CIB W124 – Near-Zero and Circular Built Environment is hosting and Early Career Researchers webinar on Thursday 30th July (20:00 NZST) on the theme Driving the Circular Transition: Technology, Process, and People in the Built Environment.
CIB W124 is the CIB working commission upgraded from Task Group TG124 in October 2025. The commission responds to the construction sector’s significant contribution to global carbon emissions. W124 brings together researchers worldwide to share best practice and pursue strategic solutions for near-zero built environments, with a scope spanning energy efficiency, low-carbon materials, climate-resilient infrastructure, digital sustainability tools, and waste reduction and circular economy practices in construction.
Supporting early career researchers (ECRs) and higher-degree-research (HDR) candidates is a core commission objective. This ECRs webinar is a part of a webinar series run by W124. It is designed to:
- Showcase current ECRs research being undertaken within the W124
- Create a platform for ECRs to connect and collaborate with peers across institutions and countries
- Provide an opportunity for ECRs to engage directly with senior researchers in the research field
- Strengthen the international network of researchers working towards near-zero and circular built environments
Agenda
| Time (NZST) | Session | Speaker |
| 8:00–8:10pm | Warm welcome and introduction to CIB W124 | Host |
| 8:10–8:25pm | Advancing a circular built environment: Generative AI for building energy retrofitting and retro-commissioning | Dr. Linyan Chen — The Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
| 8:25–8:40pm | Buying into circularity: How does construction procurement drive the circular economy transition in emerging markets? | Dr. Benjamin Ababio — Massey University |
| 8:40–8:55pm | Transforming construction organisations towards circularity: A process maturity perspective | Shashini Jayakodi — Western Sydney University |
| 8:55–9:10pm | Circular economy knowledge management landscape in Net-Zero built environments — A case of the Australian construction and demolition waste management sector | Malsha Nadeetharu Buddha Koralage — Deakin University |
| 9:10–9:30pm | Q&A and final remarks | All participants |
Host
- A/Prof. Niluka Domingo, Massey University, New Zealand – W124 coordinator
- A/Prof. Sepani Senaratne, Western Sydney University, Australia – W124 coordinator
- Dr. José Luis García, IETcc-CSIC, Spain – W124 member
- Dr. Alice Bui, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand – W124 member
Registration
This webinar is free and open to CIB members and the wider research community, but registration is required by 28th July 2026
