Hazard events are increasing in frequency, intensity and impact. At the same time, the impact of buildings on the environment and society is gaining increased attention. Building codes sit at the intersection of solutions to address both challenges, providing a foundation for broader community resilience initiatives. While the focus areas of resiliency to hazard events and mitigating climate change impacts may appear disconnected, they are in fact inter-related and building codes serve as an important tool in addressing these dual challenges.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have the potential to enable significant reductions in energy use by finding hidden connections in building data and catching operational issues that might otherwise go undetected. Yet, many buildings do not have the near-perfect data that is required to deploy the ML algorithms found in the literature. Real-world data quality and availability limitations may constrain the available options when considering ML-based use cases.

Off-site construction has been identified as a tool to help address multiple industry and community challenges. At the same time, many of the policies and tools the building industry relies on have been developed from the perspective of site-built construction. New resources are available to support the effective use of off-site construction including standards to support building code compliance, approval and evaluation processes, model contracts. and design guidance. Other resources are also on the horizon.

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is an innovative solution for many construction projects. Its use on actual projects is especially noteworthy, however, because the construction industry is often hesitant to embrace new technology. Here is an exception.

BIM was a significant leap from CAD, which was a leap from T-squares. The next evolution capitalizes on data. People no longer have to be specialists with costly applications to call for an Uber or get turn-by-turn directions.

With a $71B portfolio in 290 locations worldwide, the Department of State (DOS) Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) manages several hundred building projects at a time. This requires extensive standards and requirements, which traditionally have been compiled into a comprehensive document.

Stakeholders across the building delivery process have their own definitions of a successful project. Achieving those goals often requires early engagement of key team members and coordination and collaboration across the team. This approach is a hallmark of the off-site construction process.

In this session, a panel of designer, developer, manufacturer and contractor representatives will share their perspectives on how off-site construction projects bring value, and what particular best practices helped them achieve project success.

The current lumber shortage has exacerbated issues in homebuilding, but it did not create them. Instead, it has laid bare the inefficiencies and misaligned incentives that have become institutionalized in the industry; now, the system needs a major overhaul via new, innovative approaches that understand and target the multi-faceted nature of these problems.

Critical design decisions that greatly impact a building’s energy and daylighting performance must be made early in the design process. Incorporating building simulation meaningfully at this stage, however, is notoriously difficult due to technical, budget, and process-related constraints. Fortunately, the post-COVID economics facing owners/developers, particularly concerning worker productivity and litigious risk mitigation, will dramatically increase investment and adoption of technology in the AEC industry requiring a new generation of building performance tools and workflows. 

4D BIM construction sequencing associates the element of time to components of a 3D BIM in the virtual world to provide a simulation of activities, movements, etc. on the jobsite to demonstrate how the project will evolve over time. 4D BIM has gained increasing momentum in the industry for the purpose of visualization, planning, and controlling different aspects of a construction project. This includes constructability, site logistics, workers' safety, crews and equipment conflicts.

For some people, building information management (BIM) is only 3D planning; others see BIM as a fancy new trend in the construction industry. Yet others still may not fully understand what BIM is. Although there is evidence that BIM is a best practice for collaboration and information sharing throughout the asset lifecycle, many stakeholders in the built environment still are cautious about investing into the new world of digital planning, construction, and operation. The high degree of adoption of BIM as a best practice has not materialized into a U.S.