Author
JAMES C. MYERS Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Arlington, MA

Abstract
With the trend to lighter curtain wall systems with independent structural building frames, the risks increase for damaging interactions between the masonry veneer, the back-up wall, and the structural frame systems. Although these three systems need to work together to resist loads and exclude the weather, they also need to be isolated so that they do not damage each other. The examples in this paper demonstrate actual consequences of poor design or construction in the isolation of these systems.