Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre2.7 Leveraging R&D Investment for the Australian Built Environment | Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre

Project 2.7 Industry Report – Dec 2012 (4 Mb)
Project 2.7 Industry Brochure – Dec 2012 (1 Mb)

The overarching goal of this project is to better match funding strategies to industry needs to maximise the benefits of R&D to Australia’s infrastructure and building industry.

Project partners are: Queensland Department of Public Works; Queensland Transport and Main Roads; Western Australian Department of Treasury and Finance; John Holland; Queensland University of Technology; Swinburne University of Technology; and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (Prof Göran Roos). This project has been endorsed by the Australian Built Environment Industry Innovation Council (BEIIC) with Council member Prof Catherin Bull serving on this project’s Steering Committee.

This project seeks to: (i) maximise the value of R&D investment in this sector through improved understanding of future industry research needs; and (ii) address the perceived problem of a disproportionately low R&D investment in this sector, relative to the size and national importance of the sector.

This research will develop new theory built on open innovation, dynamic capabilities and absorptive capacity theories in the context of strategic foresighting and roadmapping activities.

Four project phases have been designed to address this research:

1. Audit and analysis of R&D investment in the Australian built environment since 1990 – access publically available data relating to R&D investments across Australia from public and private organisations to understand past trends.
2. Examine diffusion mechanisms of research and innovation and its impact on public and private organisations – investigate specific R&D investments to determine the process of realising research support, direction-setting, project engagement, impacts and pathways to adoption.
3. Develop a strategic roadmap for the future of this critical Australian industry – assess the likely future landscapes that R&D investment will both respond to and anticipate.
4. Develop policy to maximise the value of R&D investments to public and private organisations – through translating project learnings into policy guidelines.

The project team also acknowledge the important contribution of Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage funding from 2011-2104. This funding enabled this project to leverage SBEnrc funding to both broaden and deepen research outcomes. In particular this funding: enabled a fourth case study of Private sector R&D investment in Australia to be undertaken; and facilitated the ongoing international collaboration of the 36 members from 17 countries in the CIB Task Group 85 Research Investment and Impact. This activity which has led to the forthcoming Taylor and Francis publication R&D Investment and Impact in the Global Construction Industry (due June 2014) – https://www.routledge.com/catalogs/building_and_construction_catalog/1/6/

Project Outcomes

Phase 1 outcomes will include: (i) a map of the existing research investments; (ii) an audit of R&D investment in this sector through interrogating Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Tax Office and Australian and state-based data; and (iii) a strategic assessment of the above inputs to inform the following project phases.
Phase 2 outcomes will include national case studies of specific themes of investment, highlighting lessons learned, success criteria and critical challenges.
Phase 3 will include: (i) an industry R&D roadmap, responding to likely futures; and (ii) a comprehensive update to the CRC for Construction Innovation’s landmark Construction 2020 report published in 2004.
Phase 4 outcomes will include a set of strategies to allow public and private sector organisations to more profitably engage in research to secure business advantages.

Documents for Downloading

The following documents provide additional detail regarding this current research, including project outcomes to date:

Project 2.7 Fact Sheet 2011 (371 Kb)
The Built Environment Sector in Australia – Dr Thomas Barlow – June 2012 (09.12 – 804 Kb)
Progress Report – October 2011 (10.11 – 694 Kb)
Progress Report – May 2012 (2 Mb)
Presentation to Built Environment Industry Innovation Council (BEIIC) – 6 July 2012 (1 Mb)

Phase 2 – Pathways to Innovation

Case Study Overview – Final Report (16.04.12 – 951 Kb)
Road Construction Safety Case – Final Report (16.04.12 – 792 Kb)
Green Buildings Case – Final Report (16.04.12 – 761 Kb)
CADD BIM IPD Case – Final Report (652 Kb)
QTMR Presentation 12 June 2012 (1 Mb)
Private Sector R&D Investment: A Case Study (1.12.13 – 758Kb)

Phase 3 – Construction 2030

Construction 2030 – Report (4 Mb)
Construction 2030 – Executive Summary (2 Mb)
Foresight Workshops – Scenarios – Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne (13.12.11 – 640 Kb)
Foresight Workshops – Scenarios – Perth (29.11.11 – 691 Kb)
Foresight Workshops – Surveying Future Landscape (23.11.12 – 811 Kb)

Phase 4 – A vision for R&D policy directions

Policy Guideline (02.02.16 – 615Kb)

Academic Publications

Hampson K.D. and Kraatz J.A. “Leveraging R&D investment for the Australian built environment” CIB World Building Congress, 5-9 May 2013, Brisbane, Australia

Kraatz J.A & Hampson K.D. (2013) “Brokering innovation to better leverage R&D investment”, Building Research & Information, 41:2, 187-197

Bok. B, Hayward, P, Voros, J & Roos, G, 2012, Morphological Scenarios and Technology Roadmapping, Refereed paper presented at the Asia-Pacific Foresight Conference 2012, Perth, Australia, 16-18 November, 2012

Hampson K.D. and Kraatz J.A. “Leveraging R&D investment for the Australian built environment” 6th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics & Organisation, 13-15 April 2011, Danish Society of Engineers Conference Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark, p. 517-528. (16.04.11 – 124 Kb)
See also related Copenhagen Presentation (16.04.11 – 1 Mb)

Hampson K.D. and Kraatz J.A. 2011 “Leveraging R&D to advance digital modelling practice in Australian construction.” Modern Methods and Advances in Structural Engineering and Construction, ISEC-6, 21-26 June 2011 Zürich. (22.06.11 – 88 Kb)
See also related Zurich Presentation (23.06.11 – 320 Kb)

Hampson K.D. and Kraatz J.A., “Retrospective evaluation and prospective value-add: a review of R&D investment in Australia.” SB11 World Sustainable Building Conference, October 18-21 2011, Helsinki. (28.07.11 – 325 Kb)
See also related Helsinki Presentation (18.10.11 – 899 Kb)

Hampson K.D. and Kraatz J.A., ‘R&D investment in green building initiatives in Western Australia’, Healthy Buildings 2012, 8-12 July 2012, Brisbane, Australia. (12.07.12 – 216 Kb)
See also related Healthy Buildings Presentation (1 Mb)

CIB – International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction

research-council

This project has also formed the basis for a new CIB Task Group, TG85 R&D Investment and Impact, which held its first meeting at SB11 Helsinki World Sustainable Building Conference on 19th October 2011.

CIB TG85 Investing for Impact: Constructing a Better Built Environment” (Industry-focussed booklet) (24.06.13 – 3 Mb)
CIB TG85 R&D Investment and Impact – Task Group Charter (01.06.11 – 130 Kb)
CIB TG85 Inaugural Meeting – 19th Oct 2011 – Helsinki Invitation (29.09.11 – 129 Kb)

CIB-TG85-members

CIB TG85 members receiving CIB Programme Committee commendation for the most remarkable contributions to the CIB from amongst all the Commission and Theme Group Coordinators and Members at the World Building Congress 2013 (Brisbane, 7 May 2013).

Antonio Lucio Gil, Ex-Vice-President of Green Building Council España and Keith Hampson, CEO of SBEnrc during launch of the book R&D Investment and Impact in the Global Construction Industry, Barcelona, World Sustainable Building Conference, 30 October 2014. Antonio Lucio was responsible for the “Global Vision” at the WSB14.