you would do differently
  • Moderator: Kelly P. Harris, NCARB, ALA, Harris Architects

Six hands-on stations, 2:00 to 5:15

  • Masonry assembly mock-ups
  • Flashing demonstration
  • Structural masonry mock-up and demo
  • Back-ventilated rainscreen assemblies
  • Insulated concrete form mock-up and demo
  • Sealants and pull testing

Who should attend

  • Architects and building enclosure consultants
  • Engineers and contractors
  • AEC professionals involved in design and construction

Stations are presented by the International Masonry Institute, with the sealants station presented by Dow Corning. Parking is available on site.