Navigating Sustainability 2025: Building/unbuilding - what construction needs now

Join us for an open forum to challenge your thinking, open new possibilities and connect with leaders

02 Building/unbuilding - what construction needs now

The move to deregulate housing standards and planning are just part of the disruption under way in the industry. 

Even bigger disrupters are science and innovation. Or should be. 

The federal Productivity Commission said in early February that productivity in the sector was appalling. Where are the innovators and disruptors? Will they save carbon and give us more efficient outcomes?

~~

Leaders 

Karl-Heinz Weiss: As the founder and director of Weiss Insights, Weiss focuses on consultancy and advisory focusing on whole of life-cycle efficiency and productivity challenges and opportunities. His experience is gained through first-hand experience across the whole construction lifecycle from design, manufacture and traditional construction and development through to his pioneering work in engineered timber technology. This includes all aspects of design from feasibility to architectural and structural design, from customer interaction, all the way through to execution including manufacturing, logistics and site planning and completion.

Weiss is also Professor of Practice in the Architecture Department, Monash University in Melbourne and a Member of the Future Building Research Initiative and drive research with a focus on industrial building - strategies, practices and platforms

Lasse Lind: Lasse Lind is the Head of Circularity and partner at GXN, the innovation unit of 3XN. Specialising in sustainability and the circular economy within the construction industry, Lind has led pioneering projects that emphasise the reuse and adaptability of building materials. A notable example is Circle House, Denmark's first circular social housing project, designed so that 90% of its building materials can be reused in the future.

Under Lasse's leadership, GXN also played a significant role in the CIRCuIT (Circular Construction in Regenerative Cities) project, which aimed to transition urban construction towards circular practices by preserving resources within the built environment for as long as possible. Lasse advocates for architects to act as mediators among various professions, engaging with stakeholders across the value chain—from demolition contractors to facility managers—to foster systemic change towards sustainability, in materiality, design and construction, aligned with the principles of a circular economy.

Ross Harding: Equal part's troublemaker, technical mind, and creative, Harding is one of the most enthusiastic, optimistic and cheeky engineers you’ve ever met. A rare combination of dreamer and schemer: he thinks big picture about transforming cities around the world to become completely self-sufficient. At the same time, working tirelessly with his team at Finding Infinity to actually make it happen. 

Operating across a range of scales from city-wide master planning to precincts, building design, and even temporary events, Finding Infinity are doing their best at turning dreams into reality. Short for finding a future based on infinite resources, Finding Infinity is a creative and technical environmental consultancy. His team of 10 unique characters based in Melbourne consist of architects, engineers, artists, urban agriculture specialists and more. Best known for “A New Normal”: a $100 billion strategy to transform Melbourne into a self-sufficient city together with 15 architecture firms. Conceptualised and initiated in his living room in Fitzroy, A New Normal now has over $200 million worth of live projects spread across Melbourne. 

Each project delivers profitable examples with the private sector, engages with the general public in a colourful way, and is specifically designed to inform much needed policy.

Our moderator

Maria Atkinson is a gifted moderator. She knows how to ask the curly questions and be entertaining at the same time. Plus, she’s got a wealth of experience at all levels of this amazing industry we’re all part of, from co-founder of the Green Building Council of Australia to board director of some of the most interesting companies in the business.

TFE Members can access $35+fees tickets. If you are not a TFE member, join now!