Industry-Wide Innovative Steel Framing Products for Curtain Walls

Several innovative products have been developed by cold-formed steel manufacturers to facilitate the accommodation of curtain wall architectural requirements into the buildings. New stud products focused on increasing stud stiffness-to-weight ratio, minimizing the thermal bridging of the studs, and enhancing its acoustic performance. This resulted in the creation of some unique stud shapes. Innovative bridging products added extra functions such as easier attachment to studs and accurate stud spacing. Attachment clip connectors for head-of-wall and by-pass conditions provided means for accommodating building deflections due to live loads and/or wind uplift, as well as accommodating drift displacements due to earthquakes.