National Institute of Building Sciences

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521107937
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2022897800
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Disaster Preparedness and Relief Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$23,450,780
Expenses
$23,383,589
Assets
$25,936,607
Liabilities
$12,208,576

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GEORGE GUSZCA (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JIQIU YUAN (CHIEF RESILIANCE OFFICER): $288,086 total reported compensation
  • REBECCA LIKO (FORMER CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $280,201 total reported compensation
  • MARGARET STUBBS (VP, TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS): $269,308 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The national institute of building sciences is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-governmental organization that supports advances in building science and technology. Nibs was established by the u.s. Congress in the housing and community development act of 1974, public law 93-383. Congress recognized the need for an organization to serve as an interface between government and the private sector, one that serves as a resource to those that plan, design, procure, construct, use, operate, maintain, renovate, and retire physical facilities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Contracts and awards (projnet, navfac criteria and other): projnet: project extranet (projnet) is an internet-based service that allows the secure exchange and processing of design and construction information among authorized business partners. Projnet offers a suite of tools to manage owner-related business processes including design reviews, bidder inquiry, requests for information and construction submittals reviews. Projnet facilitates the formal oversight, control, review, management, and secure exchange of complex project documents among and between all project stakeholders.see schedule o for continuation(s).navfac criteria: develop specialized technical criteria for inclusion in building specifications and design manuals.other contracts and awards: nibs provides a wide range of internal and external experts in a variety of areas to serve the needs of its clients and advance the building industry toward realizing high-performance building and communities. Nibs provides the diverse expertise necessary to deliver results. Through the strategic use of expertise in the following areas: integration of cross-discipline expertise, strategy and visioning, subject matter expertise, independent review, validation and research, facilitation, criteria, guidelines and best practices, nibs develops and executes cost-effective solutions for its clients' issues.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.9%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 95.7%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.11; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.47; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.7%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.9% of revenue deployed · 95.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $22.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $288K · 26 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.5M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.