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NABS
Network for THE Advancement of Building Science (NABS)
A Research Coordinating COMMITTEE (RCC) OF BETEC

Scope
NABS is a network of research professionals and practitioners interested in building science,[1] established under the auspices of the Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council of the National Institute of Building Sciences under its existing RCC Structure as  a means to:

1. Bridge the gap between research and other parties involved in the building process from the concept to the finished product.  These parties include designers, contractors; manufacturers and suppliers of construction materials as well as building operators, associations and companies active in North America, who are involved or interested in the principles involved in design, construction and operation of building enclosures
2. Achieve durable and well-functioning building enclosures by focusing on the integration of heat, air and moisture control of building enclosures and the hydrothermal performance of buildings. This shall include, but not be limited to, matters of environmental sustainability, indoor environment, durability of the building enclosure, energy use, operation and maintenance.
3. Foster utilization of building science in the design, construction, commissioning, operation, rehabilitation, renovation and decommissioning of buildings.

objectives

1. Organize a yearly seminar / forum to assist interaction between the multi-disciplinary, scientific and application components of building science. Resources of the academic community are often too meager to allow attending technology transfer seminars while practitioners are seldom interested in a deep scientific analysis, therefore the forum will be organized in two separate day-units held one after the other.

Typically a 2-day Building Science Forum would focus on:

• Day 1 on academic research, both fundamental and applied 
• Day 2 on selected applications of building science with a view to enhance integration of components and hygrothermal performance of the building enclosure.
   

2. Promote interaction within the building science community (that includes academic, consulting and industrial R/D personnel) and industrial partners involved in application of Building Science to enhance exchange of information about ongoing research activities. One possible outcome will be coordination of building science research activities through cooperation and collaboration. In particular, we observe the need for industry experts to collaborate with ongoing academic research.
    

3. Provide assistance to other organizations in the development of appropriate evaluation tools, curricula for academic and continuing education studies with focus on building science. Furthermore, provide assistance and technical expertise needed for the review of public and public-private research projects in the field of building science to any organization that may benefit from a qualified review process. 

organization of NABS

1. Relationship to BETEC. This network is established under the auspices of BETEC within its current RCC Structure. BETEC is a council of the National Institute of Building Sciences, which is a voluntary organization of individuals, groups, organizations and companies active in the North America that want to actively contribute to the advancement of Building Enclosure Technology and Indoor Environmental Quality . The network will hold yearly annual meetings at the location of the University or Organization chosen to host the yearly Building Science Forum
    

2. Free participation. Participation in the NABS is voluntary and open to anyone independently of their membership in NIBS or BETEC, except for the NABS coordinator and BETEC liaison person who must be members of the BETEC board of direction.
    

3. Open membership. Any person or organization that joins NABS becomes an associated member. To become a full member one must provide a measurable contribution to the NABS goals e.g. presentation to the BSF and be approved by a majority vote of the NABS steering committee. Application through e-mail should include the field of expertise.
    

4. Role of the steering committee. Two main functions of the steering committee are:
   • serving as reviewers for any research project or organization that requests assistance in the technically qualified review process within Building Science
   • soliciting, selecting and accepting abstracts of presentations for the annual BSF forum
      

5. Membership of the steering committee Initially the steering committee will consist of the list below. Later, each host chairing a Building Science Forum that is a member of NABS will automatically become a member of the NABS steering committee. The current steering committee  of NABS are:
    

6. Website. Each member and associated member will be listed on the BETEC website with the following data: name, profession, affiliation, and e-mail address
    

7. Organization of yearly Building Science Forum. Any member of NABS may volunteer (prior to the coming meeting) to organize the next year Building Science Forum. Typically the first day is organized as internal academic community review (including students) at a minimum possible cost and is focused on in-depth analysis of scientific or technical problems. Graduate student presentations should also be included in the program (see next point). The second day comprises information related to interest of designers, material manufacturers etc.
    

8. Student support. Individual companies who are associated corporate members of NABS may be asked to partially sponsor attendance of the yearly NABS forum by the students from various NA universities.
    
9. Next Building Science Forum time and location. The BSF 2006 will be hosted by Syracuse University on September 5 and 6 at. Day 1 - September 5 is organized jointly by SU with CIB W40 (heat and moisture transfer committee of International Council for Research and Innovation in Buildings) and includes participation of speakers from Europe, Japan, New Zealand etc

Current individual members of NABS

Based on contributions to the two previous BSF events the steering committee voted the following people to the grade of member:

Lennart Anastasi, contractor, Air Barrier Association of America
James Cummings, researcher, Florida Solar Energy Center
Laverne Dalgliesh, manager, Air Barrier Association of America
John Grunewald, Professor of Building Physics, Dresden University of Technology
Kevin Knight, consultant, Retro-Specs Consultants Ltd.
Marcin Pazera, research assistant, Syracuse University
Paul Totten, engineer, Simpson Gumpertz and Heger
Niklas Vigener, engineer, Simpson Gumpertz and Heger

Centria Corp

NOTE: If you want to join the NABS please send e-mail to Mark Bomberg, NABS coordinator, addressed to the SU e-mail address