August 2011

Invitation to the Institute Annual Meeting

As a member of the building community, no doubt you are facing challenges in keeping up with the newest technologies and developments in achieving energy-efficient, sustainable and high-performing buildings.

The 2011 National Institute of Building Sciences Annual Meeting is a great place to find out about the latest trends. The Institute is involved in many new and exciting activities to develop innovative solutions for our industry and improve the built environment. We’re showcasing our work and sharing advancements during our Annual Meeting, December 5-9, 2011, in Washington, D.C. and you’re invited to join us for a first-hand look.

This year, we will again hold our Annual Meeting in conjunction with the Ecobuild America Conference. Together, the Institute’s Annual Meeting and Ecobuild America offer you a great opportunity to learn and share in the latest sustainable practices, high-performance technologies and building information modeling (BIM) tools. Read the invitation and find out about the member discount.

CRSC Meets to Address 2012-13 Code Cycle

Chair Steve Winkel (left) leads the discussion at the first meeting of the Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) 2012-13 Code Resource Support Committee (CRSC) on August 16. The group focused primarily on developing its strategy for the International Code Council’s next update cycle and on identifying whether the CRSC needs to develop International Building Code (IBC) or International Existing Building Code (IEBC) code change proposals for submittal by the January 2012 deadline.

New DHS Web Pages Focus on High Performance Integrated Design

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) website has a new section on the High Performance Integrated Design Program. The pages, prepared by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Infrastructure Protection and Disaster Management Division
(IDD), contain a wealth of resources for architects, engineers, builders, owners, facility managers, first responders, security personnel and others to enhance the security of buildings and infrastructure.

The program's overall goal is to better prepare buildings and infrastructure to recover from manmade and natural disaster events by analyzing and compiling a range of high-performance requirements, including energy conservation, safety, security, environmental footprint, sustainability, durability, continuity of operations and rapid recovery to provide for an improved comprehensive solution to our nation's building stock. Such manmade and natural disaster events include: explosive blasts; chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) agents; floods; hurricanes; earthquakes and fires. Visit the new site and sign up to receive updates.

AIA, BEC to Hold Fenestration Webinar Sept. 22

The American Institute of Architects and the Building Enclosure Council are co-sponsoring a technically rich and low-cost webinar on September 22 from 2:00 – 3:30 pm EST. The webinar, “National Fenestration Rating Council’s Certification Program for Commercial Fenestration Energy-Related Performance Ratings,” will be presented by Ray McGowan, Senior Program Manager at the National Fenestration Rating Council.

One of the goals of the 2011 webinar series is to help supplement the local BEC chapter program calendars by providing nationally recognized speakers/topics without the cost/effort associated with local presentations. Register today.

BEST3 Conference Registration Now Open

It's time to reserve your spot at the Building Enclosure Science & Technology (BEST3) Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, April 2-4, 2012, to get the best information on how to design building systems for higher energy efficiency, good indoor climate and long-term performance.

Register now to join the National Institute of Building Sciences and the Building Enclosure Council-Atlanta for the 2012 Conference, which will focus on, “High Performance Buildings — Combining Field Experience with Innovation.” This biennial event helps building industry professionals hone in on specific performance aspects of building envelope systems. Register by December 31 to take advantage of early-bird rates. Check the BEST3 website for program details and conference updates.

Institute to Form Low Vision Design Committee

The National Institute of Building Sciences plans to form a multidisciplinary open committee later this year to explore how design of the built environment can affect the needs of the tens of millions of people with low vision in the United States. The Low Vision Design Committee is a direct outcome of the Workshop on Improving Building Design for Persons with Low Vision sponsored by the U. S. General Services Administration and the Institute last year. View proceedings of this workshop and related material. The user name and password are both lowvision (one word, all lower case). To express an interest in joining the Low Vision Design Committee, send an email with your contact information to the Institute.

BECP Releases Energy Codes Guide for Policy Makers

The U.S. Department of Energy's Building Energy Codes Program (BECP) has published a new resource guide on building energy codes for policy makers. The Building Energy Codes Resource Guide: Policy Maker Edition provides key information on energy codes tailored for policy makers. The guide includes information on the power of energy codes; the importance of policy makers in the adoption and compliance verification processes; an information toolkit; examples of how states have adopted energy codes; and many other resources that are key to helping policy makers understand the important role energy codes play in addressing our energy, economic and environmental challenges. Download the guide.

NBIMS-US^TM Version 2 Comment Period Extended to Sept. 14

The comment period for the National Building Information Modeling Standard-United States^TM (NBIMS-US^TM) Version 2 has been extended. The full membership of the NBIMS Project Committee has until September 14 to submit comments. All member comments will be reviewed during the NBIMS-US Project Committee’s face-to-face meeting, to be held September 29-30 at the National Institute of Building Sciences in Washington, D.C. 

The Project Committee received 43 submissions, which the Technical Sub-Committee broke into the following categories: commentary ballots (10), information exchange ballots (6), best practice based ballots (4), reference standard ballots (11) and terminology related ballots (4). In addition, there were also eight “blue sky” submissions. For a status of the ballot items as reviewed and evaluated by the Technical Subcommittee and Workgroups, view the summary spreadsheet.

The buildingSMART alliance^TM will conduct its next public Construction Operations Building information exchange (COBIE) Challenge this December at the National Institute of Building Sciences Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. COBie is the internationally recognized open-standard format for the exchange of building asset information. COBie Challenges allow software companies to demonstrate the simplicity of consuming Facility Management Handover information provided at or before the beneficial occupancy of a new or renovated facility. This Challenge, geared towards Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) / Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) vendors, will directly consider the use of COBie data for facility and asset managers. Along with the COBie Challenge there will be several case studies presented and the release of the COBie Calculator. The COBie Calculator is a spreadsheet tool that allows the user to determine the costs and benefits of the use of structured asset information through the life of a project. Get more information.