Digital Construction Experts At DigiComm25

On Thursday 20 March in Tāmaki | Auckland almost 300 attendees gathered to learn about the latest in digital construction from around the globe at DigiComm25.

The one-day conference, run by the NZ Institute of Building, focused on ‘growing our global digital community’ and brought together a range of global and local speakers in the room and online.

The Institute’s CEO, Pamela Bell, remarked: “the buzz of so many optimistic people curious about digital-first and A.I. for design, construction and operations of the built environment is critical as we navigate a huge range of complex commercial and pipeline challenges.”

The opening keynote for the day was given by Professor Jennifer Whyte and focused on how digital information transforms the delivery of major projects. Professor Whyte’s research has had significant impacts on transforming industry and policy in her native U.K. and she is now based at the University of Sydney as the Director of the John Grill Institute for Project Leadership.

Justin Flitter, from AI New Zealand, gave an overview about the impacts and changes A.I. is already having across the globe and how that might play out in the construction industry. From Dr Shaolei Ren, at the University of California, Riverside, we learnt about the environmental effects A.I. would have on air and water quality due to data centre activity.

Local and global case studies were shared with the room. Nate Helbach from U.S. company Neutral shared the story of his company’s and the challenges and successes they have had in using mass timber while focusing on sustainability and wellbeing to reach ‘carbon neutral’. In pushing the limits of mass timber, the company has had to put in place new methods of investing by ‘democratising sustainable investing’.

The local case study was the final session for the day and came from the project team behind the Archives NZ building - Heke Rua. The team was represented in the room by Alex Hampshire – WT, Anton Shaw and Melissa Thompson - Warren & Mahoney, Georgia Robinson – L.T. McGuinness.

Attendees learnt about the project’s use of digital design and construction methods including creating a ‘digital twin’. They were also treated to a demonstration of the software used on the project by Adam Ward from Twinview who beamed in from the U.K. for the panel.

The packed room was buzzing throughout the day with roundtable interactive sessions allowing delegates to choose the topics they wanted to learn more about, a partner showcase complete with robotic dog, and countless new connections being made.

To finish the day, Institute CE Pamela Bell shared the news that the NZ Institute of Building would soon be known as Building Institute Aotearoa with a refreshed look. The updated look and feel will roll out from 1 April 2025.

Pamela says, "The Building Institute’s new look and updated name positions us well for future focus on growing a broad range of building people, while acknowledging the Institute’s forty-year legacy of representing commercial construction professionals.”

Keynote presentations will be made available on the Institute’s website in the coming weeks – check in to the resources section of the website to watch.

Take a look at this short video to get a feel for how the day went down!

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