Building Innovation: The Podcast NIBS

The latest episode of the National Institute of Building Sciences’ Building Innovation podcast, hosted by Johnny Fortune, discusses the mental health crisis in the construction industry and introduces the initiative Get Construction Talking. The conversation highlights the importance of addressing mental health in the industry and the need for open conversations and support. 
 Procore Technologies and The B1M have partnered to raise awareness and provide resources for individuals and businesses through this initiative. The long-term vision is to improve mental health in construction and create a culture where mental well-being is prioritized, ultimately reducing the alarming suicide rate in the industry.  
 Key topics covered include:  
The construction industry is facing a mental health crisis, with rates of mental health issues and suicide rising.  The Get Construction Talking initiative aims to raise awareness, provide resources, and create a culture of open conversation around mental health in the industry. Procore and The B1M have partnered to support the initiative and encourage businesses and individuals to get involved. The long-term vision is to improve mental health in construction and prioritize mental well-being alongside physical safety.  For more information and to get involved with this important initiative, visit https://www.getconstructiontalking.org/.  

This episode of the National Institute of Building Sciences Building Innovation podcast, hosted by Johnny Fortune, features industry experts Jay Kline, Roger Grant, and Kimon Onuma. The discussion revolved around the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and building sciences, exploring the transformative impact of AI on digital twins, industry standards, building information modeling (BIM), resiliency, sustainability, and more. 
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The integration of AI in facility design, construction, and operation is revolutionizing the industry. The presenters share observations from the industry about how owners and executives are starting to notice the value of their data, how AI can use it, and how AI is driving the need for standards development. The episode explores the challenges and opportunities of integrating AI in the building sciences. The discussion also touches on lessons learned by early adopters of AI in the building industry.  
For more resources on AI and building sciences, check out the following session from Building Innovation 2023 and this NIBS webinar. 

Every year, the National Institute of Building Sciences recognizes built environment leaders for their notable contributions to this vast and growing industry. In this episode, host Johnny Fortune speaks with some of the 2023 award recipients – Future Leaders, Exceptional Woman in Building, The Mortimer M. Marshall Lifetime Achievement, and NIBS Innovator – about their work and suggestions for others on making an impact in the industry. 
 View the full list of 2023 recipients and send us your 2024 nominations at nibs.org/awards.

In this episode of the Building Innovation podcast, host Johnny Fortune is joined by Salla Eckhardt, Vice President of Innovation, OAC Services. Eckhardt provides a fresh take on empowering women in a predominately male industry, through the lens of her individual journey as a transformational change agent in construction. She also discusses how digital transformation is socially equalizing the industry, shares her experience as a NIBS volunteer, and discusses industry trends, such as AI, smart cities, the metaverse, and data governance.  

This month, join podcast host Johnny Fortune and Kimon Onuma, President of Onuma Inc. and trailblazer in architecture and technology. Onuma is also the founder of BIMStorm, an international event that brings industry organizations into a virtual environment to explore forward-looking technology. 
In this episode, Onuma outlines the BIMStorm events that help foster collaboration as well as rapid prototyping and problem-solving. Fortune and Onuma also discuss a range of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twins and explore their impact on the built environment. Onuma offers insight into the importance of decoupled data that enables information to be easily shared across applications and databases. He also provides an analogy for the audience to better understand data interoperability and reuse and shares how AI can complement team efforts during the design process.  

Please join our host Jonny Fortune as he speaks with Adam Matthews,  Head of Global Digital Transformation, Connected Places Catapult this month. Mr. Matthews shares a global perspective of how digital technology standards for the built environment are being developed and implemented around the world and discusses the effort of the UK program and how it pulled together various industry stakeholders to bring about a holistic solution. 

He also shares his thoughts about the similarities between the UK and the US and how the work he previously did with the UK helps inform his contributions to the U.S. National BIM Program.