NEWS ‘Buzz and energy’ as BESA Conference and Awards bounce back
T
he Building Engineering Services Association’s first ‘in person’ National Conference and Awards for three years broke historic attendance records with 270 delegates and more than 400 guests at a sparkling awards dinner in London hosted by the comedian Zoe Lyons. More than 50 speakers across three busy theatres at the Novotel London West addressed the conference theme: ‘Bringing buildings to life’ from a wide variety of angles including current and future skills, the decarbonisation challenge, human health and well-being, and the implications of the country’s current economic woes. The Conference also saw the launch of World Ventil8 Day– a global initiative aimed at improving ventilation standards in buildings to protect the health, well-being, and productivity of people worldwide. The event, which was sponsored by Mitsubishi Electric, paused briefly to take in the news that Prime Minister Liz Truss had resigned before ploughing on with industry topics addressed via a mixture of panel debates and in-depth technical presentations. CEO David Frise reminded the industry that its work was important “because 90% of us spend 90% of our time in a building so the social good that results from good building engineering services is massive”.
Pressure
He said the industry played a crucial role in people’s health and well-being. However, he added that the way we design and build led to “broken buildings…and broken people” with two suicides a day evidence of the pressure many construction workers face. As a result, the Association was supporting the mental health charity Light House Clubvwith a £10 donation for every delegate. BESA members were also able to attend the conference for free thanks to the high level of sponsorship received. BESA President Rab Fletcher also welcomed the return
of ‘real life’ events pointing out there was no substitute for “being in the room”. “Anyone who isn’t here today may well have missed a key conversation or chance meeting that could change their business,” he said. “And, they won’t have heard or engaged with our wide field of experts from across the industry and beyond.”
Fletcher said the country was facing a series of crises, including energy supplies, cost-of-living, climate change, and building safety but there was still room for optimism. “Many of us have been arguing in favour of energy efficiency for years, but it was hard to get clients to invest,” he told the Conference. “Now the financial argument has changed…and while politicians are looking for quick fixes and short-term sticking plasters, our industry will be central to efforts to put this right for the long-term.” The President added that BESA was “pushing hard” for a fully funded national programme of building retrofits as the best and most cost-effective way to reduce carbon emissions in line with net zero targets. However, he also urged the delegates to look at how commercial buildings could be re-purposed in the face of changing occupancy patterns. The keynote address was delivered by healthy building champion Professor Cath Noakes OBE from the University of Leeds. She said ventilation was the most overlooked building safety issue and stressed the importance of
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infection control being part of building designs. She said the pandemic had led to greater collaboration with lots more sharing of knowledge and best-practice about making buildings more resilient to the transmission of diseases. “People realise we can’t solve this on our own or by arguing about whose tech is the best,” added Professor Noakes.
Challenging
However, she warned that this winter would be very challenging because people would be looking to conserve energy by not opening windows, which could lead to other health problems linked to mould and damp. Professor Noakes also launched the new annual
World Ventil8 Day, created by a coalition of scientists, academics, engineering bodies and environmental activists.#WorldVentil8Day
The first one takes place on November 8 and will involve a series of ‘in person’ and online events. It is being driven by BESA, CIBSE and FETA in the UK in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Future Urban Ventilation Network. World Health Organisation (WHO) clean air advocate Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah also took part in a discussion about the role of ventilation and urged the UK to learn from other countries that already have models in place to help people improve the indoor air quality in their homes and schools.
“We don’t need to re-invent the wheel. Let’s look at what is already being done elsewhere – like Germany and Belgium – and adopt that. We also need to use every means of communication at our disposal to tell people about their indoor air as it is still a new concept to many – but so many are terrified of the outdoor air!” she said. Other highlights included a panel chaired by BESA
President-elect Claire Curran chaired about Women in Construction that welcomed the growing number of young women coming into the sector but said the building services sector needed to market itself better to attract its fair share of talent.
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