The Performance Building Institute was founded by Mark Sands, owner and president of Genesis Building Systems. The purpose of the Institute is to promote the new performance paradigm shift through the five key transitions described in the white papers, and to support owners and industry leaders interested in bringing the performance paradigm shift to their organizations. To this end, the Institute presents comprehensive structures, practices and technologies that promote the transitions necessary to produce more cost-effective, high performance “green” buildings. The Institute provides consulting services to owners, designers, builders and building teams to develop high performance strategic planning. This can be done starting at the organization or project level.
Genesis was formed in 1999 as a construction services provider and manager; specializing in the application of integrated, innovative and automated practices in the development of commercial building projects. The website header is a photo of the Patterson Building, the first project that Genesis constructed. The customer was Steelcase, Inc. and the architect was Thomas Phifer and Associates. In 2003, Mark Sands began a series of a sabbaticals devoted to the study of new planning concepts and to the application computational science and systems thinking to the industry at large. Genesis has been developing the function-based computing modeling (BIM) technologies and related (Virtual Project Development) processes that are described in the “Function-based BIM” paper. This website is the fruit of that project. As a building producer and also a consultant, Genesis provides leadership or support as a partner on building teams that are committed to high performance objectives. Another purpose is to help develop an innovation cloud (See “Integrated Innovation”) that provides advanced interdisciplinary research and development services and optimization application to the construction community. As part of that innovation cloud, Genesis' specific business objective is to equip owners, designers, manufacturers and other building producers (at all levels) to realize their potential in the development of the high performance building.
Mark Sands has a BS in Civil Engineering, and a Masters in Business Administration; he is a registered professional engineer. In 2002, he met Mark Dietrick, then the Information Technology Director with Burt-Hill, a large and technologically advanced Architecture Engineering firm with offices throughout the East Coast and in Arizona. Mark Dietrick received his BA in Architecture, and is a registered architect that has specialized in CADD and other technologies for many years. He is now the Services Director for CASE Technologies providing BIM technology to the broader AECO community. Messrs Sands and Dietrick have collaborated on concepts presented in the white paper, "Function-based BIM."
On June 3, 2009, the president of AGC, Doug Pruitt, convened a forum of leaders and professionals to confront the issues of declining productivity and lack of innovation in the industry. The question posed was, "How do you drive innovation in an industry that does not innovate?" The consensus was that the question did not yet have an answer, or, in the words of one participant, that there was no "silver bullet." Nevertheless, The Performance Building Institute offers one such silver bullet for consideration, vetting, testing, adjusting, improving ...
~September 2009