PrefabAUS 2016 Conference To Reveal Opportunities, Challenges And Projected Future For Offsite Construction

Key international studies on best practices and the future of industrialised building delivery will be presented at this year’s annual

prefabAUS 2016 Conference. Associate Professor Ryan Smith, the international keynote speaker will reveal findings from a decade worth of research that demonstrates the opportunities, challenges, benefits and projected future of offsite construction globally.

Visiting Australia for the first time, the award winning author and architect A/Prof Smith, from the University of Utah, has spoken widely on emerging issues in the construction industry including offsite building and sustainability. He is Director of the Integrated Technology & Architecture Center at the University of Utah - which is a university/industry teaching, research and outreach center and an agent of change at the intersection of design, education and construction industries.

A/Prof Smith’s keynote presentation for prefabAUS 2016 will highlight ways in which the construction industry can take advantage of offsite construction to achieve its development goals.

“Offsite construction, industrialised prefabricated building, is nothing new,” A/Prof Smith states.

“However, the economic and labour demands in building delivery are increasing, and environmental regulations in building are becoming ever more stringent, making offsite construction more pertinent today than anytime in its past.”

Also joining this year’s conference speaker line up is Marc Norman from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.  Mr Norman is Director of UPSTATE, a Center for Design Research and Real Estate at Syracuse University School of Architecture and has dedicated his career to finding remedies to inequality. An affordable housing advocate, he supports mechanisms that reduce the cost of housing.

Mr Norman curated the Designing Affordability: Quicker, Smarter, More Efficient Housing Now exhibition that was held at the Centre for Architecture in New York (Oct 15 to Jan 16).  His exhibition will feature at prefabAUS 2016 and he will discuss the philosophy behind his exhibition. “There is no one solution, but a suite of techniques the prefab industry can deploy to lower costs or create efficiencies in the service of greater affordability.”

The international guest speakers will be joined by an industry expert from Italy and Australian and New Zealand industry leaders, focused on the theme of Delivering Next Generation Buildings. They will showcase the best in prefabricated and offsite technology and design, and explore the future of the built environment.

Location: Seymour Centre at The University of Sydney, Architecture Design and Planning

Dates:

Monday 10 October (optional) site tour conference event
10am-5pmTuesday 11 October
8am - registrations
8:30am - 5:00pm Conference
7:00pm cocktail party at The Ivy 'Sunroom'Wednesday 12 October
8:00 - 8:45am - provisionally prefabAUS AGM TBC (prefabAUS members only)
9am - 4pm Conference

Click here to book and for more information.

About prefabAUS
prefabAUS represents key businesses in the design, manufacture and construction of prefabricated buildings and building modules. It is a not for profit organisation and is hosting Australia’s third national conference on the off-site construction industry. The conference will feature national and international specialists in off-site design, manufacturing and construction, as well as workshops, panel discussions and site visits.
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