Cost, communication, climate change and building intelligence were very much on the minds of those attending Commercial Observer’s Design + Construction summit, “The Leading Edge: The National Building Boom; Building With Quality for the Long Term” at etc.Venues in Midtown Manhattan on Oct. 27.

Jane Smith, a founding partner of Spacesmith, who has worked on projects as varied as the U.S. embassy in Mexico City to the residence hall at New York’s School of Visual Arts, received the Barrier Breaker Award.

Donna Brady of Ballard Spahr, a transportation, water and energy specialist who co-authored the Federal Highway Administration’s study on toll collection, received the Innovation and Technology Award.

Blima Ehrentreu, the co-founder of The Design Group who has done interior design for more than 300 projects, was given the Woman on the Rise Award