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U.S. Congress Declares June 15-19 High-Performance Building Week
For the first time ever, the United States Congress has declared a week to recognize the importance of high-performance buildings. High-Performance Building Week occurs
this week, June 15 through 19. This inaugural event affirms the nation’s commitment to high-performance buildings by promoting awareness of their benefits and the need for education programs, research and access to information.
The High-Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus Coalition, a private-sector coalition of building industry associations that provides guidance and support to the High-Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus, initiated the declaration. Reps. Russ Carnahan (D-MO-3) and Judy Biggert (R-IL-13), co-founders and co-chairs of the High Performance Buildings Caucus, sponsored the resolution, which the House of Representatives passed on June 8.
Read the resolution.
View Carnahan’s release.
View Biggert’s release.
Learn how to get
involved.
Institute Board Convenes for Spring Meeting
 Members of the
National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors listen to a point of
discussion during their Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. The Board will meet
next in September.
Baldassarra Moves to the RJA Group
Carl F. Baldassarra, P.E., FSFPE, a member of the National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors, has moved to the RJA Group, Inc. The Group is parent company of Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc. (RJA) and Sako and Associates, Inc. (SAKO). Baldassarra will serve as Executive Vice President – Project Delivery. He will be based at their headquarters in Chicago.
Read the release.
Sealy Gives Inside View of AIA Jury of Fellows
Jim. W. Sealy, FAIA, NCARB, HFES, Hon. ICC, joined the ranks of the
venerable American Institute of Architects Jury of Fellows two years ago. The architect and
Vice Chair of the National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors
recently provided an inside view of how the Jury works.
See what he said.
Meet the Board
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The “Meet the Board” section provides readers with the opportunity to get to know more about the 21 individuals who make up the 2009 National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors. In this issue, we focus on Secretary James “Tim” Ryan and Treasurer Mortimer M. Marshall. Both Ryan and Marshall were elected to the Board to serve in the public interest category. Ryan is Code Administrator for the City of Overland Park, Kan. Marshall, an architect, is President of the Marshall Group, Ltd., a firm in Reston, Va. Read more about
Ryan and
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CRSC to
Meet Again Before Code Hearings
The date is confirmed. The Building Seismic Safety Council
(BSSC) Code Resource Support Committee (CRSC) will hold one more meeting before
the International Code Council (ICC) Code Development Hearings occur in October.
The CRSC will convene September 21-22, in Washington, D.C., to review code
change proposals and finalize its testimony strategy for the hearings. The
Committee’s work is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The CRSC submitted several code changes to ICC on behalf of FEMA/BSSC. The most
significant proposal addresses adopting new seismic design maps that will appear
in the 2009 edition of the NEHRP (National Earthquake Hazard Reductions
Program) Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures
to be published by FEMA later this year.
New Patch
Available for HAZUS-MH MR3
HAZUS-MH MR3, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s)
PC- and GIS-based natural hazards assessment tool that simulates potential
earthquakes, floods and hurricanes and their physical, economic and social
consequences, has a new patch available.
Patch 3 enhances HAZUS’ ability to model riverine floods
and generate annualized flood loss, and earthquake ground failure and
liquefaction estimates, among other improvements. With Patch 3, HAZUS-MH MR3 is
now certified to operate on ArcGIS 9.3 SP1 and Windows XP SP3.
State and local governments employ HAZUS to design programs
for pre-disaster mitigation, conduct risk assessment studies, and
support decision-making in response operations.
Learn more.
New Report
on Performance-Based Seismic Design Now Available
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
has released a new report prepared by the Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC).
The report, Research Required to Support Full Implementation of
Performance-Based Seismic Design, is the first phase of a BSCC project for
NIST. The second phase will address issues for older, seismically vulnerable
concrete buildings. View the report and
learn more about the project.
Make a Virtual
Congressional Visit to Promote High-Performance Building
The High-Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus
Coalition (HPBCCC) is asking the building industry to reach out to Congress
during High-Performance Building Week. HPBCCC will host Virtual Congressional
Visit Days this week, June 15-19. Members of the HPBCCC participating
organizations are asked to phone or email their members of Congress to encourage
them to join the High-Performance Building Congressional Caucus and to focus on
high-performance building issues.
Learn more.
 BETEC
Board of Direction Meets
 The
Building Enclosure Technology and Environmental Council (BETEC) Board of
Direction discusses upcoming activities during their May 27th
meeting. BETEC will hold its annual meeting and Building Enclosure Technology
and Environment Council Conference on Sustainability (BETEC) in December in
conjunction with the National Institute of Building Sciences Annual Meeting and
EcoBuild Conference.
GSA
Workshop Focuses on Delivery, Operation of High Performance Buildings
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 Institute Vice
President Earle Kennett addresses an audience of engineers, architects,
project managers and property managers during the U.S. General Services
Administration’s 16th annual HVAC Excellence Program
workshop. |
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) focused on
building performance at its most recent HVAC Excellence Program workshop, held
in Albuquerque, N.M., May 5-7. More than 70 GSA engineers, architects, project
managers and property managers attended to hear presentations on
high-performance buildings, reliability-centered maintenance, total building
commissioning, photovoltaic applications, solid state lighting, integration and
operation of building control systems, SMART buildings and a range of other
subjects.
Read about it.
BECP
Requests Comments on Energy Code Document
The Department of Energy’s Building Energy Codes Program (BECP)
is developing procedures and tools to measure building energy code compliance.
These materials are being developed to help states implement conditions
specified in the State Energy Program Grants provided under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A draft “Strawman” document is available for
public comment. Comments are due June 22.
Provide Feedback.
Korea to
Begin Work on New BIM Standard with Help of buildingSMART alliance
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Development
of a Korean building information modeling (BIM) standard is at the heart of a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) the buildingSMART alliance recently signed
with buildingSMART Korea. The two organizations exchanged the MOU during a trip
to Paris for the buildingSMART International meeting in May. They hope that this joint effort will speed the process of standards
development and support a worldwide approach to building information modeling.
Learn more.
buildingSMART Korea Chief Vice Chair
Inhan Kim (left) and buildingSMART alliance Executive Director Deke Smith take
their memorandum of understanding (MOU) to the Eiffel Tower. The two
organizations, in Paris for the buildingSMART International meeting, signed an
MOU that will help Korea develop its own building information modeling (BIM)
standard.
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D.C. High
School Combines Education, Green Building
Fanning Howey Project
Manager Bruce J. Hobby, Associate AIA, explains a detail about the renovation to
National Institute of Building of Sciences President Henry L. Green, Hon. AIA,
during a tour of the Phelps Architecture, Engineering and Construction High
School in Washington, D.C. The Institute’s National Clearinghouse of Educational
Facilities (NCEF) coordinated the visit to the LEED-certified, historically
preserved vocational high school. The tour, which was led by Phelps Principal
Michael A. Johnson and the Fanning Howey project team, included representatives
from the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Green Building Council, 21st
Century School Fund and the Institute team.
Take a virtual tour.
Learn How
to Make the Stimulus Work for Schools
Don’t miss the opportunity to learn about the stimulus package and green
schools. National Clearinghouse for Education Facilities (NCEF) staff will
present a webinar June 24 entitled, “How to Make the Stimulus Work for You,”
during the Green School & University Virtual Conference & Expo. The webinar will
cover stimulus basics in regards to education and the different opportunities
available in construction, energy management, green building and more. More than
800 people have already registered for the free, day-long virtual conference.
It’s easy to
sign up.
COBIE
Challenge Scheduled for Annual Meeting
Get ready to be challenged! It’s official. The next
Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBIE) Challenge is
scheduled to occur during the National Institute of Building Sciences Annual
Meeting in December. Don’t miss the chance to see software vendors perform a
live, real-time test of this new, open-standard format for collecting and
accessing construction and operations paperwork. The COBIE Challenge and the
Annual Meeting are among the many activities going on at this year’s Ecobuild
Conference,
December 7-10, at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center.
Learn more about the COBIE Challenge. Register
for the
Annual Meeting.
Webinar Addresses
Education Facilities, Economic Recovery
The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities was
the primary presenter for a recent webinar on how the economic recovery package
affects education facilities. “A Guide to School Construction and Modernization
in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” sponsored by the American
Institute of Architects and the Council of Educational Facility Planners
International, drew more than 200 participants. NCEF staff and other experts
addressed how funds will be allocated, distributed and administered, and ways
design, construction and school facility professionals can partner with state
and local agencies to utilize the funding.
Listen to the webinar.
Testbed
Webinar to be Posted Online
For those who weren’t among the more than 300 people who
participated in the one-hour Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Owner and
Operator (AECOO-1) Phase 1 Testbed webinar May 28, it’s not too late to find out
what happened. The session will soon be posted online. During the webinar, hosts
Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC®) and buildingSMART allianceTM
presented a digest view of the full, day-long AECOO-1 Testbed held earlier this
year at the National Building Museum. The Testbed demonstrated how manipulating
the exterior skin of the building, by changing window size, overhang, glass
type, and color, affects energy usage and cost and allows for optimization of
all three parameters – skin, energy and cost. A five-minute summary and the full
edited webinar will be made available on the buildingSMART alliance website.
View the webinar. | 
