Finding the Building Maker

The latest statistics indicate that water intrusion is the core issue for over 80% of litigation involving new construction buildings. This a mind-boggling fact when you consider that the entire purpose of constructing a building is to provide shelter by keeping the outside out and the inside in. Even more staggering is the fact that 90% of all intrusion (water, air, and thermal) comes from less than 1% of the building surface. That 1% is comprised of terminations, transitions, and penetrations where continuity is lost. When you consider the process of how buildings are constructed today, is it any wonder that a lack of continuity is the leading reason for leaky buildings? Let’s face it, our industry is broken. Design-Bid-Build (DBB), the predominant method of constructing new buildings, is inefficient and delivers a flawed product. By design, the DBB promotes compartmentalization, disjointed communication, and conflict. We all know it and complain about it every day. And what is done about it? We add more processes to the method that simply addresses the symptoms. How do we stop the insanity?

The solution is the Building Maker, but who are they, and how do we find them?

Learning Objectives: 

• Examine the 90%/1% principle to develop an understanding of why continuity is needed in the construction process to create continuity in the building.
• Study the process of Design-Bid-Build (DBB) compared to the Power vs. Knowledge graph to uncover the root causes, making continuity in the process virtually impossible.
• Delve into the concept of the Building Maker and gain insight into why the method can change our industry for the better.
• Investigate the stepping stones that can move our industry from leak-ridden, legal quagmires of buildings produced with DBB to the

1.0 LU

Our Speaker: 

David Leslie, RWC
President / Building Science
National United Facilities Asset Management

The Building Enclosure Council provides a forum for the AEC industry to address building enclosures—the exterior systems of buildings that play such a critical role in building performance and energy efficiency.