Recognition

GDI Awards

Recognising leadership, innovation and transformative contributions across sustainability, digital excellence and intelligent futures.

Domains

What the Judging Panel Looks For

Sustainability and Climate Adaptation

Green innovation, climate resilience, urban ecology, ecological responsibility

See the 2025 Recipients

Digital Transformation

BIM leadership, digital twin implementation, AI integration, automation, smart data solutions

See the 2025 Recipients

Intelligent Futures

Infrastructure intelligence, future-ready strategies, human-centric innovation, mobility solutions

See the 2025 Recipients

What Recipients Receive

Certificate and digital accreditation
Presentation at an international ceremony
Profiles across GDI’s academic and industry networks
Waived registration for the next GDI edition (Awards Terms, clause 4)

How to Apply

Open to individuals, teams, institutions, companies and public bodies registered for the edition
One application per participant or team, in English
200-word public overview and 500-word structured description
Supporting material combined in one PDF

GDI 2025

Recipients of the First GDI Awards

Presented on 3 December 2025 in Auckland. Full citations, with links to the papers in the programme, are on the GDI 2025 Awards page.

Full Citations

Award	Recipients	Paper or project
Best Paper Award (Academic)	Aaliya Azeem & Albert Thomas	Assessing the Carbon Footprint of Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) Façades: A Lifecycle Approach for NZEBs
Best Paper Award (Academic)	Kanchuka Thilakshana Withanage, Stephen Kajewski & Melissa Teo	Integrated Governance Model for Smart City PPPs; A Conceptual Framework
Best Paper Award (Academic)	Levin Daniel JV & Terry-Ann Berry	Establishing Material Recovery Potential and Embodied Carbon Savings in Residential Deconstruction: A Case Study from Auckland, New Zealand
Best Paper Award (Industry)	Glenn Jowett (Beca Ltd), Adam Donaldson (Neuflow Projects) & Parvati Patel (Hamilton City Council)	Waiora WTP Digital Asset Handover
Best Presenter Award (Academic)	Herath Mudiyanselage Samadhi Nayanathara Samarasekara	Validating a Whole Life Costing Framework for Residential Buildings in New Zealand: A Stakeholder-Based Evaluation
Digital Transformation Award	Janet Molyneux (Wellington City Council), Jonathan Navarette (McConnell Dowell), Lasse Damhus (HEB) & David Ellis (Beca Ltd)	The Wellington Sludge Minimisation Facility: Digital Transformation in Action
Intelligent Futures Award	Sergio Trejo Rodriguez & Farzad Pour Rahimian	Not stated on certificate
Intelligent Futures Award	Omar Owais, Mani Poshdar, Kamal Jaafar & Saad Sarhan	Not stated on certificate
Sustainability & Climate Adaptation Award	Priscila Besen, Ann Morrison, Stacy Vallis, Paola Boarin, Magdalena Jensen, Andrew Burgess, Amanda Yates, Mohsen Mohammadzadeh, Antonio Lara-Hernandez, Imelda Piri, Zahra Jalali, Francisco Carbajal, Kyle Paala, James Pearson & Aline Besentt	Not stated on certificate
Sustainability & Climate Adaptation Award	Vali Shishebori, Nima Izadyar, Elmira Jamei, Keivan Bamdad & Mahsan Sadeghi	Not stated on certificate
Impact & Leadership Award	Farzam Farzadi (Beca)	Not stated on certificate
Impact & Leadership Award	Mahesh Babu Purushothaman	Not stated on certificate
Organizing Award	Sameer Srinivas, Deependra Pourel, Zaw Zaw Tun Kyaw, Zin May Aung and team	Not stated on certificate

Record

Awards by Edition

Edition	Status	Announced
GDI 2025	Awarded	Gala dinner, 3 December 2025. 13 recipients
GDI 2026	Applications closed	December 2026
GDI 2027	Call to be announced	October 2027

Participation means acceptance. No signature is required.

Submitting any contribution to GDI or DigiBUILT, including GDI 2025, or registering for, attending, presenting at or otherwise taking part in any GDI-related event, means you have read and accepted the Terms and Conditions of Participation and the policies they incorporate. See clause 2.