CONFERENCE ECOBUILD
client” to be involved – that is, a “client” who is fully integrated into the team.
‘But so much procurement is about the lowest possible price,’ said Martin Burton, former president of contractors’ body the HVCA (now renamed the B&ES). ‘However, BIM [building information modelling] does allow us to deliver an integrated process. Our challenge is to make sure that BIM works in getting design and contracting teams together at an early stage.’
Burton added: ‘One of the biggest challenges is to bring the two different worlds of large companies and SMEs
‘Knowledge sharing and breaking down barriers between institutions are key [to our success]’
[small and medium enterprises] together through professional institutions – and we need the government to buy into this.’
‘I was at the beginning of the UK Green Building Council – this showed it was possible for competitors to come together and agree solutions to real problems,’ said Ford. ‘We could look at that taskforce model more, for the whole industry.’ Now we have the ‘green construction board’ Asked by the audience who the institutions could offer as a single leadership voice, Shingler
said he felt that an architect would be well placed for this role ‘because we have training in leadership’. Ford responded: ‘I don’t mind if it’s an architect, or any experienced individual, so long as they consult first and genuinely can and will speak for all in language all can understand.’ He pointed out that Paul Morrell, the government’s Chief Construction Adviser, was interested in the idea of a new Existing Buildings Hub to mirror the work of the Zero Carbon Hub, which has been involved in developing policy on low carbon new homes. Dunford added: ‘We need to work together to come
with such a new hub’. Ford agreed, adding: ‘It has to be set up in the right way’.
Summing up his view of the discussion, Ford concluded: ‘Clearly, knowledge sharing and breaking down barriers between institutions are key. An Existing Buildings Hub could provide a group of people whom we trust to speak for us all and potentially give us a credible trusted focus . We should also not be focusing on zero carbon – The DEC [Display Energy Certificate] defines what we are about.’
CIBSE/IET debate: Loss of old skills, lack of new skills
The loss of ‘old’ skills as experienced workers retire, and a shortage of ‘new’ skills as young people turn their backs on the industry, are creating a serious long-term legacy for the building engineering sector.
Senior industry figures told a debate hosted by CIBSE and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), that the length and depth of the recession was creating a legacy of skills shortage that would have far-reaching effects. ‘Young people are finding it hard to get into the industry because of lack of opportunity,’ said Mike McNally, client development director at recruitment firm Hays. ‘Since 2008 we have seen an increase in candidate numbers of 37%, but a fall in vacancies of 46%. This means the sector is not picking up the new skills it needs to deal with the challenges of a changing market.’ At the other end of the career ladder, experienced engineers are deciding to retire because they don’t think their pensions will increase in value if they stay and the tough trading conditions are driving them away.
Left to right: Paul Morrell, Andy Ford, BBC broadcaster Sarah Montague (panel chair), and Noel Morrin Industry still lacks leadership, insists Morrell
The construction industry still lacks leadership and a ‘route map’ for implementing the green agenda, the government’s Chief Construction Adviser told the conference.
Paul Morrell said that what was needed above all was a plan. ‘But there really isn’t one for getting from the high-level Climate Change Act – and this massive promise that we’ve made that we’ll take 80% of our emissions out by 2050 – and everything that’s going to happen if that’s going to have to happen.’
He added: ‘It’s very hard to find collective leadership in the industry for this agenda.
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We need to stand up and say, we’re not going to wait for the government; we are going to do this thing.’
CIBSE president Andy Ford said he’d spent 25 years trying to make buildings low carbon and ‘didn’t expect to be getting into an institution’.
He said: ‘I spent a lot of time thinking about how to get rid of the need for heating and cooling building services from buildings. The knowledge for doing this lies with the engineers – and they need to get this across via knowledge sharing [with other professions], hence the need for institutional collaboration.’
Ford added: ‘Professionals also need to know how to work together within a design team. The client also needs to be there – and to listen and stick to the green ambition.’
Noel Morrin of Scandinavian construction group Skanska said the UK was lagging behind on the green agenda: ‘In the UK I see a country trying to lead on policy but too often the money disappears too soon.’
The biggest challenge for the green agenda is refurbishment, said Morrin: ‘The issue here [for us] is the business case; it’s there for commercial offices but we haven’t got it cracked for other sectors.’
‘There’s just too much grief involved at the moment, so many are bailing out,’ said Martin Burton, former president of contractors’ body the HVCA (now renamed the B&ES). ‘Many run small consultancies and these are being closed down. The problem will become more apparent when work picks up again and these specialists are missing.’
The panellists suggested that the loss of skills could have a significant impact on the country’s ability to meet targets for improving building performance. ‘Some specialist skills are almost impossible to replace,’ said Huw Blackwell from Hoare Lea. ‘No one is doing much training so when the elder statesmen leave they take their knowledge with them.’ The panel, which was chaired by WSP technical director Simon Robinson, agreed that the industry needed to embark on a PR campaign to improve its public perception among young people. It also should encourage the development of international networks of engineers so that skilled people could migrate to areas of greatest need.
May 2012 CIBSE Journal
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