We Have the Technology to Build Smarter — So What’s Holding Us Back? — Episode 156 with Dr. George Guszcza
In this episode of Better Buildings for Humans, host Joe Menchefski sits down with Dr. George Guszcza, President and CEO of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), for a thought-provoking conversation about innovation, resilience, technology, and the systems shaping the future of our built environment. Drawing on a career spanning military healthcare facilities, federal service, engineering, consulting, and organizational transformation, George brings a uniquely broad perspective to why better buildings and infrastructure matter—not just for performance, but for the people and communities that depend on them.
The conversation explores NIBS' role in bringing together the many groups responsible for how buildings are designed, regulated, constructed, and operated. Joe and George discuss why promising ideas can take so long to move from innovation into everyday practice, what happens when buildings and infrastructure are viewed in isolation, and why understanding the built environment as a connected "system of systems" could change how we approach resilience and risk.
Joe and George also look toward the future, exploring digital twins, artificial intelligence, offsite construction, data, and the economic and cultural forces influencing how quickly the industry evolves. Along the way, they question whether our traditional focus on first cost is preventing us from recognizing the longer-term value of better-performing, more resilient buildings—and what needs to change for proven innovations to reach the mainstream.
Ultimately, the episode challenges us to think beyond individual buildings and consider the larger systems, incentives, and people that determine whether innovation actually succeeds. And when Joe asks his signature question—what makes a great building?—George offers an answer that brings the entire conversation back to the reason we build in the first place.
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More About George Guszcza
George K. Guszcza, D.Eng, CPEM, CCM, is the President and CEO of the National Institute of Building Sciences. Prior to joining NIBS, Dr. Guszcza served as the Chief Transformation Officer of Michael Baker International, an Engineering News Record (ENR) Top 50 Design Firm. He also served as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University and as a strategic advisor to the Middle East Institute’s Board of Directors. He brings over 25 years of experience in the built environment spanning the public, private, and non-profit sectors in the US, UK, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Dr. Guszcza has previously held executive roles as the COO (CRO) of the Neal Richards Group and the EVP for Finance and Administration (CFO/CIO) of Adams and Associates, a 2400 person ESOP operating across 19 locations in the US. As the founder/CEO of the Aedifos Group, a multinational start-up, he and his team led the restart of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital project on behalf of Project HOPE and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In 2003, as an active duty US Army Medical Service Corp officer and the National Director of Healthcare Facilities for Iraq under the Coalition Provisional Authority and Iraq Ministry of Health, Dr. Guszcza led a staff of 3000 architects and engineers to restart 240 hospitals, 10 specialty centers, and 1200 clinics across the country. Dr. Guszcza earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a Master of Science in Major Program Management from the University of Oxford’s Said Business School, and a Doctor of Engineering in Engineering Management from The George Washington University. He has served as the Chair of George Mason University’s Civil Engineering Institute Board of Directors, Treasurer of the Society of American Military Engineers Northern Virginia Post Board of Directors, and on the WiRED International Board of Directors.
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