Decarbonising the Building Industry 2024 Conference

The Decarbonising the Building Industry (DBI) 2024 Conference is being held at the University of Melbourne from November 18–19.

The theme this year is “Decarbonising the Building Industry”. The event aims to address the critical aspects of sustainable development in the construction sector, including embodied emissions, innovative construction methods, and operational emissions reduction strategies.

According to the event organisers, the “ambition is to catalyse a shift towards more sustainable practices that resonate with both industry professionals and academia”. The conference program will include high-quality presentations from leading international researchers and robust discussions to inspire actionable solutions.

Event program

The first day will be a scientific conference, bringing together leading researchers and experts to present and discuss the latest advancements in building decarbonisation.

The second day will transition into the Buildings Energy Performance Summit, organised by the Energy Efficiency Council (EEC). The summit will explore energy efficiency and electrification in buildings, with a specific focus on Australia’s emissions reduction targets.

Keynote speakers

Keynote speakers include:

• Professor Mat Santamouris, the Anita Lawrence Chair in High Performance Architecture at the University of New South Wales
• Professor Vivian W. Y. Tam, the Director of Centre for Infrastructure Engineering, Associate Dean (Research and HDR), Associate Dean (International) and Discipline Leader (Construction Management) at School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University
• Professor Thomas Lützkendorf, chairman of the Mirror Committee “Sustainability of Construction works” at the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) and recent Chair of Sustainable Management of Housing and Real Estate in Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany
• Professor Wei Pan, Head of Department of Civil Engineering of The University of Hong Kong (HKU), also Executive Director of Centre for Innovation in Construction and Infrastructure Development, and Director of NetZeroLab and MiCLab
• Professor Harpa Birgisdottir, head of the Building Sustainability Research Group at BUILD at Aalborg University in Copenhagen
• Stanford Harrison, the Director of the Commercial Buildings Policy Team in the Energy Performance & Security Division of the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

The full program is available to view here and registrations are open here.