Buildings & Facilities Theatre
Fostering Collaboration in the Construction Material Supply Chain
11 Sep (Thur) Day 1 : 17:00 – 17:50
The construction industry has relied on traditional materials and processes for decades, but the urgent need for decarbonization demands a complete rethinking of how we build. While developing low-carbon alternatives for steel and concrete is crucial, true transformation requires collaboration across the entire construction value chain. This panel brings cross-sector experts together to explore how their roles and relationships must evolve. From early-stage design decisions to procurement strategies and on-site construction methods, panelists will discuss how they adapt their business models and processes to enable low-carbon construction. The discussion will highlight practical challenges, successful collaborations, and necessary systemic changes to accelerate the industry’s transition.
Learnings
- How can cross-sector collaboration break down silos to drive low-carbon innovation across the construction value chain?
- What systemic barriers hinder the adoption of new materials and processes, and how can they be overcome?
- Why must decarbonisation start at the design phase to unlock scalable, sustainable outcomes?
Speakers
Moderator
Jenny Zhang
Director of Sustainability
Urban Land Institute
Jenny Zhang
Urban Land Institute
Director of Sustainability
Jenny is the Director of Sustainability for Urban Land Institute APAC. She is the regional lead for ULI’s Greenprint community, a global alliance of leading property developers and investors striving to achieve net zero. Her previous experience includes climate-tech entrepreneur building carbon management software, and financial advisory on cross-border M&A transactions. Jenny graduated from UC Berkeley, is a licensed CPA, and a trainer in social impact assessment and design thinking.
My Sustainability Goals for 2025:
1) Connect the property development value chain (from building material all the way to tenants) to collaborate on accelerating the sector’s decarbonizing process.
2) Connect property investment value chain (from LPs, benchmark/standards, to asset managers) to price-in climate resilience as core value protection metric.
John Haffner
Deputy Director — Sustainability
Hang Lung Properties Limited
John Haffner
Hang Lung Properties Limited
Deputy Director — Sustainability
John Haffner is Deputy Director – Sustainability, Hang Lung Properties, where he is responsible for formulating the Group-wide sustainability strategy and driving its execution. John is also Co-Chair of the ULI Asia-Pacific Net Zero Council. He has more than two decades of experience in cleantech, infrastructure and sustainability in Asia and North America, and is proficient in Mandarin. John was a World Fellow at Yale University, and has more than 20 publications on various topics including the environment, energy and international affairs.
My Sustainability Goal for 2025
I hope Hong Kong will take initial steps towards developing and publishing a deep decarbonization model that would allow all stakeholders to compare transparently the abatement potential of various carbon reduction measures (including the technical feasibility and expected costs of such measures).
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