Smithsonian Program Executive to Keynote Building Innovation 2017
Hear about Collaboration on the Newest National Museum Project

As the nation celebrates the opening of the recently completed National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) on the National Mall, the planning team of Building Innovation 2017: The National Institute of Building Sciences Fifth Annual Conference and Expo is proud to announce the event’s Opening Keynote Speaker, Judson J. McIntire, AIA, NCARB, LEED GA.

Smithsonian’s Program Executive for the newly opened NMAAHC, Mr. McIntire managed the scope, schedule and $540 million budget for the 400,000 sq. ft. museum, from planning and design through construction. He was instrumental in forging a construction manager at-risk delivery method for the NMAAHC project, an innovation for the Smithsonian. During Mr. McIntire’s presentation at the Opening Keynote Breakfast on Tuesday, January 10, he will share his experiences on the collaborative efforts involved with designing, constructing and opening this new national treasure. Mr. McIntire will highlight how the NMAAHC’s team of architects, contractors, consultants, federal agencies and Smithsonian representatives effectively worked together to deliver the most sustainable national museum ever constructed. He will share insights, best practices, lessons learned and challenges, as well as discuss the long-term planning, whole building design, life-cycle considerations and how the team met the complex engineering challenges of the project.

Learn more about Mr. McIntire. View the full schedule of events.

Plenary Keynote to Look at “The Well-Tempered City”
Rose Will Discuss Advancing Resilience, Performance in Urban Areas

The author and man who “repairs the fabric of cities,” Jonathan F. P. Rose, will serve as the Plenary Keynote Speaker during Building Innovation 2017: The National Institute of Building Sciences Fifth Annual Conference and Expo, to be held January 9-12, in Washington, D.C.

Volunteer and Save:
Students Needed to Assist at Building Innovation 2017

Students interested in attending Building Innovation 2017: The National Institute of Building Sciences Annual Conference and Expo, January 9-12, 2017, at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C., already receive a discounted price on registration. However, there’s a chance to attend the conference for FREE as a volunteer.

OSCC to Participate in November 30 Webinar
To Address Modular Construction: Commercial & Legal Issues

An upcoming webinar hosted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), jointly presented with the American Bar Association Construction Forum, the Modular Building Institute and the National Institute of Building Sciences Offsite Construction Council (OSCC), will cover a variety of unique commercial and legal issues in industrial, commercial and residential modular construction. “WebEd: The Rise of Modular Construction: Emerging Commercial & Legal Issues,” is scheduled for Friday, November 30, from 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET.

A panel of three speakers, including Sue Klawans, Chair of the OSCC and Vice President-Director, Operational Excellence & Planning at Gilbane Building Company; Tom Hardiman, Executive Director of the Modular Building Institute and OSCC Vice Chair; and Lee Davis, Partner at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, will discuss a number of issues during the one-hour webinar. These issues include the different application of building and safety codes; new concerns about contract drafting; and legal codes or doctrines that may apply to modular construction in ways different from traditional construction, including the application of the Uniform Commercial Code, products liability law, statutes of limitations and statutes of repose. The panel also will address modular construction issues relating to insurance coverage, liens and prompt payment statutes.

To attend the webinar “WebEd: The Rise of Modular Construction: Emerging Commercial & Legal Issues,” sign up now.

USA Science & Engineering Festival Announces 2018 Dates

December 6 Workshop:
What to Do When Building Control Systems Get Hacked

Next week’s workshop will answer the question of what to do when building control systems have been hacked or taken over by ransomware. Intended for building owners, facility managers, engineering, physical security, information assurance and other professionals involved with the design, deployment and operation of building control systems, the “Your Building Control Systems Have Been Hacked, Now What? Workshop,” sponsored by the National Institute of Building Sciences, will be held Tuesday, December 6, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The workshop will provide a combination of classroom learning modules and hands-on laboratory exercises to help attendees learn how to detect, contain, eradicate and recover from a cyber event. Taught by Michael Chipley, PhD, GICSP, PMP, LEED AP; Daryl Haegley, OCP, CCO; and Eric Nickel RCDD, CEH, CEP, the workshop is built around the Advanced Control System Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) developed by the U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), which provide detailed step-by-step guidance to respond to a cyber attack. Seats are limited. Register today.

SBIC Appoints Jury for 2016 Beyond Green™ Awards
Award Recipients to Be Honored Thursday, January 12, 2017

The National Institute of Building Sciences Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) announces the appointment of Illya Azaroff, Teresa Rainey and David Underwood to serve as the jury for the 2016 Beyond Green™ High-Performance Building and Community Awards.

The Beyond Green™ High-Performance Building and Community Awards highlight initiatives that shape, inform and catalyze the high-performance planning, design, construction and operations processes. The jury is responsible for selecting those buildings, programs and innovations that best exemplify the eight design objectives of high performance, from all of the entries submitted to SBIC by the October 31 deadline. SBIC will recognize the 2016 award winners on Thursday, January 12, 2017, during the Beyond Green™ Awards Luncheon. The luncheon is part of a series of events taking place during Building Innovation 2017: The National Institute of Building Sciences Annual Conference and Expo, January 9-12, at the Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C.

buildingSMART alliance® Nominations Committee
Begins Vetting for 2017 Board

The buildingSMART alliance® Nominations Committee (NC) closed its call for nominations November 16 to fill positions on the Alliance Board of Direction (BOD), including openings for chair, vice-chair and secretary.

The NC will meet through December to interview, vet and select a slate of candidates to be recommended and presented to the Alliance membership during the Alliance’s Annual Meeting. The Alliance membership will meet 8:30 am – 11:45 am on Wednesday, January 11, 2017, during Building Innovation 2017: The National Institute of Building Sciences Fifth Annual Conference and Expo at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C. Plan to attend.

bSa Leadership Gives NCS Presentation during Autodesk University

Earlier this month, buildingSMART alliance® Board of Direction members Johnny Fortune (Chair) and Sasha Reed (Advisor), along with Ed Lowe (National CAD Standard Steering Committee Chair), gave a presentation on the latest version of the nation’s computer-aided design (CAD) standard during Autodesk University. The session on the United States National CAD Standard® (NCS) Version 6 highlighted how, with its updated and new content, the NCS was adapting to incorporate industry trends and needs. Version 6 of the standard features added support for airport, civil, survey and plumbing design, as well as an extensive overhaul of the symbols module.

Version 6 also includes a new BIM implementation section that provides clarifications and exceptions to other portions of the NCS, as well as establishes some basic building information modeling (BIM) guidelines. This new section extends the applicability of the standard to BIM workflows and helps bridge the gap between BIM and CAD. The panel of speakers not only presented what’s new but forecasted what’s next. They presented several ideas of how the NCS could evolve in the next version to expand BIM-related content and revamp the plotting guidelines to incorporate the work of the Construction PDF Coalition for intelligent and consistent PDF sheet composition.

The audience was very much engaged and asked a wide range of questions, denoting how relevant the NCS remains to professionals’ everyday workflows. The session’s handout and presentation should be available on the Autodesk University website sometime in mid-January.

buildingSMART alliance® to Host COBie Workshop in January

The buildingSMART alliance® Task Group that oversees development of the Construction Operations to Building information exchange (COBie) will hold a workshop in January. The COBie Task Group (CTG) will meet 10:00 am – 5:30 pm on Friday, January 13, 2017, in Washington, D.C., to discuss, debate, approve or reject proposed industry changes to COBie 2.4.

All CTG-approved changes to finalize and compile proposed ballot items for COBie 3.0 will then be issued for a 90-day public comment period, which will then be formally submitted through the Alliance’s National BIM Standard-United States® (NBIMS-US™) consensus process during the update of NBIMS-US™ Version 3 for incorporation into the next version of the NBIMS-US™. All interested stakeholders are encouraged to join the CTG. Learn more about the COBie Task Group. To join the CTG, please contact the CTG Chair, Michael Tardif, at michael@buildinginformatics.com.

Free Webinar Highlights NCS Version 6

Earlier this year, industry professionals interested in learning about the latest version of the nation’s leading computer-aided design (CAD) were able to attend a webinar held by the developers of the United States National CAD Standard® (NCS) Version 6—The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS).That webinar is now available to view for free online.