Following COVID-related cancellations and postponements for these major built environment focused events, DesignBUILD, Total Facilities and Digital Construction Week will stage a joint exhibition and conference in May this year.

The joint event will also include the one-day BE Summit and will be held at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre from 10 to 13 May.

In the Speaker Series component, Australia’s built environment professionals can select from dozens of sessions presented by more than 70 speakers.

The Speaker Series will offer a broad range of topics across planning and construction to technology and facilities management.

Sessions held at the DesignBUILD Theatre, the Design Construction Week Theatre and The Smart Buildings Theatre will all be free and held within the same MECC space from 10 to 12 May. The BE Summit is a ticketed one-day event scheduled for the non-superstitious on Friday 13 May.

Highlight sessions across the programs include:

Smart contracts and digital twins:

Learn the concept of smart contracts executed on a blockchain, how smart contracts are used in a digital twin eco-system, and how smart contracts can be used to streamline payments.

Well-being and the role of technology in the asset life cycle

Explore the importance of understanding user experience and how this informs the design, modelling, analysis, ratings and ongoing building operation to design spaces that promote occupant well-being.

Smart buildings – how any building can become a thinking building

Learn how smart retrofits can range from simple enhancements that reduce energy spend and improve occupant well-being through a staged pathway to achieve net zero operational emissions.

The race to reduce embodied carbon

Overall, buildings accounted for 36 percent of global energy demand and 37 percent of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2020. A panel of industry leaders will go beyond the rhetoric and spotlight how we can dramatically reduce embodied carbon in our built environment.

Building a people-first construction industry

A panel discusses how we can attract and retain the best talent with a more inclusive, safer, smarter, innovative industry. The panel will discuss the key changes issues facing our workplaces, and why this is crucial for the industry to survive.

Speakers include:

·      Simon Croft/ Housing Industry Association / executive director – Building Policy and Services
·      Elly Dalziel / Mirvac / manager, Strategy and Customer
·      Rebecca De Cicco/ Aurecon / Women in BIM /principal, Digital Enablement / founder and chair
·     Robin Drogemuller / QUT / Professor in Virtual Design and Construction
·      Nicole Garofano / Planet Ark / head of Circular Economy Development
·      Caitlin Guilfoyle / PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting / senior manager – Future of Work
·      Belinda Hodkinson / Spiire / principal, Digital Service
·      Lisa Hogben / NAWIC / Metro Trains Melbourne
·      Tim McCarthy / University of Wollongong / director of the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre
·      Jeff Robinson /  Aurecon / principal, Building
·      Sarah Slattery / Slattery / managing director 
·      Jerad Tinnin / Hassell / senior associate
·      Balder Tol / WeWork / general manager

REGISTER HERE

Pictured top: Nicole Garofano