The Beyond Bricks and Mortar event on 9 July was the latest in the Ignite+ event series supported by the Knowledge Exchange Team and the EPSRC.
This event enabled introductions and identified new opportunities for collaboration. Bringing together a range of stakeholders from both industry and academia through a series of workshops and presentations, the day event led to valuable discussions and exciting proposals to address sustainability challenges across the construction sector.
The day commenced with a warm and inspiring welcome address by Dr Laurent Perge and Dr Fulvio Pinto, both from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Dr Juliana Calabria-Holley, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering.
The first session of the day was a lively session where the participants played a special board game based on sustainable constructions materials, developed by the University of Bath academics to help them understand the industry perspective on research in this area. The participants had the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing research project titled "Identifying the Elephant".
The Elephant Project aims at identifying all the parts of the sustainable construction challenge by developing a mathematical model to capture the interaction between social, technical and economic factors.
Academics and participants delved into the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities in creating materials that are not only durable but also environmentally friendly.
Laurent Perge, Lecturer for Department of Mechanical Engineering, said:
I am pleased to have organised and hosted the Beyond Bricks and Mortar event, with over 25 participants in attendance. It was extremely gratifying to see everyone engaging enthusiastically with the board game on sustainable construction materials developed by our research team. The event sparked amazing discussions on the challenges facing the construction sector, highlighting the urgent need for greater awareness, faster regulatory turnarounds, and certification processes. My key takeaway was the potential of developing living labs as a solution to these challenges. Several promising partnerships were initiated, and I am confident that the discussions will continue to evolve beyond the event. `
Fulvio Pinto, Senior Lecturer for Department of Mechanical Engineering commented:
As an academic working on sustainable materials, I believe that the Ignite+ Beyond Bricks and Mortar workshop was a tremendous success. We had the chance to share knowledge and “step out of the lab”, engaging directly with industry professionals from the construction field. Interacting with people from industry while playing a board game based on sustainable constructions we developed, helped us understand their perspective more in depth. We gathered valuable information, highlighting the importance of involving industry stakeholders in order to develop truly sustainable building solutions. This interaction gave me a clearer view of the full spectrum that our solutions need to address, and demonstrated the fundamental role that a common platform plays in fostering new ideas and in offering guidelines for more impactful research.
Lightning Talks on Sustainable Construction Material
After a networking lunch, a series of lightning talks were presented by industry attendees: Maccreanor Lavington, Lucideon, Natural Building Systems, ALDStone, Materials in Mind and Termex Fibre, highlighting cutting-edge research, innovative and successful products.
The afternoon workshop session saw participants expressing sector specific concerns and challenges to the academic experts with an opportunity to delve deeper through parallel group activities. Academics & industry attendees mapped out and prioritised challenges and potential solutions within the sustainable construction sector to pin down future collaborative projects and funding opportunities, supported Business Partnerships and KE Managers, Dr Shannon Stodd and Emma Riddle.
The event concluded with formal closing remarks that highlighted the day's achievements, leaving participants with valuable connections, new ideas and a shared excitement in driving sustainable change through partnerships with the University of Bath.