Posts for Archives: Podcast

Washington and host Erin Looney are joined by 2026 National Board Chair Virginia McAllister for a forward-looking conversation on collaboration, risk and the priorities shaping design-build in the coming year. Together, they explore what’s driving continued growth in the delivery method, where teams tend to struggle and how education and shared understanding remain essential as design-build expands.

We’re back from Las Vegas and reliving the 2025 Design-Build Conference & Expo in Part 1 of this two-part recap. This episode focuses on the teams that won big in Vegas: the Project of the Year, the Chair’s Award and the top three finishers in DBIA’s National Design-Build Student Competition.

Artificial intelligence is no longer an abstract idea for design-build teams. It’s already changing how projects are delivered, managed and maintained. In this episode, DBIA’s Director of Virtual Design and Construction Brian Skripac is joined by three leaders from ARKANCE — Jason Kunkel, Senior Practice Manager; Nick Miller, Director of BIM Services; and Justin Friedman, Practice Manager | Facilities Management — to explore how data and AI are reshaping the Owner experience.

DBIA National Board Members Deb Sheehan of DPR Construction and Susan O’Connell of AC Martin explore design justice, community context and why “offensive” isn’t always straightforward. From satisfaction surveys to public art, they unpack […]

How do you bring empathy, listening and iteration into projects built for real people? In this episode, Erin Looney talks with Deb Sheehan and Susan O’Connell about the realities, challenges, and opportunities of applying Human-Centered Design within design-build delivery.

Brian Skripac, DBIA’s Director of Virtual Design & Construction, and Paul Hedgepath, Director of Virtual Construction at MJ Harris share how AI is moving from speculation to application and delivering real […]

What does it take to deliver a mission-critical federal facility atop one of the most extreme environments in the U.S.? In this episode, we head to Colorado’s Pikes Peak to explore the award-winning High Altitude Research Lab, a 4,000-square-foot facility rebuilt under intense weather, logistical and design constraints. Joe Opyd shares how his team used design-build to meet the moment and what this “small” project reveals about trust, flexibility and collaboration.

What do you get when you sit down with two DBIA Fellows who’ve seen it all and still want to make things better? Join host Erin Looney as she chats with Darlene Septelka, FDBIA, and Bill Reifsteck, CRIS, FDBIA, about building strong teams, smarter projects and a more connected design-build future.

There’s no official job description for a mentor and no script for how a single introduction can change a student’s life. But when Kent State senior Lola Preseren met DBIA Fellow and 2023 Brunelleschi Award winner Bill Hasbrook at a DBIA conference, everything changed.

In this bonus episode of Design-Build Delivers, we continue the conversation from April’s feature, Living Labs and Inclusive Housing: How Design-Build Serves Higher Education. Jason Dunster, Senior Integrated Design Director at McCarthy Building Companies, returns to share additional insights on what made UC Riverside’s North District Phase Two project a model for inclusive, collaborative campus housing.