ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 11

FORWARDS
Masa Noguchi

Housing is a system of energy and environment, yet it fundamentally needs to be designed to
accommodate the user needs and demands. They are dynamic having been changed in the
course of time. In response to market needs and demands for social, economic and environmental
sustainability of housing in developed and developing countries, the zero energy mass custom
home (ZEMCH) integrated lean design and construction concept was envisaged and discussed
globally. Towards the ZEMCH delivery, an emerging notion of mass customisation was scrutinised
initially. It emerged in the same year as the general concept of sustainable development was
widespread in 1987. The oxymoron was recognised eventually as a means to lessen housing
design and construction costs, whilst achieving the customisability through economies of scope
rather than economies of scale.
In order to crystallise a wide spectrum of hopes and fears around the design, production
and marketing approaches to the ZEMCH delivery in global contexts, ZEMCH Network was
established in 2010. Today, the R&D collaboration network consists of over 550 partners from
nearly 40 countries and the enrolment is constantly on the rise. Originally, the ZEMCH Network
was formed by a group of academics, who participated in the 2010 industry-academia knowledge
transfer technical visits to production and sales facilities of low to zero energy mass customised
housing manufacturers in Japan. The technical tour, later called ZEMCH Mission to Japan, dates
back to the 2006 operation and it celebrated the 10th anniversary in 2016.
The ZEMCH International Conference was initiated in 2012 and this year, the 4th operation was
celebrated in Lecce, Italy. The ZEMCH 2015 International Conference encompassed the collective
knowledge gained through global ZEMCH R&D activities. Firstly, I’d like to express my sincere
gratitude to the ZEMCH 2015 Organising Committee Chair, Prof. Alberto La Tegola, for his
leadership on the successful organisation and operation. Secondly, I am thankful to the Scientific
Committee Chair, Prof. Dr. Haşim Altan, for his rigorous peer-review process lead. At last, I’d also
like to thank all the conference committee members, and ZEMCH Network’s global partners and
regional experts centre directors for their generous, constructive support and cooperation. So
far, ZEMCH Network established 4 regional centres in Brazil, Italy, UAE, and UK, being responsible
for the organisation and operation of annual industry-academia knowledge transfer events – i.e.
ZEMCH Mission to Japan, ZEMCH International Conference, and ZEMCH Design Workshop. The
success is rooted in the network partners’ individual efforts and collaborative actions. ZEMCH R&D
activities have been thriven for continuous improvement of the built environments in developed
and developing countries, budding out the global movement for people and society.

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