Whole Building Design Guide
Encyclopedia
The Whole Building Design Guide or WBDG is the most used online resource for building information in the world, with over 500,000 distinct users per month and over 3 million document downloads according to data as of January 2011. The online portal covers a wide range of topics, from performance and sustainability to security and resilience. WBDG is based on the premise that to create a successful high-performance building, one must apply an integrated design and team approach in all phases of a project, including planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance. The WBDG is managed by the National Institute of Building Sciences
.
The WBDG draws information from the Construction Criteria Base and a privately-owned database run by Information Handling Services.
A significant amount of the Whole Building Design Guide content is organized by three categories: Design Guidance, Project Management, and Operations and Maintenance. It is structured to provide WBDG visitors first a broad understanding then increasingly specific information more targeted towards building industry professionals.
WBDG is the resource that federal agencies look to for policy and technical guidance on Federal High Performance and Sustainable Buildings
In addition, the WBDG contains online tools, the original Construction Criteria Base, Building Information Modeling
guides and libraries, a database of select case studies, federal mandates and other resources.
The WBDG also provides online continuing education courses for architects and other building professionals, free of charge.
The WBDG web site maintained by the National Institute of Building Sciences
through funding support from the DOD, the NAVFAC Engineering Innovation and Criteria Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the assistance of the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC). A Board of Direction and an Advisory Committee consisting of representatives from over 25 participating federal agencies guide the development of the WBDG.
National Institute of Building Sciences
National Institute of Building Sciences
The National Institute of Building Sciences is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that successfully brings together representatives of government, the professions, industry, labor and consumer interests, and regulatory agencies to focus on the identification and resolution of problems and...
.
History
The WBDG was initially designed to serve U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) construction programs. A 2003 DOD memorandum named WBDG the “sole portal to design and construction criteria produced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), and U.S. Air Force.” Since then, WBDG has expanded to serve all building industry professionals. The majority of users are from the private sector.The WBDG draws information from the Construction Criteria Base and a privately-owned database run by Information Handling Services.
A significant amount of the Whole Building Design Guide content is organized by three categories: Design Guidance, Project Management, and Operations and Maintenance. It is structured to provide WBDG visitors first a broad understanding then increasingly specific information more targeted towards building industry professionals.
WBDG is the resource that federal agencies look to for policy and technical guidance on Federal High Performance and Sustainable Buildings
In addition, the WBDG contains online tools, the original Construction Criteria Base, Building Information Modeling
Building Information Modeling
Building information modeling is the process of generating and managing building data during its life cycle.BIM involves representing a design as objects – vague and undefined, generic or product-specific, solid shapes or void-space oriented , that carry their geometry, relations and attributes...
guides and libraries, a database of select case studies, federal mandates and other resources.
The WBDG also provides online continuing education courses for architects and other building professionals, free of charge.
Development
Development of the WBDG is a collaborative effort among federal agencies, private sector companies, non-profit organizations and educational institutions.The WBDG web site maintained by the National Institute of Building Sciences
National Institute of Building Sciences
The National Institute of Building Sciences is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that successfully brings together representatives of government, the professions, industry, labor and consumer interests, and regulatory agencies to focus on the identification and resolution of problems and...
through funding support from the DOD, the NAVFAC Engineering Innovation and Criteria Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the assistance of the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC). A Board of Direction and an Advisory Committee consisting of representatives from over 25 participating federal agencies guide the development of the WBDG.
External Links
Whole Building Design GuideNational Institute of Building Sciences