PAT LEHANE
Sustainability hypocrisy! When are we going to inject some honesty into the sustainability debate? For electric cars read batteries that require vast quantities of nickel, cobalt and other metals. That demand will multiply exponentially as the demand for energy storage systems does. Meanwhile, the world is still turning a blind eye to the rainforest destruction caused by nickel mining in Indonesia, not to mention ignoring the use of child labour to mine cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now we have yet another “green” initiative … mining these precious metals from the sea bed. The WWF, some scientists and various green activists – including Sir Richard Attenborough – say this has the potential to be devastating to marine life. However, the ironically-named DeepGreen company plans to commence deep-sea mining for nickel, cobalt, etc in 2024 … and all so we can “save the planet” by driving electric cars.
Behold! … the age of the MSI has arrived With digitalisation, lean construction and innovative building engineering products/ systems/software now becoming the norm, the management of construction projects has become far more sophisticated and challenging. Hence the emergence of the Master System Integrator (MSI) role, one that is commonplace in the US but is now being sought on projects here in Ireland, especially by the global tech giants. Simplistically, MSI represents a paradigm shift in the role of traditional project management … one that is incredibly more complex and demanding. However, it is a role that ambitious building services engineers would do well to embrace for an exciting and fulfilling future.
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Congratulations Mr President Having worked closely with Kevin Kelly on various projects over the years, his recent election as CIBSE President all but went over my head. You see, I would have expected nothing less. His contribution to CIBSE Ireland, CIBSE Inc and the broader building services engineering sector has been phenomenal. On reflection, I realised that to be elected worldwide CIBSE President is also a phenomenal achievement but, in Kevin Kelly’s case, a totally deserved accolade. So, congratulations Kevin.
Why not simply KISS? We’re all familiar with KISS – keep it simple, stupid – yet it hardly comes into the reckoning in the green debate. Here we are spending vast sums on new technologies while, to a great extent, ignoring the low-hanging fruit staring us in the face. With so much EU grant money being (rightly) thrown at innovative initiatives, perhaps it is also time to consider support for simple, common sense – but evidence-based – approaches. For instance, research in the US has shown that cows emit 82% less methane when small amounts of seaweed are put in their feed. Unilateral banning of fuel sources and appliance types is great for the populist soundbite but it is lazy and lacks imagination.
None so deaf as … Even before the UK’s Green Homes Grant scheme began, the National Federation of Builders (NFB) repeatedly warned UK civil servants about issues that would plague successful implementation. They were ignored and, not surprisingly, the scheme failed and closed on 31 March 2021. A huge flaw of the scheme was that too few companies were accredited to do the insulation and air tightness works. The NFB had flagged this but legislators/civil servants did not listen. Ring any bells closer to home? If the environmental policy makers want to truly address the dual challenges of energy saving and carbon reduction, it’s time to stop paying lip-service to “industry consultation” and honestly engage with, listen to and learn from those who know the situation better.
Safe driving Joe Joe Grogan of J & J Grogan Construction pictured with Jimmy Feery, Branch Manager, Chadwicks Tullamore and the Toyota 211 Proace City van Joe won in Chadwicks’ recent store promotion.
05/05/2021 14:15