StiffWall shear walls provide both lateral strength and stiffness. Lateral strength is needed to resist horizontal loads due to wind and earthquake forces. Properly designed and constructed shear walls transfer lateral forces to the next structural element in the load path below them, such as other shear walls, floors, or foundations.

Lateral stiffness is needed to prevent the structure from excessive side-sway. When shear walls are of adequate stiffness, they will maintain the lateral deflection or serviceability requirements of the building. In addition, buildings with sufficient lateral stiffness will suffer less nonstructural damage, further avoiding long-term degradation due to veneer cracking and water infiltration.

StiffWall is custom designed and manufactured to meet the performance requirements of the project. Each component making up the StiffWall® is selected to meet or exceed both strength and stiffness requirements of the applicable building code. The Steel Network has optimized the design and fabrication of StiffWall® through a series of both component and full scale wall assembly tests, using state of the art technology to measure performance.

StiffWall is designed to carry loads concentrically from the point of applied loads to the foundation or other termination point. Simple attachments are made at corners through the innovative Boot system.