Building Materials in an Era of Environmental Consciousness

Our Materials Session - Timber, Concrete & Steel - promises to be a thought-provoking exploration into the sustainable future of construction. Sustainability isn't just about choosing eco-friendly materials; it's about redefining resilience, embracing technological advancements, and making informed decisions that leave a positive impact on our planet. Sustainability continues to play a pivotal role in construction and can be considered in various ways including the obvious material manufacturing processes and building material selection, but also by way of material resilience and technological advances that can differentiate what might appear to be identical materials all fit for purpose but with different sustainability impacts.

This session, hosted by three distinguished speakers, will be a deep dive and cover:

Concrete - Rob Gaimster; provides an overview of the Aotearoa NZ Concrete industry transformative 2050 roadmap to decarbonize the sector, and reducing direct (Scope 1) and electricity related (Scope 2) greenhouse gas emissions by and impressive 44% from 2020 levels by 2030 and ultimately aiming for full carbon neutral by 2050.

Timber - Daniel Scheibmair provides insights into innovative timber buildings, exploring the global availability of structural systems and materials that has enabled these structures. Additionally, he examines how these products align with the regulatory landscape in New Zealand and discusses the role of hybrid timber buildings in enhancing sustainability and building resilience.

Steel - Andrew Wheeler; wraps up the session looking at how third-party product certification adds a dimension to resilience delivering sustainability that many may not be aware of, and what key elements of the steel certification industry building professionals should be looking for in such schemes to assist the industry in providing resilient buildings.