A Dimensional Grammar for a More Interoperable Construction Industry
The housing and climate crises demand scalable, high-performance solutions, but the building industry remains structurally fragmented—more Tower of Babel than interconnected system. This status quo limits productivity, innovation, and consistency, especially in cities. We will reframe these obstacles to productivity and discuss the utility and practice implications of dimensional standards to facilitate a more coordinated ecosystem. In the context of our present challenges, we see an opportunity to embrace an open approach to creating interoperable standards and we explore how the industry can arrive at a shared structured design basis, particularly as it applies to offsite construction. Drawing on decades of experience developing panelized building systems and embedded manufacturing standards, we examine how shifting complexity upstream—into design, coordination, and manufacturing—can reduce industry fragmentation and facilitate mass customization in both renovation and new construction.
Session Chairs
Session Speakers
Approach industry fragmentation as a structural barrier to productivity, quality, and scalability—not an inherent condition
Assess how productized and offsite systems improve outcomes, and why their impact is limited without shared standards
Identify where fragmentation re-enters projects—particularly in early-stage decisions—and how it undermines performance
Apply principles of minimum viable standardization to enable interoperability, reduce inefficiency, and support scalable, high-performance housing
Pending approval for 1 credit hour toward AIA, BOC, BPI, NARI, Phius, and RESNET certification