VoiceThought Leadership and Public Voice
Keynotes and presiding addresses, leadership perspectives, commentary and the public record
EngagementAll sections
Professor Ghaffarian’s public voice reaches from the podium of the conferences he founded and chaired to invited keynotes abroad, commentary republished by national media, contributions to public consultation and guest editorials in international journals. Each entry below is evidenced with the programme, recording, publication or record behind it.
Leadership Notes are perspectives first shared on his professional channels, rewritten as short essays. Views are his own and offered in a personal capacity.
In this section6 parts continue below
Keynotes and Presiding Addresses
Keynotes, and the presiding keynote addresses he has delivered as founder, chair or head of the host institution, at conferences in New Zealand and abroad.
Presiding KeynoteNo. 01Industry Takes the Stage11 September 2026GDI 2026 Industry Chapter: Opening and Closing Keynote AddressesAs founding chair of GDI, he opened and closed the 2026 Industry Chapter, a full day that brought more than twenty industry and academic leaders to AUT to set the agenda for practice.Read the full entryPresiding KeynoteNo. 02A School Drawn as a Map3 September 2026Future Environments Research Symposium 2026: Presiding Keynote AddressHis presiding address as Head of School opened the School’s research symposium for AUT Research Week before more than 200 colleagues, students and partners, and closed with the 2026 research awards.Read the full entryPresiding KeynoteNo. 03From Idea to Platform1 to 3 December 2025GDI 2025: Opening Keynote and Closing Presiding AddressHe gave the opening keynote and closing presiding address of the first GDI conference, the international series he founded, with more than 200 papers, Beca as partner and Springer Nature as publisher.Read the full entryOpening KeynoteNo. 04Open Data, Shared GroundNovember 2025FOSS4G 2025 Auckland: Opening KeynoteHe delivered the opening keynote of FOSS4G 2025, the global conference of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation, held for the first time in Auckland with AUT as host venue.Read the full entryKeynoteNo. 05Cities That Breathe13 June 2025Cities as Living, Sensing Bodies: Keynote at DFBI 2025, TU DelftInvited keynote at TU Delft’s Digital Frontiers in Buildings and Infrastructure conference, framing cities as living bodies to be read and cared for, drawn from more than 400 projects over two decades.Read the full entryPresiding KeynoteNo. 06Smart Meets Sustainable7 to 9 November 2024SASBE 2024: Welcome, Opening Keynote and Closing Presiding AddressAs Conference Chair, he welcomed, opened and closed SASBE 2024 in Auckland, with CIB W116, twelve keynotes from seven countries and 165 papers published by Springer Nature under his lead editorship.Read the full entryPresiding KeynoteNo. 07Lean Comes to Aotearoa1 to 6 July 2024IGLC32: Opening Keynote and Closing Presiding AddressAs Conference Co-Chair and head of the host department, he opened and closed the technical conference of IGLC32, the first International Group for Lean Construction conference held in New Zealand.Read the full entryKeynoteNo. 08Cities That Learn27 to 28 May 2024Smart Cities Week Aotearoa 2024: KeynoteA keynote at the Smart Cities Council’s national event on urban innovation and resilience, delivered with Professor Amirhosein Ghaffarianhoseini alongside leaders from Spark, Auckland Council, Beca and WSP.Read the full entryKeynoteNo. 09BIM Without BordersAugust 2022The State of BIM in New Zealand: Keynote for Universidad de La Frontera, ChileInvited keynote for Universidad de La Frontera on the state of Building Information Modelling in New Zealand, delivered to a Chilean audience with simultaneous Spanish translation and an industry perspective from Beca.Read the full entryPresiding KeynoteNo. 10Imaginable Futures26 to 27 November 2020ANZAScA 2020: Opening and Officiating Keynote and Closing AddressAs Conference Chair, he gave the opening and officiating keynote and the closing address of the 54th International Conference of the Architectural Science Association, hosted by AUT and moved online.Read the full entryKeynoteNo. 11Introverted Smart Cities5 November 2019Extroverted Intelligent Technologies Forming Introverted Smart Cities: Keynote, German New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, 2019Keynote with Professor Amirhosein Ghaffarianhoseini at the German New Zealand Chamber of Commerce conference on energy efficient urban infrastructure, arguing that smart cities need cultural change as much as technology.Read the full entryKeynoteNo. 12Prototypes to PerformanceOctober 2018From Intelligent Prototypes to an Energy Efficient Future: Keynote, German New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, 2018Keynote with Professor Amirhosein Ghaffarianhoseini for the German New Zealand Chamber of Commerce on how intelligent buildings, BIM and integrated systems can turn prototypes into energy efficient practice.Read the full entryPresiding ChairNo. 13A Series Comes of Age27 January 2018NZAAR January 2018: Presiding ChairHe presided as Chair over the fourth NZAAR international event in Kuala Lumpur: four conferences, four keynotes and 33 papers, with proceedings indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection.Read the full entryPresiding ChairNo. 14Into the Web of Science15 July 2017NZAAR July 2017: Presiding ChairHe presided as Chair over the third NZAAR international event in Kuala Lumpur, the first in the series whose proceedings were indexed in the Web of Science Conference Proceedings Citation Index.Read the full entryPresiding ChairNo. 15Enter BIM8 December 2016NZAAR December 2016: Presiding ChairHe presided as Chair over the second NZAAR international event in Kuala Lumpur, which added a conference on BIM, digital fabrication and computational design to the series for the first time.Read the full entryPresiding ChairNo. 16Where It Began26 June 2016NZAAR June 2016: Founding Event, Presiding ChairHe presided as Chair over the founding event of the NZAAR series in Putrajaya: five international conferences under one roof, officially opened by the President of the Malaysia Green Building Confederation.Read the full entry
Leadership Notes
Perspectives on cities, buildings, technology and leadership, rewritten from his professional posts as short essays and linked to the research behind them.
Leadership NoteNo. 01One Building, One System29 June 2026Energy, Water and Indoor Quality Are One SystemA building can meet every energy target and still make its occupants unwell. Energy, water and indoor quality must be designed as one coupled system, not managed as three checklists.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 02Business as Usual Costs16 June 2026The Built Environment Will Not Wait for AcademiaPresenting the School’s mid year update to the Faculty, he argued that architecture and engineering can no longer be taught at the pace of the last decade, and set out the School’s response.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 03The Invisible Force30 October 2025Designing With the WindWind is one of the most decisive and least visible forces shaping how we use cities. A study of AUT’s City Campus shows how street geometry makes it hostile, and how design can tame it.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 04Twins That Serve Citizens23 October 2025Digital Twins Should Represent People, Not Only PlacesMost urban digital twins watch infrastructure. A wellbeing oriented framework, aligned with New Zealand’s Living Standards Framework, shows how a twin can measure how people actually live.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 05Comfort Indoors and Out10 October 2025Housing That Works With ClimateThermal comfort, daylight and outdoor microclimate in medium density housing are usually studied apart. A review shows why they must be designed together, from site plan to window.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 06Steeper Than It Looks18 September 2025The Energy Transition Is AcceleratingEnergy transitions look fragmented on the surface, but the underlying trajectory is far steeper. Framing the transition as stalled risks fatalism when the real question is how cities keep pace.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 07Clean Air, Private Lives17 September 2025Indoor Air Quality Without SurveillanceAI can manage indoor air quality without revealing where people are, who they are or what they do. A privacy preserving platform shows how buildings can be smart without becoming surveillance.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 08Comfort Lives in the Brain21 August 2025Comfort Is a Perception, Not a NumberThermal comfort is shaped in the brain as much as by temperature and airflow. A review of neuroscience evidence shows why comfort indices miss what people actually feel.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 09Trust Over Presence11 August 2025Leading Without WallsLeadership is not about prescribing where people work; it is about creating the conditions in which they excel. Flexibility, trusted and well designed, makes the office a place people choose.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 10Design, Not Control9 August 2025The Quiet Architecture of Meaningful LeadershipThe real challenge is not managing change but redesigning how we lead through it: systems that flex without breaking, clarity that builds momentum, and less control for more coordination.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 11Why Campuses Still Matter8 May 2025What a University Building Should Do in an Age of AIAs learning goes hybrid, the physical campus carries a new burden and a new opportunity. AUT’s award winning Tukutuku building shows what a university building should now be for.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 12Fifteen Minute Lives2 May 2025Auckland Needs Fifteen Minute Lives, Not Imported ModelsThe fifteen minute city, as commonly pitched, is built for cities Auckland will never be. Auckland needs a framework for its own form: transit oriented clusters, local economies and layered mobility.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 13Safety as Innovation28 February 2025Making Construction Sites Safer With Smart TechnologyHealth and safety should be treated as a field ripe for digital transformation, not a regulatory checkbox. A systematic review maps how smart technologies are reducing the fatal five risks on site.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 14Growth Before Roads25 October 2024Hibiscus Coast: Growth Is Outpacing InfrastructureA region of more than 100,000 residents north of Auckland is growing faster than the infrastructure that serves it. The remedies are practical, and they cannot wait for growth to slow.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 15A Signal in the Rankings3 May 2024Why Auckland Needs to Become SmarterAuckland’s slide in international smart city and liveability rankings is a signal worth reading carefully. Residents name housing and congestion; data and technology must serve those problems first.Read the full entryLeadership NoteNo. 16Authorship Under Question5 March 2024Academic Publishing in the AI EraScholarly publishing stands at a critical juncture as AI blurs the line between human and machine authorship. The academic community should set the rules for AI in research rather than react to them.Read the full entry
Media and Commentary
Articles he has written for general readers, interviews and media coverage of his work.
CommentaryNo. 01Confidence, Not Cost20 July 2026NZ parties want to make rooftop solar more affordable. We found cost isn’t everythingCommentary in the 2026 election debate on rooftop solar: households make investment decisions, not technology decisions, and finance alone will not unlock uptake without design and policy certainty.Read the full entryInterviewNo. 02Mobility and MicroclimateAugust 2024Smart Mobility as a Sustainability EnablerInterviewed on two School projects on New Zealand’s urban future: smart mobility as a sustainability enabler, and Kaitiakitanga 1.0, a digital twin of Auckland’s urban microclimate.Read the full entryCommentaryNo. 03From Static to Dynamic12 November 2021Re-imagining the concepts of ‘co-living’ and ‘co-working’In ArchitectureNow, he argued that co-living and co-working belong in the planning of future cities: smarter living needs dynamic, flexible space, designed with care for productivity and wellbeing.Read the full entryMediaNo. 04Reading the Brain in BuildingsOctober 2019How do buildings affect mental health?Featured as co-director of AUT’s Architectural Engineering Lab on research using EEG and fMRI to read how buildings, walkways and outdoor spaces affect stress, focus and wellbeing.Read the full entryMediaNo. 05A Lab for Future CitiesJuly and October 2019New lab focuses on future environmentsAUT News coverage of the launch of the Architectural Engineering Lab he co-founded, and of its Built Futures showcase for World Green Building Week with the New Zealand Green Building Council.Read the full entry
Policy Contributions
Contributions to public consultation, national advisory work and policy commentary.
Policy CommentaryNo. 01Accountability by DesignSeptember 2025Building consent reform: How digital technology can make new liability rules watertightNew Zealand’s move to proportionate liability in building consents can only work if digital accountability is built in from the start: a golden thread of records, one national portal, BIM and remote inspection.Read the full entryConsultationNo. 02Skills for What Comes NextDecember 2024Construction workforce of the futureConsulted by Height for ConCOVE Tūhura on the future construction workforce, with a focus on Māori leadership, Pasifika empowerment, AI and automation, and aligning education with industry demand.Read the full entryPolicy CommentaryNo. 03Fairer Research FundingJune 2024Strengthening research funding assessment in New ZealandSeven recommendations to New Zealand’s research funders on how applications are assessed and funding allocated, drawn from his experience as an MBIE Evaluator and Royal Society Te Apārangi Assessor.Read the full entryConsultationNo. 04A Plan for Moving AucklandMay 2024Auckland’s draft Regional Land Transport PlanExpert commentary for the public consultation on Auckland’s draft Regional Land Transport Plan: integrated public transport, active travel, electrification, data driven traffic management and urban integration.Read the full entryGovernment AdvisoryNo. 05AI for Public GoodDecember 2023Capturing the benefits of AI in healthcare for Aotearoa New ZealandHe served on the reference group for the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor’s report on capturing the benefits of artificial intelligence in healthcare for Aotearoa New Zealand.Read the full entry
Editorials and Forewords
Guest editorials, proceedings and editorial leadership of research publications.
Guest EditorialNo. 01Efficiency Meets Resilience2026Guest editorial: Energy efficiency, risk, and resilience in the built environmentGuest editorial introducing the special issue of Smart and Sustainable Built Environment that brings research from SASBE 2024 in Auckland to publication, on energy efficiency, risk and resilience.Read the full entryEditorialNo. 02Closing the Loop2026Editorial: Circular economy and sustainable practices in the built environmentEditorial for the special issue of Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management on circular economy and sustainable practices in the built environment, with international co-editors.Read the full entryProceedings EditorNo. 03165 Papers, One Record2025Proceedings of SASBE 2024Lead editor of the 165 paper proceedings of SASBE 2024, published by Springer Nature as volume 591 of Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, recording the conference he chaired in Auckland.Read the full entryGuest EditorNo. 04Digital Construction, Fifteen Ways2025Special issue: Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024)Guest editor of the fifteen paper ITcon special issue drawn from SASBE 2024, spanning virtual reality, wearable robotics, digital twins, BIM, IoT and blockchain in construction.Read the full entryEditor-in-ChiefNo. 05The School’s Own RecordOngoingBook of Future Environments ResearchEditor-in-Chief of the Book of Future Environments Research, the School’s open access publication of research across architecture and built environment engineering, published on AUT’s Tuwhera platform.Read the full entryGuest EditorialNo. 06Designing Future Construction2022Guest editorial: Future construction: design solutions and approachesLead author of the guest editorial for the Smart and Sustainable Built Environment special issue on future construction: design solutions and approaches, with international co-editors.Read the full entryGuest EditorialNo. 07Enabling Digital TwinsJune 2022Guest editorial: Enabling the development and implementation of digital twinsCo-author of the guest editorial for the Construction Innovation special issue on enabling the development and implementation of digital twins, a theme that became central to his work.Read the full entry
The Record
A dated record of institutional milestones under his leadership.
The RecordNo. 01Students Join the Network8 July 2026AUT CIB Student Chapter launchedOfficial launch of the AUT Student Chapter of CIB, the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction, whose formation he led and supported.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 02The Future of Home18 June 2026Signature Homes partnership: The Future of HomeHe launched the School’s partnership with Signature Homes, asking students to reimagine the New Zealand home, with two Master of Architecture students supported through the Future of Home challenge.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 03Where Growth Begins14 May 2026Beca Business Roundtable: Opportunity Driven GrowthInvited by Beca to its business roundtable on opportunity driven growth, alongside senior leaders from national infrastructure, transport, primary industry, venture and research organisations.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 04On the World MapMarch 2026First QS subject ranking for Architecture and Built EnvironmentArchitecture and Built Environment at AUT entered the QS World University Rankings by Subject for the first time in 2026, in the 201 to 260 band, early in his tenure as Head of School.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 05Timber, Seismic, Shared23 March 2026Viet Nam Ministry of Construction Delegation at AUTHe received a delegation from Viet Nam’s Ministry of Construction and Institute for Building Materials, on a government study tour of timber construction, for School research presentations at AUT.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 06Head of SchoolJanuary 2026Appointed Head of School, School of Future EnvironmentsAppointed Head of the School of Future Environments, Huri te Ao, at AUT, leading more than 100 academic and professional staff across architecture and built environment engineering.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 07Five Volumes, Fifty CountriesDecember 2025GDI 2025 proceedings with Springer NatureHe secured a five volume, Scopus indexed proceedings series with Springer Nature for GDI 2025, giving the first edition of the conference a scholarly record from more than 50 countries.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 08Partnership, Not SponsorshipSeptember 2025Beca joins GDI 2025 as primary partnerHe brought Beca in as key partner and co-host of GDI 2025, with the first conference day held at its 6 Green Star Wynyard Quarter precinct, uniting academia and industry.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 09A Young University, BoldlyJune 2025Visit to the Singapore University of Technology and DesignA visit to the Singapore University of Technology and Design to explore collaboration with a young university built around design led, interdisciplinary learning and sustainability.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 10Accredited to Global StandardNovember 2024RICS accreditation visitHe welcomed the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors accreditation panel to review AUT’s Bachelor of Construction majors in Construction Management and Quantity Surveying, with students and employers.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 11Region 9 for AustralasiaAugust 2024School joins the Associated Schools of ConstructionThe School of Future Environments joined the Associated Schools of Construction in its new Region 9 for Australasia, alongside the University of Auckland and the University of Melbourne.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 12An Editor for Urban FuturesOctober 2023Associate Editor, Urbanization, Sustainability and SocietyHe joined the editorial board of Urbanization, Sustainability and Society, a new open access journal from Emerald on urban resilience, as Associate Editor among internationally recognised editors.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 13Full ProfessorNovember 2022Appointed Professor of Architecture and Built Environment EngineeringPromoted to full Professor of Architecture and Built Environment Engineering at AUT in November 2022, a year after his promotion to Associate Professor, recognising research, teaching and leadership.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 14Hosting the Next Generation13 April 2021NZGBC Future Thinker of the Year 2021 AwardsAUT hosted the New Zealand Green Building Council’s Future Thinker of the Year 2021 awards evening at the City Campus, strengthening the School’s ties with the green building sector.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 15Six Doctorates and CountingNovember 2020Sixth doctoral completionDr Marcela Brauner passed her PhD examination with minor amendments, his sixth doctoral completion as supervisor, on integrating hygrothermal modelling into BIM sustainability assessment.Read the full entryThe RecordNo. 16A Team RecognisedOctober 2019DCT Dean’s Research Team AwardThe Future Built Environment Research Team, with Amirhosein Ghaffarianhoseini and Nicola Naismith, received the Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies Dean’s Research Team Award 2019.Read the full entry