In this episode of the Decarbonising the Building Industry Podcast, host Fanni Melles, PhD, speaks with Nghia Tran, DBI Visiting Fellow and business student at the University of Melbourne.
Nghia shares his work on low-carbon materials with a focus on innovative concrete that serves as a thermal battery for high-temperature energy storage in concentrated solar power systems. He also discusses the use of recycled and waste-based materials to reduce embodied carbon in construction — especially relevant for rapidly developing countries like Vietnam. Nghia highlights the importance of addressing embodied carbon early in the design phase and shares insights from establishing DBI-T in Vietnam and organising a workshop on green building materials.
Nghia Tran is a researcher and business student at the University of Melbourne, specialising in low-carbon construction materials and thermal energy storage. As a DBI Visiting Fellow, he is actively bridging research and industry between Australia and Vietnam, with a strong focus on practical, scalable solutions using local waste materials.
Key Discussion Points:
- [00:00:50] Introduction and Nghia’s research focus
- [00:01:00] Low-carbon materials for thermal energy storage in concentrated solar power
- [00:02:30] Embodied vs operational carbon — why early material choices matter
- [00:03:00] Developing concrete as a high-temperature thermal battery
- [00:04:30] Differences between structural concrete and thermal storage concrete
- [00:05:50] Biggest challenges: embodied carbon reduction and technology adoption in fast-growing economies like Vietnam
- [00:06:50] Biggest opportunities: using local waste materials and building sustainably from the ground up
- [00:07:30] DBI Visiting Fellowship, establishing DBI-T Vietnam, and the green materials workshop
Find out more about Nghia Tran and the DBI network through these links:
- Nghia Tran on LinkedIn
- DBI website
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