The drive of structural engineer Steven Tipping, president of Tipping + Marr Associates, Berkeley, Calif., has led to a new metal shear wall assembly with the potential to dramatically lower construction costs of earthquake-resistant multiunit housing up to six stories.

Peg Skorpinski Panel performed as expected.

Load tests performed on Tipping's system of metal studs with ordinary metal deck used for infill panels have proven the assembly offers three times the strength of plywood shear walls, twice the strength of any proprietary metal system available and ease of installation. The report on the tests, carried out at the University of California at Berkeley with funding from the Pankow Foundation, is coming out in March. Tipping says the document will provide engineers with a basis for a building permit, on a case-by-case basis, until the system becomes part of the model code, a process that could take three years.