Sources: National Institute of Building Sciences, Washington, D.C.; CP staff
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Building Sciences has replaced its planned Washington, D.C. conference this summer with Building Innovation 2020: Virtual Edition, billing the August 18-19 program as “a powerfully compact event, focusing on technology, workforce, resilience and Covid-19.”
BI2020 will kick off with a noon keynote, “3D Printing as a New Paradigm for Affordable, Resilient Housing,” from Evan Loomis, an Austin, Texas, developer of concrete printing technology. He will discuss how his Austin, Texas company, Icon, is using robotics, software and advanced materials to bring affordable housing to people affected by disasters while solving for a plurality of problems including homelessness, affordability and resiliency. One of Icon’s early 3D-printed concrete prototypes drew visitors no less than U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
Other virtual conference sessions include “Making the Invisible Visible – Innovative Structure Monitoring Technologies to Validate and Visualize Buildings Enclosure Performance”; “Workforce of the Future: Using Data to Advance Industrialization of Construction”; “Improving Construction Safety to Recruit a Stronger and More Diverse Workforce”; and, “National Building Information Modeling Standard – United States Roadmap.”
“We have been working around the clock to present the best material for our members and a growing number of attendees, and it became clear Building Innovation needed to move online,” says NIBS President Lakisha Woods. “Building Innovation will deliver two days of critically important educational sessions with the top experts in the industry.”
BI2020 also will feature a “pay what you can” registration fee, to a maximum of $395. All payments will be used to support the NIBS mission and the greater U.S. built environment. Along with building and construction stakeholders, BI2020 brings together innovators; local, state and federal government leaders; and, public or private sector representatives. Title sponsor is the International Code Council. — www.buildinginnovation.org