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Abstract

The Conference entitled "Performance of Buildings - Concept and Measure-
ment" was held at the National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, Md. on
September 23-25, 1968. This was the first in a planned series of conferences
on "Man and His Shelter." The purpose of these conferences is to bring together
those people from various disciplines who may contribute to improving the quality
of man's shelter. At the present conference, papers were presented by nineteen
authors representing government and industry in such diverse disciplines as
architecture, engineering, science, urban planning, and standards. These papers
emphasize the prime importance of considering user needs in the development
of performance criteria, the necessity of test methods to determine whether the
desired performance has been achieved, and the development of performance
specifications and standards. Application of these ideas to building systems, and
to the planning and design of entire communities, is also discussed.

Key words: Building systems; performance of buildings; standards; test
methods; urban planning; user needs.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 70-600414

Foreword

Since as early as 1905, the National Bureau of Standards has developed test methods, standard practices, and data on the properties of materials used in the construction industry. These data and test methods have been widely incorporated in building standards and codes in use today. If this country is to meet its vast construction needs major changes in standards and codes must be made to accommodate existing technological advances and encourage others anticipated in the future. As with so many other technological problems facing us today, the most fruitful approaches to solutions will be interdisciplinary; physical scientists, behavioral scientists, lawyers, mathematicians, architects, engineers - all have a role to play. It is our intent that the National Bureau of Standards shall in the future, as in the past, serve as an important focus of interest for those concerned with assuring the technical soundness of building standards and codes.

It is in this context that the first of a planned series of conferences on "Man and His Shelter" was held at the Gaithersburg laboratories of the National Bureau of Standards in September 1968. This volume gives the proceedings of that Conference.

Lewis M. Branscomb, Director

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Preface

These are the proceedings of the Conference on the Performance of Buildings - Concept and Measurement, the first conference in the series. The conference was sponsored by the Building Research Division, Institute for Applied Technology and was held at the National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, Md. in September 1968.

The meeting was attended by approximately 300 scientists, engineers, architects and other professionals in the building industry. The participants exchanged ideas and discussed problems in an atmosphere that encouraged cooperation-so necessary in the fragmented building industry. (The questions and discussions that followed the talks are not included in these proceedings.)

The "Performance Concept" includes a range of ideas from user needs to actual measurement of the performance of materials, components, and building systems. The comments received since the conference, indicate that it was successful in establishing a sharper picture of performance as applied to the building industry.

The banquet provided the highlight of the conference when the Honorable C. R. Smith, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, introduced the Honorable Robert C. Weaver, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, who spoke eloquently on the problems of furnishing decent shelter for our people.

The editors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of the NBS Office of Technical Information and Publications and the secretarial staff of the Building Research Division and the Institute for Applied Technology in conducting the conference and the publication of the proceedings.

W. W. Walton

B. C. Cadoff