Concordia University & National Research Council Canada
Concordia University, together with the National Research Council Canada, is honored to host the 17ᵗʰ International Conference on the Durability of Building Materials and Components (XVII DBMC) in Montreal, Canada, July 20-24, 2026. This prestigious triennial event, first held in Ottawa in 1978, returns to Canada for the first time in nearly 25 years—since the 8ᵗʰ DBMC in Vancouver in 1999. The 2026 conference will spotlight the evolving challenges and opportunities in the field, with a particular focus on the impacts of climate change and emerging construction technologies on the durability and performance of building materials, components, and systems.
Key themes include:
1. Evaluating the Durability of Building Materials and Components
- Mechanisms of failure, failure modes and reliability analysis of construction materials and components
- Building pathology, building physics, moisture performance and hygrothermal simulation
- Performance based Codes and standards focused on durability
- Review of Design Service Life (DSL), Reference Service Life (RSL), Estimated Service Life (ESL), and Service Life Prediction (SLP) of buildings and components
- Role of durability in the building design process
- Case studies pertaining to durability issues and repair techniques—what worked, what did not work, and lessons learned
2. Climate Change and Environmental Resilience
- Adaptation of building design and retrofit to the effects of climate change
- Thermal adaptation – resilient building design and retrofit strategy
- Climate-induced degradation of building performance and deterioration of building components and materials
- Historical monuments conservation in the context of climate change
- Influence of atmospheric pollution on durability and performance
3. Decarbonization, Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Other Environmental Impacts
- Adopting a circular economy for building materials ─ recycle, re-use, and re-purpose
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – impacts of material life-span and durability
- Deep retrofits to decarbonize residential and commercial buildings and implications in respect to their service life
- Durability and performance of innovative, sustainable, low carbon, building materials and components
4. Rapidly Developing Technologies in Construction
- Integration of IoT/BIM in construction as it relates to durability of materials and components
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for durability assessments, predictive maintenance and condition monitoring of structures
- Durability and performance of 3D printed construction materials and components and off-site modular construction
- Impacts of construction automation and robotics on durability
- Optimizing the selection of construction materials in respect to cost, durability, long-term performance, and GHG emissions
- Economics of maintenance and repair to achieve durability and service life of constructed assets
- Integrating affordability and resiliency in buildings
We are eagerly anticipating your contributions and look forward to engaging discussions during the conference, which will take place from July 20-24, 2026, in beautiful Montreal, Canada.
For any questions or further information, please do not hesitate to contact the organizing team at info@dbmc2026.org.
Stay informed about updates and announcements by following our official LinkedIn page or website https://dbmc2026.org/.
We look forward to welcoming you to this exceptional event.
Sincerely,
The Co-Chairs of XVII DBMC 2026
Professor Hua Ge, Dr Marzieh Riahinezhad, Dr Michael Lacasse, Professor Leon Wang
