Ryan E. Smith
Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Utah
Chair, National Institute of Building Sciences, O-site Construction Council
West Region Director, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture

Kevin Grosskopf, PhD
Professor of Construction Management, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Chair, Academic Consortium of the National Institute of Building Sciences, O-site Construction Council

Jon Elliott, PhD
Assistant Professor of Construction Management, Colorado State University

The United States enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world. One contributing component of this standard of living is the supporting array of buildings and infrastructure. According to the Environmental Protection Agency this building stock constitutes approximately 40 percent of the total yearly energy expenditure of the nation, and accounts for 12 percent of total water consumption, 68 percent of total electricity consumption and 38% of total carbon dioxide emissions into our atmosphere.

In December 1968, the United States Federal Government’s National Commission on Urban Problems sounded an alarm. The Commission had been formed in January, 1967, as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. It was headed by Illinois Senator Paul Douglas, and soon came to be known as “The Douglas Commission.” Over the course of two years leading up to that date, the Commission had penetrated the labyrinth of zoning, housing and building codes, as well as taxation and development standards. It also documented the need to increase the supply of low-cost, decent housing.