An Australian consortium has secured government funding for up to AUD28 million ($16.3 million) to carry out an initiative seeking to transform how buildings are designed and manufactured in Australia.
Monash University, Lendlease, The University of Melbourne, Donovan Group, BlueScope, Sumitomo Forestry and CSR, along with 23 other partners, have been successful in securing this funding to establish the Building 4.0 CRC consortium.
The partners said that the $28 million grant will leverage a combined $103 million from industry, government and research partners – bringing the combined research budget to $131 million over seven years.
The consortium noted that the Building 4.0 CRC research initiative is focused on use of digital solutions, new products and processes aiming to transform Australia’s building industry to a tech-enabled, collaborative future where the customer is at the centre of each building experience and buildings are not only better, but faster, cheaper and safer.
The CRC will be based at Monash University in partnership with the University of Melbourne, and in collaboration with the Queensland University of Technology.
Some of the outcomes this initiative hopes to achieve include:
-30% reduction in project costs through digital technology and off-site manufacturing
-40% reduction in project delays
-80% reduction in construction waste
-50% reduction in CO2 emissions for more sustainable buildings.
Monash University Professor Mathew Aitchison, Interim CEO of Building 4.0 CRC, said: “By leveraging this government funding and our deep collaboration with research and training partners, we are committed to putting the Australian industry at the forefront of global developments.”
Building 4.0 CRC will bring together expertise in the fields of architecture, design, planning, construction, engineering, business, information technology and law to develop industry-wide practices and protocols intended to transform the entire sector.
It will also leverage the latest technologies, data science and artificial intelligence to enable the application of robotics and digital fabrication to optimize all phases of building delivery – including development, design, production, assembly, operation, maintenance and end-of-life.
Gavin Tonnet, Australian CEO of Donovan Group, said: “Our vision is to create a world where people can visualise and realise buildings in real time.”
“The purpose is to transform the way that consumers and builders design and buy buildings by providing easy-to-use browsing-based software that allows them to custom-design, visualize and price buildings in an engineering compliant way,” Tonnet added.
Building 4.0 CRC comprises 30 leading players in commercial industry, university, industry bodies and government partners
