News analysis with BESA
BESA Conference gets to the heart of the matter
The infl uence of buildings on human health and well-being and their role in delivering ‘social good’ was among several powerful messages to emerge from BESA’s fi rst ‘in person’ National Conference and Awards for three years
T
he event, which was sponsored by Mitsubishi Electric, broke historic attendance records with 270 delegates and more than 50 speakers (a
third of whom were female) – and later the same day over 400 guests attended the association’s National Awards dinner hosted by the comedian Zoe Lyons. Delegates attended three busy conference streams
the Novotel London West addressing the overarching theme of: ‘Bringing buildings to life’. This included an examination of the industry’s current and future skills needs, the decarbonisation challenge, and how the current economic situation is aff ecting our businesses. CEO David Frise said the uncertain political situation (Liz Truss resigned on
the day of the Conference) was unsettling but that the industry was still able to focus on the importance of its work. “Why are you important? Because 90% of us spend 90% of our time in a building so the social good that results from quality building engineering services is massive. It plays a pivotal part in human wellbeing – both physical and mental – and is crucial to how the country deals with rising energy costs and the climate crisis,” he said.
The similarities between a building and the human body led to a debate about the need to consider buildings as living, breathing things and, their impact on people when indoor spaces are not well managed.
Holistic
“Buildings are also holistic, integrated systems, not an assembly of components thrown together in an approximation of the design,” said Frise. “The way our systems perform, as a whole, is crucial because that is what delivers the best outcomes for people.” However, he added that due to the stressful way many supply chains work the industry is often guilty of producing “broken buildings and broken people” with two suicides a day linked to construction. “We still have a mad ‘hurry scurry’ build and design process rooted in confl ict, and that was why we thought it important to support the Lighthouse Club mental health charity with a £10 donation for every conference delegate. “That money will go some way towards treating the symptoms of a broken
process while BESA continues to make it a priority to build a better, fairer industry that delivers high quality buildings and treats those that do the work with respect.” 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. It was launched by healthy building champion Professor Cath Noakes
OBE from the University of Leeds during her keynote presentation. She said ventilation was the most overlooked building safety issue and stressed the
BESA President Rab Fletcher
importance of 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. 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. The fi rst World Ventil8 Day 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 several international bodies, 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.
Terrifi ed
“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 terrifi ed of the outdoor air!” she said. 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 fi eld 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 effi ciency for years, but it was
hard to get clients to invest,” he told the Conference. “Now the fi nancial argument has changed…and while politicians are looking for quick fi xes and short-term sticking plasters, our industry will be central to eff orts to put this right for the long- term.”
The President added that BESA would be pushing the new government hard for
a fully funded national programme of building retrofi ts as the best and most cost- eff ective 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
8
November 2022
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