Event Schedule

This meeting is intended for presenters only, and is a critical part of the Tradeline program. Your group will be given last minute information on the audience and their special questions as well as project information relative to this topic. Also covered will be conference protocol and audio-visual equipment for presenters, as well as details on the conference schedule. Speakers will receive a full set of conference materials at this time.

Advanced RSVP Required

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Renovating and reprogramming existing space—paired with a hard look at how that space is actually used—can eliminate the need for new construction and deliver substantial capital savings. A campus-wide utilization study at Carroll College revealed enough hidden capacity across classrooms and general campus spaces to halt a planned building project and avoid over $17 million in new construction costs. Amy Clark and Dan Byrd detail the modernizations and upgrades that made existing spaces more functional and desirable, the scheduling and sharing practices that unlocked latent capacity, and the cultural shifts and leadership required to deliver the renovations the campus needed.

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Pressures on higher ed have hit a tipping point, and unprecedented space reassignment and renovation plans are finally finding traction and delivering results. Bradley Angell illustrates four unconventional moves that UCSC made to support recruitment and program growth in Engineering despite a multi-year structural deficit and no budget for new construction. He details the use of low-tech analysis tables to drive equitable space reassignments; an operational redesign correcting failed circulation and layouts; relocating research teams from a newer, science-dominated building to an older engineering building, and aggressive lab consolidations, shared offices, and retrofits to attract growing P.I. portfolios. He provides critical guidance on navigating the political landscape and pushing through personal and organizational roadblocks.

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When research cannot pause for renovation, the renovation must work around the research. Lena Lynch charts a 12-phase comprehensive modernization of Nationwide Children’s Hospital aging research facility which kept operations fully running while systematically refreshing infrastructure, laboratory environments, vivarium and core facilities, and shared spaces. She illustrates the enabling swing-space strategy, cost-conscious decisions to stretch renovation dollars, key equipment and infrastructure upgrades, improvements in adjacencies, and the master planning framework that has positioned the facility for long-term flexibility. She relates key lessons learned and best practices for institutions facing the same occupied-renovation challenge.

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Next-gen research and education facilities depend on highly reliable utility systems, yet many institutions plan renovations and expansions using incomplete data and outdated records, putting project cost, schedule, and long-term facility performance at risk. Abhilash Srungarapati provides lessons learned from Houston Public Works projects, illustrating common discrepancies between GIS and as-builts and actual field conditions. He introduces a field-validated, risk-based framework for infrastructure assessment integrating inspection data, engineering analysis, and capital planning to improve decision-making. He illustrates how the framework reframes renovation vs. new-construction tradeoffs, enhances reliability, reduces uncertainty, and supports resilient design and construction of complex research and education facilities. 

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Don’t settle for “quick fix” renovations that can limit long-term performance; relatively small, well-considered moves can transform a project from basic accommodation into a cohesive, forward-looking environment. Presenters use a series of STEM renovation case studies, including Brown University, to demonstrate the decision-making criteria that reconcile program, circulation, and identity to turn constrained existing buildings into cohesive, high-performing academic environments. They illustrate the results including modernized laboratories, spatial relationships fostering student collaboration, intuitive wayfinding that contribute to improved user experience, and facilities well-positioned to evolve as needs change.

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With tariff policy and energy costs in flux and the Federal Reserve continuing rate changes, capital planners face a pressing question: How much escalation should owners budget for projects breaking ground in the next few years? The Vermeulens team analyzes leading indicators—equities, GDP, job creation, oil, lumber, copper, and steel—alongside construction volumes and labor productivity to model how tariff and monetary policy will reshape pricing structures. They deliver a regional construction labor weather map identifying where capacity is tightest, and two-year escalation scenarios by region. They illustrate practical methods for setting design, escalation, bidding, and construction contingencies and controlling delivered costs across micro and macroeconomic environments. 

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Most research universities carry an inventory of aging, mission-critical science and engineering buildings that no longer serve evolving programs and that hide big deferred maintenance liabilities. Drawing on precinct plans and renewal strategies developed for leading institutions, presenters synthesize the patterns that consistently drive successful outcomes. They deliver a streamlined, repeatable framework for assessing building viability—comparing reinvestment versus replacement, creating defensible cases for full rebuild, and aligning scope, cost, and phasing with long-term research goals. They provide a proven toolkit for creating condition assessments, decision matrices, and constrained-environment funding strategies. 

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When a facility cannot go offline, renovation demands more than good design—it demands a delivery model built for sustained complexity. An occupied renovation spanning more than a decade, including high-containment laboratory environments, puts that model on full display. Speakers representing owner, user agency, designer, and construction manager walk through design strategies for a severely constrained facility, complex phasing and logistics, evolving project management approaches, and the communication and trust-building that kept the project moving through a global pandemic and beyond. They provide lessons learned on design flexibility, GMP development, project evolution, and management strategies required to address extensive unforeseen conditions.

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As institutions weigh renovation against new construction, strategic reinvestment in aging facilities offers a more sustainable, cost-effective, and faster path forward — especially on historic campuses where preserving building stock is an institutional priority. Presenters draw on six renovation projects including from Boston University and Bowdoin College to examine how requirements are reshaping facility investment decisions. They share frameworks for evaluating renovation versus replacement, describe technical, logistical, and financial strategies for extending the life of spaces, and outline how targeted upgrades support faculty recruitment. They deliver key investment criteria and decision rationales for other institutions managing aging portfolios.

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The shortcomings of early-to-mid-20th-century science buildings are well known—limited flexibility, low floor-to-floor heights, and failing infrastructure—but the most expensive surprises remain hidden until demolition. Undocumented hazardous materials, framing not designed for modern mechanical loads, floors failing vibration-sensitive stiffness, seismic shortfalls, record drawings that disagree with reality, and slabs with significant slope or deflection routinely emerge when design options have narrowed. Presenters distill lessons from multiple case studies and illustrate practical strategies for identifying and quantifying risk early through targeted investigations, laser scanning, and coordinated design—reducing the surprises that drive change orders, schedule slip, and budget pressure during construction.

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The most unlikely existing spaces can become high-performing research environments when project drivers, existing conditions, and program priorities are aligned – what untapped value exists in your current portfolio? Presenters use multiple repurposing case studies to illustrate how vibration control, environmental stability, and phasing shape what is possible inside aging shells. They demonstrate how to perform rigorous evaluations including 3D scanning, condition assessment, and separating key requirements from "nice-to-have" to create a definitive programming strategy. They progress through construction-phase strategies for renovating older buildings without reliable as-builts: tactics for managing unforeseen conditions, controlling cost and schedule risk, and minimizing disruption inside occupied buildings throughout phased lab transformations and reactivation. 

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Across higher education, institutions are rethinking how to modernize aging facilities without expanding their physical footprint. This session explores how comprehensive renovations— rather than new construction — can transform existing buildings into vibrant, efficient, and future-ready environments that meet the evolving expectations of today’s students. Through recent projects, Warren Bulseco demonstrates how revitalized dining, housing, and recreation facilities can maximize space utilization, enhance student engagement, and extend building life while dramatically improving operational performance. He highlights strategies for upgrading building systems, optimizing envelope performance, and aligning design solutions with long-term sustainability and maintenance goals. He provides insights into how adaptive reuse can deliver high-impact results that balance functionality, aesthetics, and institutional stewardship.

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Two beloved but aging campus landmarks—Lehigh University's Clayton University Center and Wellesley College's Clapp Library—serve as case studies for deferred maintenance becoming a catalyst for transformation rather than a liability. Session leaders detail how each renewal worked entirely within the existing footprint, converting backlogged repairs and underused infrastructure into flexible, student-centered space. They demonstrate how adaptive reuse preserved architectural character while modernizing systems, and how reusing structure and embodied carbon advanced decarbonization goals without new construction. They share decision frameworks for phasing work in occupied buildings, sequencing infrastructure upgrades, and balancing program ambitions against the budget and schedule realities of complex renovations.

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Organizations confronting decarbonization mandates and mounting deferred maintenance backlogs face their hardest decisions inside century-old buildings, where mechanical systems, historic preservation, and contemporary program needs collide. d’Andre Willis profiles the University of Colorado Boulder's just-completed $105 million gut renovation of a 1921 humanities building to show how all three targets can be achieved together. She walks through the full HVAC overhaul, the triple-pane windows and envelope upgrades, and the phased state capital funding strategy that secured the project across three legislative cycles. She illustrates what’s achievable in terms of reconfigured spaces designed for modern work patterns, and highlights lessons learned for institutions navigating similar challenges.

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See the full list of participating exhibitors and event hosts.

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A flat, gray, unglamorous expense at the top of the building usually sits at the bottom of every capital priority list—until water finds the lobby or lab renovation below it. Don’t let that happen to your organization! A well-timed roof replacement is a force multiplier; a deferred one is a ticking clock on every downstream investment. In this session, presenters translate building science into business case: red flags that signal a roof is approaching end-of-life, financial and operational arguments that win against competing capital priorities, principles of moisture management, thermal performance and material compatibility that define "doing it right," and sequencing strategies that align roofing with broader campus capital plans.

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Successful adaptive reuse aligns mission, academic vision, real estate strategy, regulatory requirements, and project delivery from day one. The Chicago School evaluated more than 100 sites before selecting a historic urban building whose character, daylight, and context offered both opportunity and constraint for a forward-looking integrated health sciences campus. Session leaders demonstrate the navigation of project and accreditation requirements for the Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine, including simulation- and collaboration-driven pedagogies, curriculum-driven space utilization analyses. They illustrate solutions that reconcile historic building realities with the demands of simulation centers, standardized patient labs, and advanced teaching environments through tight collaboration among owner, architect, contractor, faculty, students, and specialty consultants.

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As the value proposition of physical space shifts, renovation programs must increasingly reconcile fixed building footprints with evolving work patterns. Margaret Serrato draws on a multi-phase pilot program at Georgia Tech, where a constrained urban campus tested workplace approaches in instrumented pilot spaces before committing to larger capital investments. She traces the process from department selection through two rounds of post-occupancy evaluation, examining what the data reveals about satisfaction, institutional goal alignment, and space efficiency within physical constraints. She maps the decisions that de-risk capital investment through evidence-based workplace strategy.

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Organizations contending with outdated, underused libraries inside tight existing footprints face mounting pressure to modernize without expansion. José Rodríguez profiles Florida International University's Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine library remodel that converted a dated, austere space into a vibrant, in-demand environment in just 122 construction days. He walks through infrastructure limitations and survey-driven programming to deliver six functional zones — group study rooms, focused carrels, a social rocking-chair alcove, a meditation room, and a lounge with full kitchenette — and the lighting, finishes, sightlines, and furniture variety supporting diverse work styles and user well-being. He provides a practical roadmap for modernizing small, dated facilities into responsive contemporary spaces.

View session page

Don’t settle for “quick fix” renovations that can limit long-term performance; relatively small, well-considered moves can transform a project from basic accommodation into a cohesive, forward-looking environment. Presenters use a series of STEM renovation case studies, including Brown University, to demonstrate the decision-making criteria that reconcile program, circulation, and identity to turn constrained existing buildings into cohesive, high-performing academic environments. They illustrate the results including modernized laboratories, spatial relationships fostering student collaboration, intuitive wayfinding that contribute to improved user experience, and facilities well-positioned to evolve as needs change.

View session page

When a facility cannot go offline, renovation demands more than good design—it demands a delivery model built for sustained complexity. An occupied renovation spanning more than a decade, including high-containment laboratory environments, puts that model on full display. Speakers representing owner, user agency, designer, and construction manager walk through design strategies for a severely constrained facility, complex phasing and logistics, evolving project management approaches, and the communication and trust-building that kept the project moving through a global pandemic and beyond. They provide lessons learned on design flexibility, GMP development, project evolution, and management strategies required to address extensive unforeseen conditions.

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This case study is a deep dive into how interdisciplinary collaboration from the start resulted in dramatic energy and carbon reductions for an existing brutalist classroom building with historic designation. Presenters relate how the project team solved the challenge of delivering high-performance outcomes within the limited budget of a public project while maintaining the integrity of the architectural expression. They detail the iterative analysis that set up a former energy hog classroom building at UMass Dartmouth to achieve a significant 68% reduction in energy use intensity from 133 kBTU/sf/year to the predicted 40 kBTU/sf/year, and carbon savings of 63% with a customized bundle of strategies.

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With tariff policy and energy costs in flux and the Federal Reserve continuing rate changes, capital planners face a pressing question: How much escalation should owners budget for projects breaking ground in the next few years? The Vermeulens team analyzes leading indicators—equities, GDP, job creation, oil, lumber, copper, and steel—alongside construction volumes and labor productivity to model how tariff and monetary policy will reshape pricing structures. They deliver a regional construction labor weather map identifying where capacity is tightest, and two-year escalation scenarios by region. They illustrate practical methods for setting design, escalation, bidding, and construction contingencies and controlling delivered costs across micro and macroeconomic environments. 

View session page

Across higher education, institutions are rethinking how to modernize aging facilities without expanding their physical footprint. This session explores how comprehensive renovations— rather than new construction — can transform existing buildings into vibrant, efficient, and future-ready environments that meet the evolving expectations of today’s students. Through recent projects, Warren Bulseco demonstrates how revitalized dining, housing, and recreation facilities can maximize space utilization, enhance student engagement, and extend building life while dramatically improving operational performance. He highlights strategies for upgrading building systems, optimizing envelope performance, and aligning design solutions with long-term sustainability and maintenance goals. He provides insights into how adaptive reuse can deliver high-impact results that balance functionality, aesthetics, and institutional stewardship.

View session page

The most unlikely existing spaces can become high-performing research environments when project drivers, existing conditions, and program priorities are aligned – what untapped value exists in your current portfolio? Presenters use multiple repurposing case studies to illustrate how vibration control, environmental stability, and phasing shape what is possible inside aging shells. They demonstrate how to perform rigorous evaluations including 3D scanning, condition assessment, and separating key requirements from "nice-to-have" to create a definitive programming strategy. They progress through construction-phase strategies for renovating older buildings without reliable as-builts: tactics for managing unforeseen conditions, controlling cost and schedule risk, and minimizing disruption inside occupied buildings throughout phased lab transformations and reactivation. 

View session page

As institutions weigh renovation against new construction, strategic reinvestment in aging facilities offers a more sustainable, cost-effective, and faster path forward — especially on historic campuses where preserving building stock is an institutional priority. Presenters draw on six renovation projects including from Boston University and Bowdoin College to examine how requirements are reshaping facility investment decisions. They share frameworks for evaluating renovation versus replacement, describe technical, logistical, and financial strategies for extending the life of spaces, and outline how targeted upgrades support faculty recruitment. They deliver key investment criteria and decision rationales for other institutions managing aging portfolios.

View session page

This end-of-day session is where key ideas, new developments, and findings that have been revealed over the course of the entire two-day conference (including sessions you may have missed) get clarified, expanded upon, and affirmed or debated. This is also the opportunity to get answers from industry leaders and the entire audience to specific questions on key and challenging issues.  

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