ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE VISION


projects – such as building energy labelling – having the potential to make a massive difference on a truly global scale. Closer to home, we have to deal with


local planning issues and work with the UK government to create the legislative framework for our efforts. The CIBSE Board also identifi ed the range


of challenges confronting members. Skills are clearly a top priority, as is the ongoing challenge of collaborating with educators to ensure training is relevant and properly targeted. This is extremely hard to do in such a fast-moving environment, but the Institution has a key role to play in advising on training topics and career paths – particularly to ensure enough young people are attracted into the industry.


Challenges and opportunities Related to that topic, we struggle with diversity – both in terms of gender and race – but also knowledge. Do we have the right mix of people and expertise? There is a huge focus on working with students and school-leavers to encourage them to make the right choices, but we are in a hugely competitive market for skills and we are up against the appeals of more ‘glamorous’ professions. CIBSE is working hard to put over the positive messages about careers in building services to ensure we get our fair share of the top minds. Technical solutions must be properly integrated in order to deliver operational fl exibility, and to achieve that we must have a fully integrated supply chain able to challenge and communicate with each other and the client. This is especially important now, as buildings are becoming more inherently complex. The


growing diversity of energy sources is stretching our technical expertise and revealing gaps in our knowledge. For example, the performance issues around heat pumps, highlighted by the Carbon Trust’s fi eld trials of 2010, still need addressing; and the development of fuel cells is moving quickly so we must update our knowledge of this technology. We have the ability to create ‘stunning’ buildings, but they have to meet performance targets and, even more relevant these days, they must make economic sense. This makes gathering actual performance data about buildings more important than ever. We have to improve our understanding of how buildings operate to make properly informed value judgements about issues like technologies and control systems. However challenging the factors are, this


whole debate shows just how well placed the building services profession is to take a leadership role. CIBSE members have an opportunity for earlier involvement in the project process and, because we already work across national boundaries, we can collaborate with overseas experts and draw on their experiences. The evolution of the supply chain gives us


the fl exibility to work more closely with related professions and challenge the traditional hierarchy too. There is also far more scope for the industry to be involved, post-handover, as the role of Display Energy Certifi cates (DECs) and soft landings (using CIBSE TM22) becomes ever more important. There has rarely been a more challenging time


for CIBSE members, but where there are challenges, there are also great opportunities. We know that much.


Diversity in the building services workforce continues to be a huge challenge. At some point in an engineer’s career, gender, race or age may feel like a barrier. To help support these under-represented groups, the Institution has now set up the CIBSE Diversity Panel. The group, which is chaired by


CIBSE immediate past president Andy Ford, has agreed that ‘diversity’ should encompass gender, age, ethnicity, socio- economic status, disability, sexual orientation and religion/ beliefs. The group will now be instrumental in steering CIBSE in


How CIBSE is rising to the diversity challenge One possible explanation is that


recognising under-represented groups in the industry. At the same time, a new group representing women has been set up, the Women in Building Services Engineering Network ((WIBSE) join it at www.cibse. org/linkedin). Around 15% of all CIBSE graduate members are female – however, women only account for about 6% of chartered members. So, either there are a large number on the brink of becoming chartered members, or the Institution – and industry – is losing women at a key stage in their careers.


the nature of engineering work is not ‘family-friendly’ and women fi nd it hard to continue their career when they decide to have children. But whatever the truth of


the situation, it is clear that the profession is missing out on a huge resource by not engaging better with women. Ford says that women are


poorly represented across the whole of construction, but believes this is something the Institution can lead on. It has been suggested that women are better represented


There has rarely been a more dramatic period in our collective history


in the profession in mainland Europe, possibly because the profession is generally more highly regarded there. ‘Unintended bias’ could be a contributory factor here, and training could do something about that. The higher profi le given to the industry’s work by the climate change agenda is slowly changing perceptions and should gradually change recruitment patterns. Women can, and do, succeed


in the profession but the Diversity Panel will focus on removing those barriers that continue to obstruct their progress.


12


CIBSE Journal November 2012


www.cibsejournal.com


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