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Statement on Housing Election Commitments

CEO Prof. Mathew Aitchison comments on housing measures announced by the Coalition and Labor.

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Future Building Ep 18 Can we fix housing construction productivity? With Danielle Wood Chair of the Australian Government’s Productivity Commission

Danielle Wood, Chair of the Australian Government’s Productivity Commission speaks with Building 4.0 CRC CEO Professor Mathew Aitchison about housing construction productivity, this impact upon housing and cost disease.

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Future Building Ep 19 Venture Creation for the Built Environment with Dr Ray Levitt from Blackhorn Ventures

Dr Ray Levitt, Partner at Blackhorn Ventures and Emeritus Professor at Stanford University, speaks to Prof. Mathew Aitchison from Building 4.0 CRC about Venture Capital, Innovation and Artificial Intelligence for the Building Industry.

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Urgent calls for a Building Research and Development Corporation to address national housing crisis

Building 4.0 Cooperative Research Centre CEO Prof. Mathew Aitchison called for urgent action to stand up a national building research and development corporation (RDC) to arrest declining productivity in the sector, a key contributor to higher costs and supply shortages.

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The answer to our housing crisis is structural reform

“Prefab alone can’t solve our housing crisis. We need to think bigger,” says Prof. Mathew Aitchison

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Like IKEA but for houses: Could Sweden’s housing revolution come to Australia?

SBS Dateline’s latest episode looks into Sweden’s prefabricated houses and whether they can be the answer to Australia’s housing supply crisis.

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How can the building industry overcome its ‘innovation problem’?

In this article for realestate.com.au, Vivien Topalovic reports on the Property Council of Australia’s National Housing Solutions Summit in Melbourne, Tuesday 1 April. A panel featuring representatives from Building 4.0 CRC, Woods Bagot, Mirvac and the Productivity Commission addressed the key issue of innovation in the construction sector.

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Advancing Education, Skills and Training for the Future of Building

The fourth industrial revolution (4.0) has brought disruption and advancement to the realm of building construction. This short video from Building 4.0 CRC and Holmesglen Institute explains what ‘4.0-ness’ means to the present and future of building.

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Intro

Welcome to Building 4.0 CRC

Building 4.0 CRC is an industry-led research initiative co-funded by the Australian Government. The CRC aims to develop an internationally competitive, dynamic and thriving Australian advanced manufacturing sector, delivering better buildings at lower cost and the human capacity to lead the future industry.

The Industry

The Building Industry

The building industry is an enormous contributor to the economy, employing around 1.4 million Australians and representing around 13% of GDP*. Australia’s existing high-cost, low-tech building sector is an ideal target for the disruption that most experts agree is heading towards the sector. Building 4.0 CRC will help prepare the industry and place Australia among world-leaders in the field.

For decades, building has been plagued by rising costs, stagnant productivity, high waste and low margins. These problems are compounded by the record demand for buildings of increasing complexity and higher performance standards, with increased customer expectations and sustainability requirements.

The industry needs to meet these demands while finding new efficiencies to lower costs; Building 4.0 CRC has been established to help deliver on these needs.

* https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-09/115786_PROPERTY_COUNCIL_OF_AUSTRALIA_-_SUBMISSION_2.pdf

The CRC

About Building 4.0 CRC

Building 4.0 CRC was established as part of the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre program in 2020. Through deep collaboration and new technologies of the 4th industrial age, Building 4.0 CRC will catapult the industry into an efficient, connected and customer-centric future. The CRC aims to capture new opportunities across the whole value chain in cooperation with government, research and industry organisations.

Our four integrated research programs will help to ensure that we deliver on:

  • new industry-wide culture, practices and standard protocols that will enable the transformation of the entire sector;
  • more sustainable design and construction practices;
  • new building processes and techniques through leveraging the latest technologies, data science and AI; and
  • improvements to building “hardware” and processes, and their interaction with our digital and sectoral programs, to ultimately improve all aspects of the key building phases (development, design, production, assembly, operation, maintenance and end-of-life).

We are also creating pathways for future employees to develop new, tech-focused skills through a deep understanding of the industry’s needs and culture.

Furthermore, Building 4.0 CRC’s research projects will place Australia at the forefront of global developments in the advanced manufacture of buildings.

Enabling a customer-centric and connected transformation of the building industry
Targets

Targets

Building 4.0 CRC is taking a ‘whole-of-system’ approach to create an innovation ecosystem and transform the entire building industry.

Our specific targets include:

Better buildings

  • Energy: 40% reduction in lifecycle costs through high-performing, efficient buildings
  • Sustainability: Up to 50% reduction in CO2 emissions for more sustainable buildings
  • Regulation: Improved policy & regulatory frameworks
  • Quality and Safety: Fewer defects & improved quality, customer satisfaction, safety & certainty

New efficiencies & markets

  • Cost: Up to 30% reduction in project costs through digital technology & off-site manufacturing
  • Time: 40% reduction in project delays through integrated, live scheduling
  • Waste: 80% reduction in construction waste & re-work for higher productivity
  • Exports: Up to 25% increase in the export of building products & construction services
  • Communication: A connected industry with common protocols & interfaces, and shared data

Human capacity

  • Education: Train 36 PhDs and 1,000 Masters Students
  • Jobs and Training: Create new high-skill jobs, training 7,000 apprentices in the new technologies of the 4th industrial revolution
  • Culture: Create an open, collaborative, innovative, inclusive, and gender diverse industry
A platform to transform the building industry
Benefits

Benefits

Building 4.0 CRC will introduce positive change for many.

  • Industry partners: increased profitability and productivity and the ability to generate collaborative partnerships with leading industry, government, research, education and training stakeholders.
  • Research partners: ability to conduct leading R&D with global best-in-class companies and build the innovation ecosystem that will underpin Australia’s future leadership in the advanced manufacture of buildings. 
  • Australia: reductions in costs and wider improvements in building functionality, sustainability and operational efficiency.
  • Government: a stronger economy, improved competitiveness and the generation of an innovation ecosystem that will lead to improved construction policy and regulatory frameworks and a more connected industry.
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