2025 Design-Build Conference & Expo Sets Attendance Record as Industry Momentum Continues

Photo by Robb McCormick Photography (robbmccormick.com)

The 2025 Design-Build Conference & Expo brought together a record-breaking 2,600 professionals to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, underscoring design-build’s continued growth nationwide. Energy stayed high from the outset, with attendees filling general sessions, forums and track discussions throughout the week.

A Program Built for a Growing Industry

The conference offered three days of education and discussion across five thematic tracks, each designed to reflect a different dimension of the design-build environment. Sessions ranged from foundational to advanced, giving practitioners and Owners at every experience level opportunities to engage with the issues shaping today’s projects.

Across the program, topics included the growing use of progressive design-build (PDB); case studies from across the United States — from New York and Atlanta to Texas, Oregon and beyond; legislative and regulatory developments; advances in Virtual Design & Construction; approaches to renovating or modernizing existing facilities; effective contracting strategies; risk management; safety; and the challenges today’s design-build Owners face in an increasingly complex delivery landscape. Together, these discussions offered a clear snapshot of the questions and innovations influencing design-build nationwide.

General Sessions Delivered Strong Insights

General sessions throughout the week offered a wide lens on the issues shaping design-build today, with the keynotes providing relevant and immediately applicable insight.

Carey Lohrenz, the first female F‑14 Tomcat pilot in the U.S. Navy, opened the week with a keynote grounded in high‑stakes decision‑making and the discipline required to lead effectively under pressure. She emphasized how trust, clear communication and shared accountability shape successful teams, a message that resonated strongly given the collaborative demands of design‑build.

Thursday’s general session, Progressive Design‑Build for Mega Projects, provided a deeper look at how PDB is informing some of the nation’s most complex undertakings. Speakers discussed how PDB is increasingly central to major projects and shared insights from an ongoing DBIA/ACEC research effort focused on equitable risk strategies and cultural alignment.

Friday morning’s Design‑Build Done Wrong: A Survival Guide shifted the focus to lessons learned. Panelists walked through where projects can falter when core principles are overlooked, offering practical guidance for recognizing early warning signs and maintaining project momentum.

The conference concluded with futurist Steve Brown’s keynote, 10 Hot Trends in AI, which offered clear, pragmatic insight into how artificial intelligence is reshaping expectations across industries. Brown outlined near‑term applications and long‑term implications for the built environment, helping attendees situate AI within their own work.

Forums Highlight Owner and Practitioner Perspectives

As in years past, participation remained especially strong in the Owners’ and Practitioners’ Forums, which continue to serve as anchors of the conference experience. The Owners’ Forum facilitated open conversation about delivery challenges, capacity needs and the evolving role of Owner Advisors, including soliciting feedback on whether a specialty certification for Owner Advisors could support greater clarity and consistency in the field. Similar discussion took place in the Practitioners’ Forum, where industry voices weighed how such a credential might support teams across project types while also examining broader opportunities, barriers and strategies for advancing Design‑Build Done Right® nationwide.

Both sessions offered candid dialogue and reinforced the importance of shared understanding across all parties involved in project delivery.

A Conference Designed for Connection

Beyond the educational program, the conference offered numerous opportunities for networking and community-building. The Expo Hall remained a hub of activity, featuring product and technology demonstrations, scheduled innovation talks, giveaways and space for informal conversations. Attendees connected with industry partners and explored emerging tools and technologies throughout the week.

Students and emerging professionals were also well represented again this year, participating in the student panel and roundtable, résumé‑writing session and the National Design‑Build Student Competition. Many also took advantage of the headshot lounge, career‑focused touchpoints and opportunities to meet with regional leaders and industry mentors throughout the week.

Signature events, including a Top Gun‑themed Opening Reception hosted by the DBIA-Western Pacific Region and Thursday evening’s Awards Dinner & Ceremony, highlighted achievement across the design‑build community. The Awards Dinner recognized this year’s national Project/Team Award winners, 2025 Brunelleschi Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Bill Reifsteck and the newly inducted class of DBIA Fellows.

Whether reconnecting with longtime colleagues or engaging new voices in the field, participants reflected an industry steadily expanding its capacity and advancing how it delivers complex work.

Cleveland Rocks: Save the Date for 2026

Planning is already underway for next year’s gathering. The 2026 Design‑Build Conference & Expo will be held November 4–6 in Cleveland, Ohio, a city that knows a thing or two about rebuilding and rising stronger. Additional details, including the sponsor and exhibitor prospectus, are now available.