Thousands Attend Institute Annual Meeting, Ecobuild America

The first National Institute of Building Sciences Annual Meeting to be held in decades was a resounding success. The Institute hosted the Annual Meeting in conjunction with Ecobuild America earlier this month in Washington, D.C. Nearly 3,000 architects, engineers, facility managers and other members of the design and construction team attended the combined event.

Sponsored by the Institute, the Ecobuild conference and exhibit on green, sustainable, and high-performance building and construction technology took place December 7-10, at the Washington Convention Center. The audience included private sector and government building professionals and VIPs from across the nation and around the world, including Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Korea, Australia, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and a dozen other nations.

Many Institute councils and committees convened throughout the week, including the National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors, Consultative Council and Coordinating Council; the Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council (BETEC), BETEC Board of Directors and Building Enclosure Council; the buildingSMART alliance Executive Committee and buildingSMART alliance Board of Direction; the High Performance Building Council (HPBC) and the HPBC Executive Committee; and the Whole Building Design Guide Committee. In addition, the Institute hosted the Construction Operations Building Information Exchange 2 (COBie2), Equipment Layout Information Exchange (ELie), Energy Information Exchange (ENERGie), and Specifiers’ Properties Information Exchange (SPie).

More than 150 National Institute of Building Sciences members gathered to recognize industry leaders at the Institute’s Annual Reception and Awards Banquet. This year, the Institute presented awards to Robert Kistler, AIA of Façade Group; Ronald Burton, Building Owners and Managers Association International; and the Hon. Russ Carnahan, United States House of Representatives, Missouri 3rd Congressional District. Read the release.

With construction stimulus funding on the minds of many attendees, the Institute’s FEDCon conference, which addressed government building plans and budgets, was standing room only. Stephen Ayers, AIA, LEED AP, Acting Architect of the Capitol, delivered the keynote address and speakers from a number of federal agencies presented their upcoming design and construction budgets, programs, events, and market outlook. The FEDCon speaker presentations are now available online.

Robert A. Peck, Commissioner, Public Buildings Service for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), showcased GSA’s leadership in developing high-performing buildings that go beyond green during his keynote session at Ecobuild. Dennis R. Shelden, Associate Professor of the Practice in Design and Computation in the Department of Architecture at MIT and founder and Chief Technology Officer of Gehry Technologies, and Tarek N. Bahgat, Vice President, Managing Director, Middle East & Africa, Gehry Technologies, explored comprehensive approaches to technology-driven project delivery in their keynote presentation during the buildingSMART alliance International Conference.

Other popular features included the High Performance Building Conference, sponsored by the Institute, and the BETEC Symposium. There were also co-located meetings, such as the buildingSMART International Users Group, buildingSMART International Council, the High Performance Building Congressional Caucus Coalition, High Performance Building Energy-Efficiency Roundtable, and a number of other events.

The Institute’s thanks go out to the speakers for the various sessions, many of whom are dedicated members of the Institute’s own councils and committees. Their time and commitment to help educate and advance the building industry is greatly appreciated.

The exhibit, packed with the latest building products and technology, featured:

• The National Institute of Building Sciences Booth: This featured exhibit provided an informative one-stop shop for attendees to learn all about the Institute’s councils, programs and projects. Visitors could access online resources; watch a video presentation of Institute services; and pick up brochures, magazines and free give-aways.

• BIMStorm – Build Hospital LIVE: This BIMStorm, which started in Oslo, Norway on Sept. 22, climaxed on the Ecobuild exhibit floor. Many attendees took part in the one-of-a-kind, interactive presentation from their smart phone or laptops to communicate about the built environment with web-based, three-dimensional design in real time. A series of BIM workflows included creating BIM from DWG and Excel, use of model servers, model validation, room data, and real time collaboration presented by Onuma, Inc.

• Exhibit theaters: The Building Information Modeling (BIM) Theater, Building Performance/Intelligent Buildings Theater, and Smart and Sustainable Theater were popular locations to get ongoing, targeted education in between booth visits.

• BIM and Eco Aquariums: Attendees enjoyed hearing case studies from leading industry companies who told their stories and were on hand to answer questions about their success.

• AEC Interoperability Center: The Center visually demonstrated how rapidly emerging technologies such as BIM and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) are redefining how projects are planned and scheduled, cost overruns are minimized, and how facilities are managed throughout the project lifecycle. Leading companies shared their strategies and tools for revolutionizing collaboration.

In 2010, the Annual Meeting/Ecobuild America will be co-locating with the World Energy Engineering Congress, sponsored by Association of Energy Engineers. Joint attendance is expected to top 6,000. Mark your calendar now for December 6-9, 2010, in Washington, D.C. For more information about participating as a sponsor, exhibitor, speaker or attendee, visit www.aecEcobuild.com for complete details, or call 1-800-996-3863.