Industrial News

SBIC’s Ecobuild America conference is a comprehensive event for the architectural, engineering, and construction industries for sustainable design, infrastructure and “green” building strategies.

SBIC’s Ecobuild America conference premiers June 20–23, 2005, at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. To support the needs of an expanding green and sustainable building market, the conference combines educational sessions, tutorials, and cutting-edge information from national vendors by covering the best building techniques and the latest technology. Attendees will find up-to-date solutions for their current projects: sustainable building materials, energy-efficient products and services, solar solutions, options for livable communities, water conservation strategies, and a particular emphasis on sustainable growth.

In announcing the relationship, George Borkovich, Principal of RCG, noted: “SBIC’s mission of ‘advancing a “whole building” approach to design™’ is clearly aligned with our goals of reaching out to every member of the building team. Both the Ecobuild America and Ecobuild Federal conferences will provide SBIC with an expanded platform to further its mission. Together, we'll have a significant opportunity to produce a larger event, attract more participants and support the emerging market for sustainable products and services.”

Helen English, SBIC’s Executive Director, adds, “This is an exciting time for SBIC, as we celebrate our 25th anniversary of service to the building industry. With our continued focus on sustainability, always kept in a ‘whole building’ context, SBIC has worked diligently to help architects, engineers, federal and state agencies, and building owners and managers understand that integrated design is critical to achieving truly high-performance buildings. For example, it’s not enough to design a sustainable building; HVAC, fire protection, security, aesthetics, acoustics, and much more must carefully be considered. The building and its community, site, and orientation must be interdependent. The resulting buildings will be more efficient, cost-effective, comfortable, and healthy.

“SBIC is an education and advocacy organization. We do not dictate requirements. Rather, we educate the industry on the value of an integrated approach to design. We are eager to nurture the entire building team and help them reach the high-performance building goals they have set.”

SBIC has always carefully tailored its educational products to specific audiences across a wide spectrum: home builders, architects, K–12 school decision makers, engineers, energy consultants, or federal program managers. In this event, SBIC will be able to bring all its offerings together, providing members and conference attendees with a very diverse program.

SBIC’s Ecobuild America has announced the following program additions for the conference:

- A seminar for home builders based on SBIC’s Green Building Guidelines: Meeting the Demand for Low-Energy, Resource-Efficient Homes©, 4th Edition
- A workshop for A/Es, government officials, and building owners and managers
titled “The ‘Whole Building Approach’ to Designing Sustainable, Secure Buildings”
- A seminar for procurement officials and architects/builders based on SBIC’s High-Performance School Buildings Resource and Strategy Guide©, 2nd Edition
- A tutorial for educators and practitioners on using SBIC’s ENERGY-10 Software: A Conceptual Design Tool for Energy-Efficient Buildings
- A panel discussion for material manufacturers, specifiers, and architects on “Greening the Historic Preservation Process”

An expanded program of the above-listed seminars, as well as additional programs, will be offered at SBIC’s Ecobuild Federal event in December 2005:

- The SBIC 2005 FORUM, “The Ripple Effects of Integrated Design” (open to all)
- The 2005 SBIC “Best Sustainable Practice” and “Exemplary Sustainable Building” Awards Program
- SBIC’s Annual Membership Meeting

SBIC’s Ecobuild Federal conference, to take place on December 13-16, 2005, at the Washington D.C. Convention Center, is an annual event targeted to the special needs of those who commission, design, build, and manage government facilities. It is co-located with other conference events including FEDCON, The Federal Specifiers Conference, Land Development Breakthroughs, AEC–ST Federal and fm/IT Federal.

Registration for SBIC’s Ecobuild America is now in progress and discounts apply for early-bird registrants. For additional information, call 1-800-996-3863 or visit www.ecobuildamerica.com

About RCG Productions LLC
RCG Productions LLC (Exton, Pa.) produces Ecobuild America, AEC-ST, the National Specifiers Conference, FM/IT and the AEC/GIS IT Analyst Conference. RCG principals, George Borkovich, Richard C. Vendola, Jr., and Chris Gibson have a depth of experience in technology and event planning, including the former A/E/C SYSTEMS International conference and exhibition. For more information, visit www.ecobuildamerica.com and www.aecst.com

About Sustainable Buildings Industry Counci (SBIC)
SBIC teaches value, and advocates a balanced, holistic approach to designing new buildings. Many terms are used to describe improved buildings, such as "green," "sustainable," "high performance," and "environmentally responsive." SBIC is mindful these ideas must be kept in context with other equally important design objectives, such as aesthetics, accessibility, cost effectiveness, flexibility, high productivity, and security. SBIC members believe all sustainable buildings must be low-energy, climate-responsive, use minimal fossil fuels and cleaner, renewable energy. Working in close partnership with federal agencies, policy makers, and national laboratories, the council has led the way in defining a coherent "whole building" approach to new building design. For more information, visit www.SBICouncil.org

-----------------------------------------------Strategically Co-located Conferences and Events
-----------------------------------------------
SBIC’s Ecobuild America
SBIC’s Ecobuild America explores the breadth of commercial, industrial, institutional and residential green building techniques, construction products, renewable energy resources, sustainable design and ecological planning processes, with particular emphasis on the lifecycle of the built environment.

AEC – Science & Technology
AEC-ST examines technology tools and methods to improve the use and sharing of information in multiple data formats both within and between each stage of the built environment lifecycle.

AEC/GIS IT Analyst Conference
The AEC/GIS Analyst Conference provides an overall assessment of the industry, including a state of the industry address and future outlook. Attendees will explore the most important issues facing the customer today and learn what direction the industry information technology suppliers are headed.

fm/IT
Until now, there has never been an event that addresses the IT needs of facility managers: how information and electronic data are leveraged to improve FM business processes; the kinds of technologies that are having a meaningful business impact; how information standards are defined and shared; and the resources required to make these efforts successful.

The National Specifiers Conference
The National Specifiers Conference presents the most concentrated group of sessions on specifications in 2005 to help attendees: stay up-to-date with the most advanced automation and production tools for specs, learn about new resources to save time and improve quality, and prepare for future changes.

M6: Mold, Moisture, Misery, Money, and Myth - Plus MANAGEMENT
The Building Environment and Thermal Envelope Council, a committee of the National Institute of Building Sciences will produce a conference addressing a sequential series of protocols from discovery of mold through remediation to the post-remediation operation and maintenance procedures. This symposium is designed to walk participants through a catastrophic mold event.

The National Residential CM/IT Conference
This conference addresses management and technology solutions for homebuilders, remodelers, and residential architects.

LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
The U.S. Green Building Council will present LEED workshops throughout the Ecobuild America conference program. The workshops will address issues related to LEED-New Construction, LEED -Existing Building and LEED-Commercial Interior.

National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Conference
NRMCA, recognized as one the construction industry's leading advocates for sustainable building practices, presents a conference that provides valuable, current and authoritative information on important subjects for architectural, engineering and construction professionals.

Peer Discussion Groups
Leadership Networking - This Roundtable Event is exclusive to “C” level Executives and Presidents, and is designed to increase leadership skills and improve bottom-line profitability. Learn and share with the best.