Submit your Abstract here: 
2027 DBIA Mid-Atlantic Region Summit Conference - Call for Abstracts

Call for Presentations Guidelines

Download the full guidelines here: 2027 DBIA Mid-Atlantic Region Summit Call for Presentations Guidelines

Design-build is growing rapidly, now making up 42% of construction spending and expected to reach nearly 50% by 2028, driven by its cost and schedule efficiencies and flexible procurement methods like Best-Value and Progressive Design-Build. As the use of design-build continues to grow, understanding its best practices and challenges is crucial.
 
The Design-Build Mid-Atlantic Region Summit is an exclusive opportunity to share your design-build insights and adapt to changes in project delivery. This event will help Owners confidently navigate design-build amidst market uncertainties and address industry challenges. DBIA invites experts — Owners, practitioners and other professionals — to contribute. Join AEC professionals to learn and network and consider submitting a session proposal to influence the future of design-build.
 

What We’re Looking For: At a Glance

 

Priority consideration will be given to submissions adhering to these guidelines. Quality submissions that address and/or align with the below:

• The right presenters are as important as the right topic:
  • One or more presenters holds a DBIA credential.
  • One or more presenters holds a DBIA membership.
  • Owner’s involvement in the presentation.
  • Panels that include multiple project team members (ex., design-builder, designer, Owner or Owner Advisor, trade partners).
  • Presentations and panels/speakers that incorporate broad perspectives — such as experience levels, firm sizes, market sectors, geographic regions — while also highlighting efforts to expand opportunities and promote engagement for small and Underrepresented Business Enterprises (UBEs) in Design-Build.
• Presentations that are educational with crisp instruction and clear takeaways on the “how to” of Design-Build Done Right^®

 

• Presentations that highlight challenges, with an emphasis on “lessons learned” and tools and resources others can apply to avoid similar difficulties in their practice.
• Presentations that speak to one or more of the following:
  • Best practices with a focus on practical application of key practices, and lessons learned to guide future success.
  • Managing risk and expectation
  • Collaboration/teaming successes
  • Application of Virtual Design & Construction (VDC)
  • Making the essential mental shift for success and the all-important facets of developing a successful acquisition strategy

Content that will not be considered:

• Self-congratulatory presentations on a project.
• Presentations that provide a sense of commercial/brand promotion. Please note presentations that serve to promote a specific product or service will not be accepted.
• Anything that does not precisely relate to the Design-Build delivery method.

Topics of Interest for 2027

Overall Theme:

Bridging the Mid-Atlantic Region: Transforming the Built Environment through Collaborative Delivery

Suggested Topics	Primary Sectors Covered	Example Focus Areas
Institutional Buildings	Federal, Civic, Higher Ed, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Mixed Use, Data Center	FAR compliance, specialized vertical architecture, design-assist, P3, and campus master plans.
Heavy Civil & Transit	Transportation, Aviation, Rail	DOT guidelines, P3 structures, right-of-way challenges, megaproject risk allocation, resiliency projects.
Municipal Water/Wastewater Innovation	Water & Wastewater	Environmental compliance, resiliency projects, and collaborative engineering for complex utilities.
Innovation & Technology for Exceptional Project Outcomes	VDC	AI, prefabrication, innovation, emerging technologies, building coordination, design-assist, robotics, drones.
Owner Advisor Best Practices	DBIA’s Owner Advisor Best Practices	Success project examples of Owner Advisor utilizing DBIA’s Owner Advisor guide and best practices.

 

Submission Process

 

Submitting Your Presentation Idea

All submissions must be completed online. Incomplete submissions will not be accepted. You must answer “yes” to the following questions to be considered. If selected, I/we:

1. Agree to have our draft presentation submitted to DBIA no later than February 19, 2027.
2. Agree to have our draft presentation submitted to DBIA no later than March 1, 2027.
3. Commit to be available IN PERSON in Arlington, VA on March 10, 2027.

 

Presentation Overview

1. Presentation Title – Title should capture the essence of the topic to be discussed and should not exceed 10-12 words.
2. Presentation Summary – Please provide an overview of the session intent and why the topic is relevant to successful integrated delivery. The summary statement should not exceed 200 words and may be used for marketing purposes should your presentation be selected.
3. Four Major Presentation Points – A learning objective is an explicit statement that clearly expresses what the attendee will be able to do after taking a course. Learning objectives should be concise and open to limited interpretation. An example of a learning statement is as follows: Define best practices for effective collaboration using technology. Suggested behavioral verbs to use when writing learning objectives include the following: acquire, analyze, apply, assess, build, clarify, compare, define, demonstrate, describe, determine, differentiate, discover, etc.
4. Full Team Perspective – How does your presentation or panel incorporate broad perspectives — such as experience levels, firm sizes, market sectors, geographic regions — while highlighting efforts to expand opportunities and promote engagement for small and underrepresented businesses in design-build?"
5. Intended Audience – What is the intended primary audience for this presentation? (check all that apply)

 Owners (Procurement/Pre-Award Professional)
 Owner Advisor
 Design Professionals

 General Contractors
 Specialty/Subcontractors
 Other (please specify)