The 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Buildings and Structures (ICSBS) held at XJTLU

The 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Buildings and Structures (ICSBS 2019) was successfully held at XJTLU from October 25th to 27th. The conference attracted around 200 scientists, researchers, and engineers from across the world to present and share the latest research outcomes, innovative ideas and engineering practices under the theme: “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow”.

The conference was organised by the Department of Civil Engineering at XJTLU, the Institute of Sustainable Materials and Environment (ISME) at XJTLU, the University of Hong Kong, and the Chinese Research Institute of Construction Management (CRIOCM). Professor Chee Seong Chin (pictured below), Dean of Learning and Teaching of XJTLU, Technical Chair of the conference, provided an opening speech for the conference, whilst Dr. Konstantinos Papadikis, Head of Department of Civil Engineering at XJTLU, served as the Organising Chair of the conference.

We are living through the era of the “Sustainable Revolution” with developments in green engineering and construction as relevant as the technological innovations of the Industrial Revolution. “The concepts of sustainable development and green engineering are equivalent to what, in the 18th Century and 19th Century, was the Industrial Revolution,” Dr. Konstantinos Papadikis (pictured below) says.

With a requirement that by 2020 in China half of all new urban buildings need to be certified green buildings (according to the 13th Five Year Plan for Building Energy Efficiency and Green Building Development) the importance of sustainability as a national priority is evident.

The conference included 11 keynote speeches, 21 invited English speeches, 7 invited Chinese speeches, and 46 paper presentations. With sessions on sustainable materials and design, smart construction and construction management and green and low carbon buildings, the conference highlights the latest and best practices in the construction industry and planning sector.

Dr. Papadikis chaired the keynote session on the morning of Oct. 26th 2019, together with Professor Wilson Lu (pictured below) from the University of Hong Kong who is also the Organizing Co-Chair of the conference.

During the keynote speeches, Dr. Miroslaw J. Skibniewski (pictured below), Professor at the University of Maryland and Editor-in-Chief of Automation in Construction, pointed out that “sustainable construction is vital for the embodiment of sustainable development, and corporate social responsibility practice is critical for construction firms to realize sustainable construction”. He described various critical factors obtained through his research for achieving sustainable construction.

Dr. Kincho H. Law (pictured below), Professor at Stanford University, discussed some of the recent technology developments for dealing with the data issues and how they may be deployed for civil infrastructure monitoring.

Ar. Ada YS FUNG (pictured below), Director of World Green Building Council also known as queen of Building Information Modeling in Hong Kong, stated that “Green buildings preserve precious natural resources and improve our quality of life.” In her speech, she described various approaches to make buildings “green” and strategies to achieve the sustainability development goals.

Dr. Pingbo Tang (pictured below), Associate Professor at Arizona State University, introduced a dynamic human-technology reliability analysis framework that captures, diagnoses, and predicts risks of human-technology interaction and collaboration processes in civil infrastructure operation and maintenance for sustainable urban systems.

Dr. Xila Liu (pictured below), Professor at Tsinghua University and Shanghai Jiaotong University, provided an impressive speech on Construction and Confidence in China. According to Dr. Liu, the confidence of China is growing together with the development and implementation of various new technologies in the Chinese construction industry.

Additional keynote speakers, invited speakers, and paper presenters also provided inspiring speeches on a variety of topics that discuss pioneering technologies, methods, and materials under investigation to promote the sustainable development of building and infrastructure projects around the world.

Drafted by Will Venn and Dr. Fangyu Guo
Edited by Dr. Konstantinos Papadikis and Dr. Guobin Gong