The Future of Housing – Resilient Adaptable Communities – Built Offsite, Made to Last

We invite you to join a diverse group of stakeholders to share your ideas and insights regarding the challenges and opportunities in the delivery of housing. 

This workshop will explore the impact of applying circular economy principles to housing and seek your input to inform the development of new finance and delivery models that could revolutionise the delivery of housing. 

This work is funded by the Clean Economy Grants Scheme of the City of Greater Geelong to promote housing solutions that promote low-carbon and circular economy principles. The work is being undertaken by FormFlow Pty Ltd., together with Deakin University and Anvarta. 

We invite you to participate in a diverse set of stakeholders in gathering and exchanging ideas and insights further advancing your horizon of knowledge and insights in this area.

Join us in this exclusive workshop, so that we can seek your input to refine our transformative financial models designed to revolutionize housing solutions.

Funded by the Clean Economy Grants Scheme of the City of Greater Geelong to promote housing solutions that promote low-carbon and circular economy principles, FormFlow Pty Ltd., together with Deakin University and Anvarta, would like to explore what stakeholders think of their deconstructable housing solution offerings.

WORKSHOP 1

• Date: 15th August 2024
• Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
• Hybrid event: Deakin University, Waterfront Campus, AD6.104 The Western Beach room
• Hosted by: Deakin University, FormFlow and Anvarta

WORKSHOP 2

• Date: 16th August 2024
• Time: 10.00 AM - 12:00 PM
• Hybrid event: Deakin University, Waterfront Campus, AD6.104 The Western Beach room
• Hosted by: Deakin University, FormFlow and Anvarta

Context:

We believe that a building should be designed to last forever so that the resources can be reused over and over again. Nothing should end up in a landfill and energy use should be considered at all stages in the life of the building. Buildings must be resilient to the impacts of climate change and designed to withstand floods, fire and wind. They must maintain an affordable level of comfort in any extreme conditions, and they should be designed to accommodate the needs of anyone regardless of age or ability. 

FormFlow has developed a groundbreaking modular steel building system that enables the construction of permanent buildings that can be adapted, modified, upgraded or relocated in the future as the needs of the occupants and their community change. The aim is to extend the useful life of the building structure and minimise future financial and environmental costs. The building system allows each module to be deconstructed so that each individual component can be re-used in the construction of new buildings, providing another pathway to extend life and upcycle where possible. And when there is no further use each component can be isolated from dissimilar materials, recycled and re-used.  

These innovative new approaches open the door for alternative ownership and finance models where land and house can be considered separately. Housing, in this model, retains considerable value into the future, making it a more attractive investment. Current financial models do not account for this possibility. 

We will explore a range of ownership and financing models and their potential economic and environmental impact when compared with current approaches. Options include;

1. sell
2. sell & buyback
3. lease

Why do we consider these three offerings? 

We want to understand whether these models could help to provide accessible, resilient, affordable housing and deliver positive circular economy outcomes by facilitating building modules' return, reuse, and reintegration, cutting costs, and achieving near-zero embodied carbon..

How would this discussion add value for you?

This is a unique opportunity to explore new ideas with a diverse group of experts with a broad range of perspectives and experiences. Our diverse stakeholder group will consist of

1. Community housing providers
2. Property developers
3. Government agencies/bodies
4. Legal experts
5. Bank/lender/financial institutions
6. Industry experts/academics
7. Community stakeholders promoting circular economy principles
8. Green housing and construction product providers
9. Influencers in housing (architects/engineers)
10. Owners and users of housing solutions
11. Other stakeholder agencies and organisations

Where would we value your input and opinions?

Your input will help us

1. fine-tune our product service package to ensure robustness and inclusivity
2. provide insights into the customer journey to ensure our solutions meet and exceed stakeholder expectations
3. provide inputs as to how to amplify the environmental impact of our modular housing solutions

The workshop will be facilitated by:

Matthew Dingle, Managing Director and co-founder of FormFlow Matthew is an engineer, entrepreneur, and former university lecturer with a passion for harnessing applied research to address complex design challenges. Along with co-founding Carbon Revolution, the only carbon fibre wheel manufacturer in the world, he worked with Ford and Volvo to implement ideas developed in his PhD. In addition, Matthew co-designed a family of high-performance rowing craft that are still in production and have achieved gold medal success at National and International levels. Matt and the team at FormFlow address the housing needs of current and future generations using a suite of technologies they have developed in-house. Their approach is grounded in ensuring that the health of our planet, social equality and inclusion are at the forefront of everything they do. FormFlow LinkedIn | FormFlow website

Matthias Weiss, Assocoate Professor at Deakin University and Co-founder ofFormFlow A/Prof Matthias Weiss leads the sheet metal forming and advanced manufacturing research team at the Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM). He holds a Master of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering from RWTH Aachen (2002) and a PhD in Material Science from Deakin (2007). Over 16 years, Matthias has built one of the world's largest roll-forming research groups and Australia's most advanced roll-forming facility. His team focuses on micro-level material analysis, advanced material models, and new forming concepts. Matthias co-founded FormFlow in 2016, achieving significant technological and commercial milestones, including a licensing agreement with BlueScope Steel. Since 2019, he has collaborated on new building technologies for affordable housing, securing multimillion-dollar grants. Recently, his research has shifted to green hydrogen, developing micro-forming technologies for fuel cells and electrolysers, and collaborating with Deakin Hycel and TU Chemnitz on renewable energy solutions for various sectors. Linkedin | Deakin Profile  | FormFlow website

Mayuri Wijayasundara. Director of Anvarta  Mayuri is a leading expert in strategy and transformation specialising in transition towards a circular economy. She currently leads Anvarta, a consulting practice that helps organisations transition to a regenerative model. She was engaged as Circular Economy Expert at UN Habitat.   Mayuri was a tenured University scholar leading multiple research programs in circular economy until 2021 and has authored several research articles in multiple discipline areas related to enabling a circular economy. She is a contributor to acclaimed international forums such as the World Economic Forum.   Prior to that, she was a senior industry practitioner leading a program in Asia Pacific, in resource recovery and manufacturing industries. Mayuri obtained her PhD from the University of Melbourne and is a Chartered Global Management Accountant of CIMA, UK. Mayuri is currently an advisory committee member of Recycling Victoria and holds board and advisory positions in other industry bodies and professional organisations.     Linkedin | Professional Website  | Anvarta website

Olubukola 'Bukky' Tokede, Senior Lecturer at Deakin University Bukky is a Life Cycle Certified Assessment Professional (LCACP) with over 10 years of work experience, with a strong commitment and track record in integrating life cycle sustainability thinking into building and infrastructure projects. Currently, he works as a Senior Lecturer in Construction Management at the School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, and he is the initiator and research lead of 'Thinking Buildings' at Deakin University, and the cradle-to-cradle research theme leader of the Live +Smart Lab, at Deakin University.  Bukky's expertise lies in integrating life cycle sustainability thinking into building and infrastructure projects. He is a member of Engineers Australia and the Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society (ALCAS). He has previous experience as a construction engineer and critical reviewer for life cycle assessments of infrastructure projects. Linkedin | Deakin Profile | ALCAS Profile