Construction project management (PM) company HanmiGlobal announced on the 1st that it will hold the 'HG Tech Forum' on the 10th under the theme 'The era of apartment construction and transition: Current status and outlook of alternative construction methods.'
The forum will take place at 1 p.m. on the day in Conference Room 402 at COEX in Gangnam, Seoul.
The HG Tech Forum is a construction industry technology forum that HanmiGlobal has been holding regularly since 2023. It is a venue to share the latest information on key issues and trends in the construction industry, as well as the company's technological capabilities with industry stakeholders, and to explore new business opportunities with participating companies. It has addressed the latest trends highly regarded in the construction and real estate markets, such as data centers, smart buildings, senior housing, and value-added remodeling.
This forum will focus on alternative construction methods for apartment and multi-family housing. Currently, most construction methods for apartments in Korea use the insitu placed method with reinforced concrete (RC) structures, which is cost-effective. However, it is vulnerable to inter-floor noise and shows uneven quality of work depending on the weather and labor at the site.
In addition, the existing method is also vulnerable to delays in construction timelines, deterioration in construction quality, and the risk of serious accidents. Recently, the domestic multi-family housing construction market has seen a decline in the economic feasibility of the insitu placed method due to soaring raw material prices and rising labor costs from a shortage of skilled workers, leading to increased interest in innovative alternative construction methods.
The first agenda of the forum will feature a keynote speech by Oh Joo-hun, head of the Public Housing Division at the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), under the theme 'Crisis and opportunities in multi-family housing construction: Why the off-site construction (OSC) method?' He will present on the current crisis in the multi-family housing sector, the necessity of alternative construction methods, and future development directions.
Following this, a variety of technical characteristics and actual application cases of different alternative construction methods, including OSC-based modular methods, precast concrete (PC) methods, steel frame dry construction methods, and environmentally friendly timber methods, will be presented.
The first topic will be presented by Seo Chang-woo, vice president of the representative domestic modular construction company Yuchang E&C, who will introduce the development of modular houses in residential facilities and the plans for expansion of modular applications in the future.
Following that, Professor Ahn Yong-han from Hanyang University's Department of Architecture will present on 'High-rise multi-family housing applying modular PC.' Thirdly, Park Seo-jin, executive director of HanmiGlobal's Engineering Department, will present on 'Possibilities and technical challenges of applying steel frame construction methods in multi-family housing,' discussing ways to revitalize the steel frame apartment method, which has many advantages, including inter-floor noise prevention, seismic design, and durability. Finally, Lee Won-hyung, head of the Gaewonsan Village horizontal housing maintenance project association in Jongam-dong, will present on 'Carbon-neutral multi-family apartments built from wood,' along with actual case studies.
HanmiGlobal's Chief Technology Officer Lee Guk-heon, who hosted the forum, noted, 'We aim to foster consensus on the need to introduce new construction methods that surpass the limitations of existing RC (reinforced concrete structure) methods and to seek practical solutions for improving productivity, shortening construction times, securing quality, and enhancing safety in the construction industry.' He added, 'We hope this will serve as an opportunity to establish an innovative turning point in multi-family housing construction by discussing the technical challenges and solutions of various alternative construction methods.'
This forum is free for construction industry professionals including representatives from construction-related public institutions, construction companies, implementation companies, maintenance project associations, and academic experts. Those wishing to attend must register online in advance through the HanmiGlobal website. However, seating is limited and will be closed on a first-come, first-served basis.