Nominations Wanted for Institute Board

The National Institute of Building Sciences Board Nominations Committee is currently seeking candidates to serve on the Institute’s Board of Directors. The Institute Board is comprised of 21 members. Six members are appointed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to represent the public interest. The remaining 15 members are elected and can represent either public interest or industry voices. The Board representation includes architects, builders, building owners, building standards developers, consumers, contractors, educators, fire safety professionals, local agency officials, product manufacturers, professional engineers, state agency officials and others. However, the majority of board members are required to come from the public interest category.

The three-year terms will begin in January 2016. Nominations can be submitted for one or more candidates, but a separate nomination form must be completed for each. In preparing the election ballot, the Board Nominations Committee will give equal consideration to all submissions, whether single or multiple nominations are received. Although membership in the Institute is not a requirement for nomination or election, it is encouraged. Nominations must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. EDT, July 17. Download the nomination form.

Call for Honor, Member Award Nominees

The National Institute of Building Sciences Awards Committee is currently accepting nominations for the 2015 Institute Honor and Member Awards. Each year, the Institute recognizes individuals or organizations that have made an exceptional contribution to the nation and the building community. Members of the building community will honor the recipients of this year’s awards during the 2016 Annual Awards Banquet on Thursday, January 14. The ceremony will take place as part of Building Innovation 2016: The National Institute of Building Sciences Conference and Expo, to be held January 11-15, 2016, in Washington, D.C. Download the nomination forms: Member Award or Honor Award. Nominations must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. EDT, July 17.

Lock in Sponsorship, Exhibitor Spaces Now for Building Innovation 2016

Building Innovation 2016: The National Institute of Building Sciences Fourth Annual Conference & Expo, set for January 11-15, 2016, in Washington, D.C., is only 8 short months away. Act now to lock in the best sponsorships and exhibitor spaces while they last. The Conference, designed to attract a broad audience of building industry professionals, provides affordable opportunities to show your support for your industry and build awareness of your organization’s positive contributions to the building community. You’ll reach stakeholders interested in the latest information on building science, technology and ways to collaborate on Achieving a Resilient Future. Sponsors and exhibitors are listed on the Conference website and included in promotional mailings throughout the year, so the sooner you sign on, the more recognition you’ll receive. Don’t wait for the final deadlines. Make your selection now.

Home Innovation Research Labs Wants to Know Residential Building Challenges

Home Innovation Research Labs, a subsidiary of the National Association of Home Builders, is doing a residential research needs assessment study for the Forest Products Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and wants to hear about the challenges being faced in the pursuit of building better homes. Help inform a Residential Construction Industry Research Agenda, dubbed #Home2020, which will serve as a guide for directing federal funding to develop the resources, methods and tools needed to produce high-performance residential buildings for today’s market. Share the top three challenges you face or ideas you think could make home building better. Construction of new or remodeling of one- and two-family dwellings and multifamily buildings in all regions of the United States are of interest. Submit your comments today.

Learn the Techniques to Better Protect Building Control Systems
Sign up for the Next Cybersecurity Workshops May 28 & 29

The National Institute of Building Sciences is sponsoring introductory and advanced Cybersecurity Workshops Wednesday, May 28 and Thursday, May 29, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, to help facility professionals learn how to make their buildings more secure and reduce the risks. The Introduction to Cybersecuring Building Control Systems Workshop and the Advanced Cybersecuring Building Control Systems Workshop, both taught by Michael Chipley of The PMC Group LLC, are geared to help architects, engineers, contractors, owners, facility managers, maintenance engineers, physical security specialists, information assurance professionals—essentially anyone involved with implementing cybersecurity in the facility life cycle—to learn the best practice techniques to better protect their facilities. Find out more.

BEST4 Conference Recap
More than 330 Professionals Gather for the BEST Experience

Left to right: Amanda Kimball, Fire Protection Research Foundation; Keith Nelson, ATI/Intertec; Session Chair Richard Keleher, Thompson & Lichtner Co.; and Brian Kuhn, Simpson Gumpertz and Heger, present the “Smoldering Issues of Fire Performance Evaluation,” at the BEST4 Conference.

With the theme, Performance Driven Architectural Design, the fourth BEST Conference Building Enclosure Science & Technology™ (BEST4) held April 13-15 in Kansas City, Missouri, presented a collegial venue where 330 building scientists, architects, engineers, contractors and others in the building industry shared their technical knowledge and know-how of building systems and materials that deliver high energy efficiency, good indoor climate and long-term performance.

Attendees, including representatives from Canada, Norway, Germany, China and Poland, participated in 22 different technical sessions with topics ranging from fire performance evaluation to the active side of passive houses. An exclusive exhibition hall gave attendees access to the latest products and materials presented by BEST4 sponsors and exhibitors. During the evening banquet, André Desjarlais, Program Manager for the Building Envelope Systems Research Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), delivered a 30-year retrospective of building enclosure research. Presentations and papers presented at the BEST4 Conference will be accessible on the Institute’s BRIK website beginning in early May.

Philadelphia to Host BEST5

Earlier this month, the nation’s building enclosure professionals convened in Kansas City, Missouri, for the fourth BEST Conference Building Enclosure Science & Technology™ (BEST4). One of the big announcements to come out of that Conference is the location of the next event, BEST5, which will be in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. BEST combines the expertise of the National Institute of Building Sciences Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council (BETEC) with the outreach efforts of its Building Enclosure Council (BEC) chapter network. The Institute and a select local BEC chapter organize each event.

Stay tuned in the coming months for announcements on the exact dates of the 2018 event, calls for papers, sponsorship opportunities and more. Read the announcement.

National BIM Standard-United States® Version 3 Release Postponed

The National Institute of Building Sciences buildingSMART alliance® was scheduled to roll out the National BIM Standard-United States® (NBIMS-US™) Version 3 (V3) on Wednesday, April 15. However, due to some unforeseen delays, the release of NBIMS-US™ V3 is being postponed. The Alliance apologizes for the delay. The V3 production team is working diligently to get the final preparations in place. Stay tuned for an announcement in the coming weeks.

AIA Convention Schedule Includes Session on NBIMS-US™

Jeff Ouellette, Vice Chair of the NBIMS-US Version 3 Project Committee, presents “Better Project Delivery Using the National BIM Standard – United States® Version 3” at the AIA Charlotte TAP University April 16. Ouellette will present a similar session May 14 during the AIA Convention in Atlanta.

Attendees of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Convention, May 14-16 in Atlanta, Georgia, won’t want to miss a session on the nation’s leading building information modeling (BIM) standard (which is developed by the National Institute of Building Sciences buildingSMART alliance®). The presentation, TH306: Better IPD Using the National BIM Standard – United States® (NBIMS-US™), by Jeffrey W. Ouellette, Assoc. AIA, IES, Vice Chair of the NBIMS-US Version 3 Project Committee, offers an insider's look at the parts of the standard; what they mean to the design professional, project partners and clients, and the execution of a particular project; or the everyday practices of a design firm. The session will be held May 14, from 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm, and is worth 1.0 learning units (LUs). Register to attend.

9th BIM Academic Symposium Declared Huge Success

Dr. Raymond Issa, Chair of the AIC from the University of Florida provides opening comments at the 9th BIM Academic Symposium.

The Academic Interoperability Coalition, which now includes 42 schools and universities (10 of which are international), held its 9th Building Information Modeling (BIM) Academic Symposium at the National Institute of Building Sciences April 7-8. On day one, 23 speakers presented papers identifying how various programs are implementing BIM education. “We are seeing a significant maturing in many of the programs, while others are still just starting to include courses in their curriculum,” said Deke Smith, organizer.

This year, on day two, the planning team included a mini workshop to begin work on a job task analysis (JTA) for BIM-related positions. The idea is to identify and then form a consensus as to what knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) students should emerge with from school if they plan to take a “BIM” job. The participants did not yet identify specific position titles, as those will emerge over time. The group is looking at entry level, mid-level and full performance knowledge requirements. Schools can then design curriculum to include those KSAs to provide a more common base of knowledge across all schools. It is hoped that the first KSA version will be issued before next year’s event.