Creating a sustainable tomorrow at XJTLU

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.

This is how Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University’s Dr Konstantinos Papadikis describes the importance of sustainability on the eve of the Second International Conference on Sustainable Buildings and Structures that is due to take place at the University in Suzhou.

The ICSBS conference will bring together scientists 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.”

With sessions on sustainable materials and design, smart construction and construction management and green and low-carbon buildings, Dr Papadikis says the conference will highlight new and best practices in the construction industry and planning sector.

“The concepts of sustainable development and green engineering are equivalent to what, in the 18th Century and 19th Century, was the Industrial Revolution,” Dr Papadikis says.

“These days, due to factors such as environmental limitations and scarcity of resources, the whole business-as-usual approach to construction has to change – the industry needs to be aligned with current research and national directives.

“The research-driven sustainable development movement should be aligned with national directives that dictate how enterprises and industries have to behave in the 21st Century.”

With a requirement that by 2020 half of all new urban buildings in China 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, organised by the Department of Civil Engineering at XJTLU, the Institute of Sustainable Materials and Environment (ISME) at XJTLU and the University of Hong Kong is the second in a series of conferences that will take place, with Dr Papadikis the Organising Committee Chair of ICSBS 2019.

“In 20 years from now, by the time of the 7th conference in 2039 the models we are looking at today will be completely different,” Dr Papadikis says.

“This is a rapidly evolving area of research – both within the materials sector as well as with the integration of artificial intelligence and virtual reality in construction processes and management.

“By tracking these conferences you’ll be able to see how industry catches up with research, with new practices resulting from new knowledge.”

ICSBS 2019 will take place from 25-27 October at XJTLU.

By Will Venn