Wind Corner Zone for Irregular Building

[maramos]

How does one calculate the corner zone width "a" for an irregular building? ASCE 7-05 states that the corner zone shall be 10% of the least building width but not less than 3ft. The ASCE approach is for a standard/rectangular shaped building. Based on the geometry of the attached building, would the least building width be 80ft or just the width of one of the stepped wall widths? say 30ft?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ron9876]

80'. I think it means the width of wind flow interrupted by the building.

 

[crozroz0000]

maramos,
I agree with ron. I would also apply the corner zone wind loads to the stepped corners. In this case I might use the same zone width based on the 80ft-or you could use width of the stepped walls if needed.