Having provided 43 years of service, the Ice Arena at Bowling Green State University is a popular venue on campus that serves the BGSU students and faculty as well as the local municipal community. Currently operated by The Department of Recreation and Wellness, the Ice Arena was originally designed in 1965 and contains the main ice sheet, sized at 200’ X 85’. It also houses a studio ice sheet that is 80’ X 40’ and a curling ice sheet at 150’ X 57’, as well as a lounge and other supporting facilities.

In early 1979, the fabricator and installer for the atrium steel of the new Kansas City Hyatt hotel proposed changes to the connection details for the support of the skywalk system. The original design was thought to be expensive to manufacture and problematic to install. The engineer responded by providing preliminary sketches of the fabricator's proposal without performing basic calculations. These sketches were returned to the fabricator, who assumed these to be the final and approved shop drawings.  The revised and ill-fated connection detail was put into production and installed.  In 1981, the Kansas City Hyatt skywalk collapsed, causing the deaths of 114 people and injuring more than 200.  The ensuing investigations concluded that the fault lay in the engineer's failure to properly review shop drawings and provide adequate communications between the structural engineer and the fabricator of the structural steel for the atrium and skywalk.

Today’s modern mid rise and high rise luxury condominiums and apartment buildings offer numerous amenities to attract potential owners. They can offer spectacular vistas through floor to ceiling walls of glass, high end finishes on the floor, gourmet style kitchens with all the modern features one could ever want, and a master bedroom suite that offers a tranquil and quiet place to escape. In these building types, elevators become a necessary component for vertical circulation to access the floors. For those residences that are adjacent to the elevator equipment room or the elevator hoistway, the noise and vibration caused by the operation of the elevator can be a potential source of sound intrusion. Because today’s buildings are constructed with lightweight materials, and because there is a need to generate maximum useable square footage, sound transmission issues are compounded. All this combined can result in unsatisfactory living conditions for tens of thousands who live in condominiums or apartments.