The National Institute of Building Sciences is gearing up for the industry’s only conference for the entire building community to connect, collaborate, and design solutions for the built environment – and we are looking for speakers.

The 13th annual Building Innovation conference will take place May 19–21, 2025, at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner in McLean, VA. We look forward to engaging the built community in person to network and learn from industry professionals.

The theme of this year’s conference is Thrive: Strategies for Resilient Communities. Education sessions will be centered around three main tracks: Leaders, Practitioners, and Technologists. We seek abstracts to cover the following topics:

  • Functional recovery
  • Sustainable design and construction practices
  • Retrofitting for resilience
  • Climate adaptation strategies for buildings and infrastructure
  • Community resilience and engagement in urban planning
  • Innovative materials
  • Technologies for resilient design, construction, and planning
  • Policy frameworks that support resilient development
  • Adopting resilient projects and strategies; case studies
  • Integration of green infrastructure and ecosystem services
  • Risk assessment and management in the built environment
  • Innovative investments and insurance in resilience
  • Workforce

Industry leaders with valuable insights, case studies, best practices, lessons learned, and/or remaining challenges are encouraged to share their knowledge and experiences with a broad audience of building industry stakeholders by submitting an abstract for consideration no later than January 3, 2025.

About the Education Tracks

Leaders
Looking beyond buildings to enable community-level resilience. Sessions will focus on developing policy frameworks, strengthening critical infrastructure, incentivizing the investment, and empowering the workforce behind functional recovery.

Practitioners
Establishing processes for resilient building. Sessions will focus on codes, standards, existing buildings, risk assessment and management, and sustainable design and construction practices.

Technologists
Highlighting current and emerging technologies for resilient design, construction, and planning. Sessions will focus on technology solutions, materials, use cases, and implementation and adoption.

Abstract requirements
  • Approved abstracts should plan for presentations to run for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or 50-60 minutes total.
  • Speakers may submit an abstract for either an individual presentation, 2-speakers, or a multi-person panel. All speakers must be committed prior to abstract submission. Panels shall not exceed 5 people, including the moderator, and should represent the diversity of our industry, varied perspectives or industry viewpoints. NIBS reserves the right to organize panels and select moderators, as needed.
  • Submitting an abstract is a professional commitment. If the abstract is accepted, the speaker(s) commit to attend the event. If the speaker(s) is unable to attend the conference, it is incumbent upon them to find a substitute. Upon notification of selection, speakers will be given 7 days to confirm participation.
  • Speaker/panelist commits to providing his or her own education and content on NIBS’ branded PowerPoint slides.

Abstracts are due via the online form by January 3, 2025. For questions about speaker abstract submissions, please contact Jennifer Hitzke at jhitzke@nibs.org. Approved speakers/panelists will be notified on or about February 28, 2025.

Promotional presentations on products or services will not be considered.

The final PowerPoint presentation is due by May 7, 2025, with no exceptions. Speakers will receive a discounted conference rate of $250.

Important dates:
  • November 7, 2024 – Call for abstracts open
  • January 3, 2025 – Call for abstracts close
  • By February 28, 2025 – Approved speakers/panelists to be notified
  • May 7, 2025 – Deadline for speakers to submit final PowerPoint presentation
  • May 19-21, 2025 – 13th Annual Building Innovation Conference at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner, McLean, VA.

NIBS is committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of inclusion and connectedness. We strongly believe in an environment built on respect and dignity. We believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical to the strength of the built environment and building industry as a whole. Therefore, NIBS encourages all submissions to reflect these same values.