Special - Green Building and Design Conference 2009 – Green Materials

Wednesday 9th – Thursday 10th September 2009, Melbourne Convention Centre

Attendance in-person or online

The selection of materials in buildings has an impact on the environment, on human health and on construction costs. Regulatory requirements have to be complied with, consumer demand for ‘healthy’ buildings need to be met and liability claims will need to be deflected when choosing products and materials for the built environment. Designers, manufacturers and regulators have been called upon to explore various options for green materials: be it those produced from renewable or recycled materials or be it innovative high-tech products - evaluating the alternatives can be a real challenge for all concerned. Therefore, the conference will provide practical guidance on how to assess building materials.

Site visits and the presentation of case studies will illustrate how theory has been put into practice and how practice can be used to refine theory.

Topics include

• Regulatory developments
• Proposed emissions trading and its effect on building materials in Australia
• Voluntary and mandatory environmental guidelines
• Building materials and liability
• Strategies for economic gain
• Life Cycle Assessment
• Third Party Certification
• Building Biology
• Alternative building materials
• Innovative insulation materials.

This highly regarded, annual professional training conference, hosted by the RMIT Centre for Design, has been a must for everyone involved in the sustainable built environment for the last 7 years. It brings together architects and designers, policy makers, energy consultants, building owners and the building industry. Over the years it has gained a reputation of being the most comprehensive and informative conference in this field due to its breadth of speakers and the practical emphasis of the program.

As usual, the GreenBuilding and Design conference is being offered as a professional training short course through the RMIT.

The conference will be held at the brand-new Melbourne Convention Centre, the first convention centre in the world to achieve a 6 Star Green Star environmental rating.

Thinking on those professionals who are unable to attend the event personally, a virtual participation mode has been established with the same validity as a ‘physical’ one (certificates, access to presentation, possibility to ask questions etc.). For an expression of interest please contact Nicola at nicola.willand@rmit.edu.au.

Lunch, refreshments during morning and afternoon breaks as well as networking drinks on the first evening will be provided for in-person attendees.

Conference fees (incl. GST):

In-person attendance: early bird (until 14th August 2009) $770; full fee $1045.

Online attendance: $770.

Register online at www.shortcourses.rmit.edu.au or telephone Short Courses on 03 9925 8111

Extension into postgraduate single course

In addition, this year attendance at the conference may be extended into a single course and used towards gaining a postgraduate certificate at RMITUniversity. Participants of the two-day conference may choose to participate in four two-hour workshops before and after the conference and complete two assignments. This extension then forms an elective subject worth 12 credit points towards postgraduate studies, which is environmental, architecture, construction and planning related.

The workshop will be held at the RMIT Swanston Street campus, Melbourne. The course is limited to 50 students. Attendance can be in-person or via distance learning.

Dates:

Aug 15 (Sa) 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Aug 29 (Sa) 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Sept 17 (Thurs) 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Sept 18 (Fri) 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm.

Single Subject fees (incl. GST): $1740 (incl. attendance of the conference)

Register online for BUIL 1225 ‘Sustainability in the built environment: A focus on building and design’ at www.singlecourses.rmit.edu.au or telephone Single Courses on 03 9925 8111.

For more information please contact Nicola at nicola.willand@rmit.edu.au or visit http://www.rmit.edu.au/cfd/green_materials_conference.