DESIGN MASTERCLASS 10 SYSTEMS ENGINEERING


HOLISTIC APPROACH


Whole building design that includes structure, materials, façade and internal organisation, can provide a tool for delivering low-carbon performance


MASTERCLASS


Professor Doug King


This month’s article – the last for this current series – looks at the engineering of whole buildings to achieve low carbon performance


T www.cibsejournal.com


his Masterclass series has ranged widely over passive and active environmental design issues, human comfort and even


the philosophy of engineering. This demonstrates the breadth of the profession – encompassing mechanical and electrical systems design, public health engineering, façade engineering, lighting design and, increasingly, building physics and carbon performance. At times it can be diffi cult to coordinate


the efforts of architects, structural engineers and building services engineers to achieve project goals. We must ensure that the industry does not become so fragmented that we cannot act coherently


to achieve the imperative of low carbon performance for buildings. Given the existing disparities in the


construction industry, in order to do anything meaningful in terms of moving to a low carbon society, we need a consistent framework within which we can apply knowledge embodied in a design team. In some parts of the world, building services engineers are referred to as systems engineers. I would say that this is apt, as the principles of systems engineering are inherent in much of what we do as building services engineers. The systems engineering approach


recognises that complex products such as buildings, aircraft or vehicles require


January 2012 CIBSE Journal 47


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