Association Spotlight - National Institute of Building Sciences

The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to unite the entire building community in advancing building science and technology. To further this mission, NIBS recently partnered with iHire to bring valuable resources to construction professionals across our talent network.

For this edition of our Association Spotlight, we spoke with Lakisha A. Woods, CAE, CEO of NIBS, to learn more about this innovative organization.

iHire: When was your association founded?

LW: The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) was established by Congress in the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, Public Law 93-383.

iHire: What is the driving purpose of your organization?

LW: NIBS’ mission is to serve the public interest by advancing building science and technology to improve the built environment. We are a 501c3 non-profit organization that is an authoritative voice to support advances in this industry. We convene local, state, and federal representatives, the professions, labor, and consumer interests to identify and resolve problems that hamper the construction of safe and affordable housing and commercial structures.

iHire: Can you give use some more information about your member base?

LW: Our members come from all categories of the built environment, including individuals from the building industry, public interest representatives or groups, students, or organizations. For example, individual membership is open to any person employed by, interested in, or associated with:

• Building construction
• Labor organizations
• Home builders
• Housing management
• Building or construction contractors
• Producers, distributors or manufacturers of building products
• Trade and professional associations
• Organizations engaged in real estate, finance, insurance or research and testing of building products
• Technology and code and standards organizations

iHire: What type of continued education do you offer?

LW: NIBS hosts a number of online education and training opportunities on the Whole Building Design Guide website (WBDG | WBDG - Whole Building Design Guide). Interested parties can select from a variety of courses, sessions, and webinars to earn continuing education units from various education providers.

iHire: Do you host any industry events?

LW: In 2021, we are hosting a new monthly webinar series called Resilience 2021: Resilience Webinar Series - National Institute of Building Sciences (nibs.org. We also host the Women Executives in Building virtual leadership series Women Executives in Building: Virtual Leadership Series - National Institute of Building Sciences (nibs.org).

And lastly, our annual meeting is called the Building Innovation Conference & Expo. This year, the conference takes place virtually, Sept. 27-29, 2021.

To learn more about NIBS, visit: www.nibs.org.