August 11, 2026

Future Builders Conference puts circular construction and new building systems in focus

Master Builders Victoria’s long-running sustainability conference expands into commercial construction, with mass timber, prefabrication, new materials and practical case studies on the program.

When: August 31, 2026
Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1-5 Spencer St, Docklands VIC

Cost: $165 MBV members and $240 for non-members
Book: HERE

Master Builders Victoria will bring its long-running sustainability conference into a new phase this month, with the 2026 MBV Future Builders Conference expanding its program across both residential and commercial construction.

Dr Philip Alviano, Senior Advisor, Future Built Environment.

Previously known as the Green Living Conference, the event is now in its 20th year. Dr Philip Alviano, Senior Advisor, Future Built Environment at Master Builders Victoria, told Built Offsite the conference has grown from a relatively small gathering of committed sustainable builders into an event attracting a much broader cross-section of the industry.

“It started off as a small affair with about 30 or 40 dedicated builders,” Alviano said, with attendance in recent years reaching around 120 to 130 people.

For 2026, MBV has introduced concurrent commercial and residential streams, allowing attendees to follow sessions most relevant to their work.

“It’s become big in commercial construction practices,” Alviano told Built Offsite. “So this year we’re now featuring a commercial stream as well.” He said the audience had also become broader, with “a large mix of age groups” and younger builders increasingly attending.

Circular economy and new building approaches
Circular economy principles and emerging materials sit at the centre of this year’s program, with sessions looking at how these ideas are beginning to influence the way buildings are designed, constructed and delivered.

Alviano said the conference would open with a broader discussion about current and emerging directions in sustainable construction, with the circular economy forming a key part of that conversation.

Professor Usha Iyer-Raniga, Professor of Sustainable Built Environment, RMIT University.
Professor Usha Iyer-Raniga, Professor of Sustainable Built Environment, RMIT University.

“We’re starting off sort of broadly… speaking about what’s happening and what’s coming in sustainable construction,” he said.

Keynote speaker Professor Usha Iyer-Raniga of RMIT University will present Building a Circular Future in Australia: Why, What and How?, while Tim Brooks and Bettina Robinson of Fieldwork will present a case study on the Master Builders Victoria retrofit and materials retention and reuse.

The concurrent sessions extend into areas increasingly relevant to offsite and industrialised construction, including Stefan Gerber of Binderholz presenting on an advanced mass timber building system. Other sessions cover net-zero all-electric housing, Passive House, renovation for improved performance and the Woodleigh School Sustainable and Regenerative Futures Studio.

Alviano said practical case studies are an important part of the conference, particularly as builders encounter new materials, prefabricated elements and different approaches to construction.

“We’re starting to see companies use them and builders use them really successfully,” he said, adding that sharing those experiences helps the industry better understand how emerging approaches can translate into practice.

The 2026 MBV Future Builders Conference will be held on Monday 31 August, from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1–5 Spencer Street, Docklands.