Press Release

6th World Construction Symposium

The World Construction Symposium 2017 was held on June 30th & July 1st 2017 at Hotel Galadari. The World Construction Symposium is an annual international industry event taking place in Sri Lanka focusing on sustainable construction. The symposium provides a special forum for researchers and practitioners in the area of sustainable construction worldwide to share their knowledge, experience and research findings. The symposium was jointly organized by the Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB) and Building Economics Management and Research Unit (BEMRU) of the Department of Building Economics, University of Moratuwa.

The extensive technical programme at the Symposium included over fifty research papers being presented by academics and industry professionals from countries such as Sri Lanka, Turkey, Oman, India, Australia, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The papers presented were based on 26 sub themes. Over 100 foreign delegates and over 200 local delegates attended the symposium. The Symposium concluded with a Panel discussion on Public Private Partnerships where representatives from private sector, Govt. officers and officers from donor agencies took part and aired their views.

Hon. Chandima Weerakody, Minister of Skill Development and Vocational Training graced the inaugural session of the symposium as the Chief Guest. Professor Akintola Akintoye, a distinguished academic from the University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom and Professor Srinath Perera, an eminent academic from the Western Sydney University, Australia delivered the key note addresses at the inaugural session of the Symposium. The theme of the Symposium was “is “What’s New and What’s Next in the Built- Environment Sustainability Agenda?”

Other notable participants of the symposium were Prof. Ananda Jayawardena, Vice Chancellor of University of Moratuwa, Prof. Lalith De Silva, Dean, Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Professor Mohan Kumaraswamy, Honorary Professor of the University of Hong Kong and Editor in Chief of Built Environment Project and Asset Management Journal, Academics & Research Scholars from Liverpool John Moores University, University of Hong Kong, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Northumbria University, Robert Gordon University and Western Sydney University.

In his address at the inaugural session, the Chief Guest emphasized the problem faced by the Construction industry due to lack of man power and pledged his ministry’s support to initiate training programmes to train unemployed youth on vocational skills related to construction industry and upgrade the skills of the workforce already employed in the construction industry.

Expressing their views on the concluded 6th World Construction Symposium, the President of Ceylon Institute of Builders, Dr. Rohan Karunaratne and the Vice President Mr. Ruwan De Silva said:

“We are extremely pleased to have hosted the World Construction symposium for the sixth consecutive year in Sri Lanka. Today this symposium has become a looked forward to event among the academics and researches in the construction industry in Sri Lanka. CIOB’s goal is to make Sri Lanka, one of the first countries to adopt Green building methodologies as an integral part of their development activities. In this regard the symposium will serve to introduce new thinking in the construction industry.

They further said that they are thankful to the Conference Chair Person Prof. Chitra Weddikkara, Symposium Organising Co-Chairs Mr. Sagara Gunawardena & Mr. Kalana Alwis, Scientific Committee Co-Chairs, lectures and students of the Department of Building Economics of the University of Moratuwa and staff of CIOB for their untiring effort in making this important international symposium a grant success.”

Dr. Yasangika Sandanayake, Head of Department of Building Economics, Moratuwa University has the following to say; “We are happy to be associated with a prestigious event such as the World Construction Symposium 2017, as the joint organizer. The World Construction Symposium has gone a long way in addressing the pressing issues the industry faces with regard to Sustainable construction. We were hugely impressed by the diversity and high standard of submissions we received for this year’s conference. We are all grateful for the contributions of our keynote speakers, workshop facilitators, session chairs, and all our oral and poster presenters.”

Coinciding with the World Construction Symposium, CIOB Green Mark Building Awards 2017 was held on the evening of 1st July 2017, at the Ramada Hotel, Colombo.  Awards and certifications were awarded to organizations, products & buildings that have achieved CIOB Green Mark Certification after a rigorous evaluation process and professionals who have successfully completed the CIOB Advanced certificate course for Green Managers. Hon. Susil Premajayantha, Minister of Science, Technology and Research was the Chief Guest at the event. In his remarks the Minister mentioned that there is a need to promote Research & development in the construction industry in Sri Lanka and there is greater requirement for both the industry and the academic to work together. He congratulated both the Ceylon Institute of Builders and the University of Moratuwa for joining together to host the World Construction Symposium. He further went on to state that his ministry will give its fullest support to both the institutions to undertake research especially in implementing sustainable construction methods in Sri Lanka.

About the Organizers:

The Ceylon Institute of Builders is the premier professional body of building and construction professionals in Sri Lanka. Its membership is comprised of Architects, Engineers and allied building professionals. CIOB is affiliated to the Chartered Institute of Builders of UK and the Council of Research and Innovation in Building and Construction in the Netherlands and has partnerships with Construction Federation of India (CFI) and Building & Construction Authority of Singapore. In addition to disseminating modern building practices among builders and promoting competencies for the builders to reach professional standards, the institution plays a key role in providing feed back to the Government on their policies affecting the industry.
In order to promote sustainable construction in Sri Lanka, CIOB introduced the Green Building certification scheme for the first time in Sri Lanka in 2014. This certification evaluates & rates buildings, building services, building products and equipment for their environmental impact & performance. The CIOB Green Building Certification (CGBC) is awarded to following categories:
  • Constructed Buildings (New & Existing)
  • Building Products and Materials
  • Green Building Professionals Accreditation
  • Green Builders (Contractors) Certification
In addition, CIOB conducts training courses and workshops to equip the construction community with knowledge related to emerging concepts in Construction industry such as Green buildings and Lean Construction Management.
Department of Building Economics and Research of the University of Moratuwa aims to produce graduates who are capable of managing resources in the industry with perception; the ability to innovate; the ability to respond to new and unfamiliar situations with a creative use of knowledge and skills; and the ability to take advantage of new opportunities.
The Department was founded in 1983 and currently the pioneer Sri Lankan institute to offer undergraduate degree programmes in Quantity Surveying and Facilities Management. The Department is unique in nature as it is the only department which offers degree programmes in Quantity Surveying and Facilities Management fields in the whole national University system in Sri Lanka.