Specialists in building and civil engineering, architecture, traffic and transport engineering, urban planning and avalanche science came together at the Fifth International Conference on Snow Engineering, organized by the Federal Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos 2004. This event belongs to a series of Snow Engineering Conferences held every four years since 1988. These conferences have become an important event for the international exchange of information on recent developments in snow engineering. The following thematic areas were discussed in the technical sessions and are here presented in this volume: - Transportation - Housing and Residential Planning - Snow Loads - Ski Mechanics - Hazard Mitigation - Snow Technology and Science - Avalanche Engineering

The objective of the conference was to provide a forum for engineers, architects and scientists to discuss a broad range of research and design methods for various problems related to snow engineering. Specialists in building and civil engineering, environmental engineering, energy engineering, urban planning, and regional development as well as snow scientists were brought together for the conference. The technical sessions were in five thematic areas as follows: Snow technology and science; Building and construction engineering; Infrastructure and transportation; Housing and residential planning; Development strategy in snow countries. The 115 papers provide keys to realize more comfortable living conditions in snow countries and to overcome many problems in heavy snow regions.

This proceedings volume of the Challenging Glass 4 & COST Action TU0905 Final Conference, held 6-7 February 2014 at the EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, represents the Final Action Publication of the European research network COST Action TU0905 “Structural Glass – Novel design methods and next generation products”. It contains nearly 100 peer-reviewed papers – published by more than 180 authors from 22 different countries – that focus on the architectural and structural applications of glass in structures and facades. As such, it provides a profound state-of-the-art of structural glass design and engineering. A must-read for all architects, engineers, scientists, industry partners and other enthusiasts interested in this rapidly evolving and challenging domain.

Specialists in building and civil engineering, architecture, traffic and transport engineering, urban planning and avalanche science came together at the Fifth International Conference on Snow Engineering, organized by the Federal Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos 2004. This event belongs to a series of Snow Engineering Confe