2026 RBDCC: 2026 Residential Building Design & Construction Conference The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel State College, PA, United States, March 18-19, 2026 |
| Conference website | https://www.phrc.psu.edu/Conferences/Residential-Building-Design-and-Construction-Conference/index.aspx |
| Submission link | https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=2026rbdcc |
| Abstract registration deadline | March 24, 2025 |
| Submission deadline | October 10, 2025 |
Submission Guidelines
The Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC), housed in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University, is pleased to announce the 8th biennial 2026 Residential Building Design & Construction Conference (RBDCC). This conference series provides a forum for researchers, design professionals, product manufacturers, builders, developers, and other stakeholders to discuss opportunities and challenges to advance the quality of residential buildings by sharing new developments and innovations in the field. The event focuses on discussions related to recent research and innovative developments in the area of home building, with emphasis on state-of-the-art technologies, materials, methods, code developments, emerging materials, components, systems for residential construction, and new approaches in the field. This technical conference will encompass various types of residential buildings, such as single-family dwellings, multi-family buildings, mid-rise and high-rise residential building towers, factory-built and modular housing, dormitories, and hotels/motels. Furthermore, the conference has a special interest in high performance homes, different methods of construction, use of new and emerging materials and systems, sustainability, building science, and healthy homes.
All papers must be original and not simultaneously submitted to another journal or conference. Experts from academia, architectural and engineering design firms, builders, developers, manufacturers, and government and code officials are cordially invited to submit abstracts by March 24, 2025 on all aspects of residential buildings, including the following topics:
List of Topics
- Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing of Homes
- Aging-in-Place and Senior Living Housing
- Alternative Renewable Energy Generating Systems
- Bio-based Materials for Residential Construction
- Building Integrated Photovoltaic and Various Applications of PV Systems for Homes
- Building Performance Assessment, Verification Methods, and Occupant Behavior
- Building Science and Building Enclosures
- Energy Efficient Building Components
- Fire Damage and Protection
- High Performance Residential Buildings
- Indoor Air Quality
- Innovations in Green Roofs and Façade Systems
- Innovations in Residential Architecture
- Innovations in Panelized, Modular and Manufactured Housing
- Innovative and Emerging Housing Construction Methods and Systems
- Learning from the Performance of Residential Buildings under Natural Disasters
- Low-Income and Affordable Housing
- Mechanical Electrical & Plumbing (MEP) Systems
- Passive House Design Approach
- Resilient New Design and Retrofit of Existing Buildings
- Smart Home Technologies and Home Electrification
- Sustainable Housing Construction Materials and Methods
- Temporary Housing for Disaster Situations
Committees
Conference Organization
CONFERENCE ORGANIZER
Pennsylvania Housing Research Center
Lidia Manson Building, 116
3127 Research Dr,
State College, PA 16801
T: 814-865-2341
phrc@psu.edu
CONFERENCE CHAIR
Dr. Ali Memari
Bernard and Henrietta Hankin Chair in Residential Building Construction
Department of Architectural Engineering, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, PHRC, Penn State University
CONFERENCE SECRETARIAT
Mindy Boffemmyer
Financial & Communications Coordinator, PHRC
E-mail: mub21@psu.edu
Scientific Committee
Clinton Aigbavboa, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Ben Bigelow, University of Oklahoma, USA
Melissa Bilec, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Sarah Billington, Stanford University, USA
Ryan Bradley, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Silvia Brunoro, University of Ferrara, Italy
Carlo Carbone, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
Kristen Cetin, Michigan State University, USA
Andre Desjarlais, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA
José Pinto Duarte, Penn State University, USA
Amal Elawady, Florida International University, USA
Alessandro Gaiani, University of Ferrara, Italy
Antonio García-Martínez, University of Seville, Spain
Corey Gracie-Griffin, Penn State University, USA
Walter Grondzik, Ball State University, USA
Karim Hadjri, University of Sheffield, UK
Dan Hindman, Virginia Tech, USA
Eric Holt, University of Denver, USA
Lisa Iulo, Penn State University, USA
Bohumil Kasal, Fraunhofer Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institute WKI, Germany
Mei Yung Leung, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Andrew McCoy, Virginia Tech, USA
Mahua Mukherjee, IIT Rourkee, India
Isabelina Nahmens, Louisiana State University, USA
Cilísia Duarte Ornelas, University of Porto, Portugal
Osman Ozbulut, University of Virginia, USA
Freddy Paige, Virginia Tech, USA
Shiling Pei, Colorado School of Mines, USA
David O. Prevatt, University of Florida, USA
Georg Reichard, Virginia Tech, USA
Rusty Smith, Auburn University, USA
Matt Syal, Michigan State University, USA
Fitsum Tariku, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Canada
Ioannis Zisis, Florida International University, USA
Keynote Speakers
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Sarah Billington
UPS Foundation Professor
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Stanford University
“From Concept to Community: Design Strategies for Sustainable Affordable Housing”
-
Goerg Reichard
Professor and Head, Department of Building Construction
Associate Director of Operations, Myers-Lawson School of Construction
Preston & Catharine White Fellow
The Myers-Lawson School of Construction
College of Engineering, Virginia Tech University
“The 7 Habits of Successful Builders of High-Performance Homes”
Publication
After acceptable revisions, the papers will be included in the 2026 RBDCC Conference Proceedings. The Conference Proceedings will be an edited document and will require the authors of the papers to transfer copyright to PHRC for its publication with an ISBN number.
Venue
The conference will be held at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, State College, Pennsylvania, USA
Contact
All questions about submissions should be emailed to Mindy Boffemmyer (mub21@psu.edu).