CPP has a long history of cutting-edge problem solving. From developing fundamental techniques in the earliest days of wind engineering to advising the professional societies that write the building codes today, our ability to solve sophisticated problems has set us apart for more than three decades and made the name CPP synonymous with a nimble and rational approach to even the most complex challenges.

A central aspect of our heritage has always been our dedication to special projects. A special project is one that doesn’t neatly fit into a box, one that requires a unique, creative plan of attack. Solving these kinds of problems often means going back to first principles and deriving new methods from the ground up. That’s why we employ leading experts in fields as diverse as structural dynamics, mechanical and civil engineering, atmospheric science, and even architecture. When a client brings us a new challenge, we’re uniquely positioned to tackle the relevant issues with fresh, one-of-a-kind techniques.

Some of the difficult-to-classify projects we’ve worked on over the years include

• Wind loads on amusement park rides
• Effects of wind on power line transmission
• Noise effects due to wind
• Operability of doors on windy days
• Wind loads on launch vehicles as they await liftoff

Our dedicated team of engineers adopts a custom approach to each and every new problem while building on the experience we’ve gained along the way. We routinely create customized data analysis methods for new problems that let us analyze wind tunnel results in unconventional ways.

Sometimes these research and development efforts mature into a dedicated field all its own, like our services related to wind loads on solar panels. CPP’s research into solar panel wind effects dates to the 1980s, when co-founder Jon Peterka conducted pioneering studies into how wind affected heliostats and parabolic dish collectors for the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Thirty years later, our leading experts have successfully characterized the physics of wind as it flows over and around roof-mounted solar modules. Our expertise in this field has even spun off our first software product, WindLab-Solar, a revolutionary service that simplifies the way designers and engineers calculate wind loads for these kinds of installations.

By facing difficult technical problems head-on, CPP has positioned itself as the place to turn to for world-

class expertise and a customized approach. If your next project’s success hinges on a seemingly insurmountable engineering challenge, we invite you to contact our special projects team for a consultation.