WBC 16 Update #3: The Conference Continues

Following a little rest yesterday afternoon, I ambled down to the river that Tampere was founded upon for the city reception at the Vapriikki museum center. The rapids that connect the Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi lakes provided power for several generations of factories. Now, that channel and the factory buildings provide a very charming waterfront setting. I managed to find a fellow Plainsman at the reception, Richard Burt, the head of Auburn's Building Science school.

Vapriikki Exhibit on the Finnish Civil War

The morning session I sat in on was for CIB TG 79. That commission's focus is building regulations and control in the face of climate change. It might seem a bit dry, but the papers that were presented covered demand response, the risk of current standards making overheating homes more common, the struggles with energy performance reporting in Spain, the ability of building codes to address climate change and the hidden transaction costs of green building, all interesting subjects I thought.

In the afternoon I attended a two-part session about HOLISTEEC, a very ambitious effort to create a BIM and cloud enabled platform for integrating the design process. It's still under development, but I'm looking forward to seeing it released in full. If everything comes together as planned, it could be really useful.