How our industry network is building a more sustainable tomorrow
Professor Ngo works in infrastructure research in the Faculty of Engineering and IT. He is uniting university, industry and government partners by establishing a Researcher Network for Decarbonising the Building Industry, supported by a $2 million federal government grant.
First published by The University of Melbourne
Professor Tuan Ngo makes buildings more sustainable, cheaper and faster to build. He graduated with a PhD in civil engineering from the University of Melbourne in 2005 and has worked as a researcher at the University ever since.
Professor Ngo works in infrastructure research in the Faculty of Engineering and IT. He is uniting university, industry and government partners by establishing a Researcher Network for Decarbonising the Building Industry, supported by a $2 million federal government grant. He also leads the Asia-Pacific Research Network for Resilient Affordable Housing and is the Research Program Leader for the Building 4.0 CRC.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals dictate that we must be more responsible for what we are doing in the community. In infrastructure engineering, we have three big challenges coming together. We need to build more housing. We need to design our housing and infrastructure to be a lot more resilient to adapt to any extreme climate events in the future. And we need to be mindful about the resources we are using.
We can do a lot of research, but if our research is not translated into new products, new processes, or it does not contribute to improving community and society, we are not satisfied.
Professor Tuan Ngo
When a partner company is keen to decarbonise their process or their material or their building, the Researcher Network for Decarbonising the Building Industry will work with them to come up with a roadmap and a set of actions. And that will require research, it will require some investment, but our partners are very committed to put a lot of resource to work with us.
The building industry is responsible for almost 40 per cent of the total carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. The Australian Government has identified the built environment as one of six key sectors to decarbonise. And if you want to achieve Net Zero by 2050, it is not a lot of time.
Last year, when the Australian Government called for proposals to establish International Clean Innovation Researcher Networks, we thought this was a very important initiative. So far, our Decarbonising the Building Industry Network has 11 universities, from both Australia and overseas. I was in the US recently and we met with a number of universities. We see the network growing very quickly. But it's not only universities we are partnering with. We also have about 25 companies already.
Our aim is to grow that list to about 50 companies to make a strong international alliance.
Professor Tuan Ngo
One of our themes is about how industrialised construction can help with the road to Net Zero. Statistically, construction and demolition waste from the construction sector accounts for a third of total waste produced globally. The process is very, very wasteful. But if move it to a factory and use automation and digital processes, with everything cut to size, we can minimise the waste from the construction process by up to 90 per cent.
The components and modules can also be disassembled and reused at the end of life of the building. More efficient production and scheduling can also lead to saving time.
We’re experiencing one of the worst housing shortages in Australia’s history. But when I travel in the US, Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam, they are experiencing a similar problem. Industrialised construction can address this by delivering housing a lot faster and potentially cheaper, but also by delivering better-quality housing.
Industry partnerships have to benefit both sides. We need to see how we can add value to our partners, and they need to understand the criteria for what we think is good research. That communication needs to happen as early as possible so both parties understand why we are working together, and how each of us can get some real benefit.
The Researcher Network for Decarbonising the Building Industry breaks decarbonising the building industry into several key actions. We are going to release some of the initial roadmaps for some sectors this year.
