Las Vegas, NV — Project and facility owners, architects, engineers, constructors, specialty contractors, integrated services providers, academics, exhibitors, and decision makers from a broad array of public and private sector markets met at DBIA’s 2005 Annual Professional Design-Build Conference from November 8-10, 2005, in Las Vegas, NV. Over 1700 members of the design and construction community registered to explore emerging best practices, key industry trends, obstacles to be overcome, and to network with leading figures of the design-build community.
A group of outstanding plenary speakers provided a useful context for further conference presentations and discussions. The constant focus of the conference was how design-build project delivery is actually being utilized, as suggested by the conference theme, “Building on the Promise: Successfully Implementing Integrated Projects.” Five tracks addressed the practical, “how-to” aspects of design-build: acquisitions and contracts; quality assurance /quality control; communication, teamwork, and integration; project/process management; and high-performance materials/software.
Ken Schmidt, former director of communications for Harley-Davidson Motor Company, delivered a powerful keynote address. He invited the audience to “make some noise,” in understanding how to build a new corporate culture, rekindle relationships with customers, and reaching out to new ones in completely untraditional ways. Schmidt drew on his experience in the turnaround of Harley-Davidson in the mid 1980s. The company was on the brink of bankruptcy; Schmidt discovered that recovery was far more than making technical improvements to achieve parity with his competitors. Harley-Davidson’s remarkable change was based on developing a new understanding and connection with its customers. The firm began to change the perception (the “noise”) of the company, creating a new culture that welcomed people to Harley-Davidson who previously had never given it a second thought. The lessons for the design-build community are clear. The industry will not get its “fair share” of the market unless it makes a concerted effort to “get inside the head of the customer” and truly understand its potential clients and stakeholders.
Lieutenant General Carl A. Strock, Commander and Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, delivered a moving plenary talk, “Building a Strong Military: Serving our Troops through Increased Efficiency in Construction.” The Corps’ commitment to construct projects better, faster, and more economically is eloquent testimony that explains their strong commitment to using design-build. General Strock outlined some of the operational challenges that affect widespread implementation.
One of the conference highlights was the closing plenary public owner panel, “Balancing Regulatory Obligation with Cost, Schedule, and Quality.” Donald Basham, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; James W. Wright, Naval Facilities Engineering Command; and William T. Colston, Overseas Building Operations, Department of State, discussed their organization’s respective commitments to utilizing design-build project delivery. The panel focused on the most significant challenges each organization faces when utilizing design-build delivery. Where possible, they indicated the percentage of their projects that they anticipate will be delivered using design-build in the next five years. An especially interesting exchange focused on the use of awards and incentives, a strategy pioneered in the Pentagon Renovation Program. The panel also addressed such issues as transitioning to design-build and how design-build professionals can help make design-build a more efficient and effective option.
The Owners’ Forum attracted over 75 owners, which represents the largest attendance at a DBIA Owners’ Forum. Craig Unger, an owner with the U.S. Department of Justice for 26 years and now President of Unger Securities, and Mike Yopp, an owner at the University of California, Irvine, facilitated discussion. Owners in attendance possess different levels of experience using design-build and oversee a broad range of project types (roads, buildings, water, etc.). A number of owners are about to embark on their first design-build project, and were offered many insightful suggestions.
Owners shared their best practices in maximizing project outcomes and asked questions freely in this owners-only session. Discussions included use of performance specifications, selection processes, evaluation factors, and projects best suited for design-build. DBIA holds owner forums at the water/wastewater, transportation, and annual conferences. In addition, DBIA has three active owner committees for buildings, water, and transportation, respectively. Owner forums will also be added to DBIA’s other specialty conferences. If you are an owner and would like to get involved, please contact Cara Welch, VP of Advocacy at 202-682-0110 or cwelch@dbia.org.
The 2005 Chapter Excellence Awards were announced at the DBIA Annual Conference. This year, rather than recognizing only the Chapter of the Year and the Most Improved Chapter as in the past, DBIA expanded the Chapter awards to highlight those chapters that are performing at a very high level, providing excellent services to their members. Five of the chapters that submitted Chapter Excellence Award applications received the Silver Chapter award, denoting excellent service to their members. Silver Chapter awardees included the New York Tri-State, Rocky Mountain, Great Lakes, Northwest, and Texas Chapters. The Great Lakes Chapter also received an award for Legislative Initiative, due especially to the chapter’s efforts in passing legislation in Indiana that changed Indiana from a “red state” — where no design-build is allowed for public agencies — to a “light green state.” The Northwest Chapter also received a second award for excellence in Programs and Member Services. This chapter provided a variety of solid programs that were promoted widely and were well attended. Texas is another chapter that was recognized for its success with Membership. Texas saw a solid increase in both individual and Industry Partner members as well as an outstanding membership retention rate over the past year.
Finally, the conference recognized the Western Pacific Chapter. Not only were they both the 2005 Chapter of the Year and Most Improved Chapter winner, they were also recognized as a Gold Chapter for outstanding services to chapter members, and shared the award for Legislative Initiative.
Many other sessions creatively addressed critical issues in using design-build delivery more effectively. The conference served as a seminal learning and networking experience for its record number of attendees.