In 2008 the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requested that the National Research Council (NRC) appoint an ad hoc committee of experts to provide advice for “advancing the competitiveness and productivity of the U.S. construction industry.” NRC defined efficiency improvements as ways to cut waste in time, costs, materials, energy, skills and labor. The Committee believes that improving efficiency will improve overall productivity and help individual construction firms produce more environmentally sustainable projects and become more competitive. The Committee identified 5 “opportunities for breakthrough improvements.” There were (1) widespread deployment and use of inter-operable technology applications, also called Building Information Modeling (“BIM”); (2) improve job-site efficiency through more effective interfacing of people, processes, materials, equipment and information; (3) greater use of pre-fabrication, pre-assembly, modernization and offsite fabrication techniques and processes; (4) innovative, widespread use of demonstration installation; and (5) effective performance measurement to drive efficiency and support innovation. The Committee discusses its findings in this report that can be obtained by accessing the following website: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12717.html
