The Master Builders Dialogue, presented by The Carpenters’ Company, took place on November 7, 2017 at the Museum of the American Revolution. Industry leaders explored the new BIM and IPD technology revolution and its effects in collectively bringing us back to the original “Master Builder.” The three sessions included “A Revolutionary Idea Brought to Life,” “Design-Build and the Re-Emergence of the Master Builder,” and the AIA/GBCA Joint Committee’s “The Integrated Project Delivery Model (IPD) – Revolutionary Results.”

Moderated by AIA/GBCA Joint Committee Chairman, John DeFazio, Vice President of L.F. Driscoll Company, LLC, the final panel included Chris Bormann, Regional Director of Health Program at HDR Architects, Walt Massey, Founding Partner of Covalus, Ed Hanzel, Project Executive at L.F. Driscoll Company, LLC, and Howard Ashcraft, Partner at Hanson Bridgett LLP.

Ashcraft, a world-renowned IPD expert based out of California, gave the keynote address on IPD and discussed everything from high performing teams, to colocation and integrating processes, and even when to utilize or not utilize IPD. Drawing from his 2017 article, “Integrating Project Delivery”, co-authored with Prof. Martin Fischer, Dean Reed and Dr. Atul Khanzode, Ashcraft provided a primer on IPD. He discussed using IPD in everyday operation, IPD guidelines, and case studies of companies applying these guidelines on real-world projects.

Following Ashcraft’s keynote, an expert panel discussed building trust among the IPD team, safety and morale in an IPD environment, target value design, and the breakdown of senior management and executive team decisions. The discussion wrapped up with a question about why IPD use has not penetrated the market. Ashcraft noted that even Design Build took a long time to catch on, and also most people are adverse to change.

Here’s to seeing more revolutionary approaches to workflow, relationships between stakeholders, collaboration, and goal sharing!