The landscape for codes and standards is rapidly shifting as technology and policy evolve to address increasing complexity.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to significantly transform the development and use of codes and standards while policies around copyright protections for standards developed through the private sector standards development processes threaten future standards development.

Session 1: Masonry and Augmented Reality

Challenges facing the built environment have become increasingly extreme during the last quarter-century. As we embark toward 2050, the building industry is reckoning with significant threats, but we are also seeking collaborative solutions. Among these solutions are physical and digital technologies that, together, can make buildings more resilient, sustainable, and optimized for the well-being of occupants.

Robust and reliable civil infrastructure is foundational to economic vitality, innovation, and public wellbeing. Civil infrastructure comes in many forms that include physical assets (e.g., power, water, wastewater, telecommunications, transportation systems, and networks), critical facilities and protection systems (e.g., schools, hospitals, and flood control systems), and networks that interconnect them.

While recent cyber incidents to data and software disrupted the lives of Americans, national headlines also have carried stark warnings about foreign hackers positioning cyber “bombs” in American infrastructure to wreak havoc on our economy and cause harm to citizens and communities – a real threat to our physical safety.

Session 1 - Fluid Viscous Dampers and Replaceable Structural Fuses: Improving Building Performance and Functional Recovery

In the last 15 years, BIM has proven its value in the AECO industry.

Models are commonly used as tools for service and as deliverables. Architects, engineers, construction managers and owners have developed skills, procedures, and expectations of how to work with models.

Nevertheless, we observe that in the relationship between owner, design team and contractors, models are exchanged, but not trusted. It is common practice that construction teams receive design models for information only, and authoritative information needs to be derived from drawings.

The incorporation of Generative AI (GenAI) into building information management (BIM) processes and practices represents a significant opportunity for the architecture, engineering, construction, and operation (AECO) sector.

Many building owners are starting their transition to BIM and modeling. It can sometimes be challenging to know what to ask for in a model and know that you are getting one that is useful for space management, asset management, and as an as-built for renovation projects.

For custodians of our nation’s most revered and significant historic places, stewardship is a complex endeavor. The long histories of these buildings and sites often are dispersed in decades – if not centuries – worth of documents, media, artifacts, and memories. Operating them today and mapping a path for their future requires the ability to synthesize pertinent and accurate information about their multi-layered past to make informed decisions.