by Brianna Crandall — February 1, 2016—The National Institute of Building Sciences Consultative Council recently released its 2015 report, Moving Forward: Findings and Recommendations from the Consultative Council, during its Annual Meeting, held as part of Building Innovation 2016: The National Institute of Building Sciences Annual Conference and Expo.
Every year, the Consultative Council prepares, as outlined in the Institute’s enabling legislation, a report of findings and recommendations to the President of the United States and the U.S. Congress that is included in the Institute’s Annual Report.
The U.S. building industry is a dynamic and evolving industry and the challenges it faces have significant implications for the nation’s economy and citizens, points out NIBS. The Institute, through its Consultative Council, brings together key stakeholders from across the building industry to examine the challenges and opportunities before both the industry and the nation.
In turn, the Consultative Council, which consists of representative organizations from the building industry that support the design, construction and operation of buildings, compiles the most critical issues, along with strategies to address them, into a report to help the industry and the nation’s policymakers better deliver the high-performance buildings and communities that, if implemented, would help to advance the industry and the nation in realizing myriad goals.
The 2015 report builds on the major themes previously identified in the 2014 Moving Forward report. These three themes: resilience and a changing climate; aligning government and business to achieve a cost-effective, high-performance built environment; and the buildings-related workforce and productivity, continue to be important priorities, says NIBS.
The 2015 findings and recommendations represent the collective input from the Council’s member organizations, industry thought leaders, and the work of related Institute Councils and others working to advance the building industry.
Below are some of the topics covered in the new report:
- Addressing drought and water use concerns
- Code development, adoption and enforcement
- Resilience and green-building rating systems
- Streamlining regulatory processes for buildings and infrastructure
- Utilizing standards to support interoperability and lower transactional barriers
- Innovative solutions to pressing finance and performance needs
- Implementing whole-building and performance-focused strategies
- Cybersecurity of buildings and critical infrastructure
The 2015 report, Moving Forward: Findings and Recommendations from the Consultative Council, is available for free download from the Institute.
