FRONT DESK / ANALYSIS
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avid Stevens has been appointed as one of three vice-presidents for the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). The organisation announced Stevens’ position alongside Fiona Cousings as its president for 2024-2025, with Mike Burton and Dave Cooper joining Stevens as vice-presidents. CIBSE President-elect Vince Arnold completes this new leadership team. Stevens is director of estates for the East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT), and becomes CIBSE’s first vice-president in 20 years with an estates and facilities background. Chair of the CIBSE FM Group and its LGBTQI panel, Stevens is also a fellow of both the Institure of Workplace and Facilities Management and Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (IHEEM), serving as a judge for the IWFM Impact Awards. He is also on the IHEEM Diversity and Inclusion Working Group.
What will your priorities be for the sector in your new role? Fiona’s theme for the year is Building Performance Reimagined, to consider how we can measure the performance of buildings of the future. Traditionally, we have focused on occupant comfort, energy use, carbon emissions and cost efficiency – should we now also be considering further aspects of how our built environment performs, for instance, in relation to their ability to be resilient to weather, climate change, accidents, and emergencies? One of my priorities will be to engage with operational engineers and the wider FM community to further this conversation and consider how the facilities sector will have to adapt to the needs of the future built environment as it’s FMs that play a critical role in enhancing the resilience of buildings.
What trends and challenges should the sector be aware of? The sector needs to further develop and focus on key trends, especially
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Q&A DAVID ST EV EN S
CIBSE VP David Stevens on what lies ahead for FM by Herpreet Kaur Grewal on the technical and supply side to stay ahead and ensure optimal building performance – if it hopes to remain a leading built environment profession. There are so many to focus on, but here are a few examples: ● Smart building technologies: Integrating IoT and building management systems for realtime monitoring improves energy efficiency and occupant comfort through data analytics. Sensor tech is significantly developing, costs are reducing and the scope for reducing maintenance costs through timebased PPM and reactive actions is immense. ● Sustainable practices: Sustainability bleeds through all we do, and this means sustainable in terms of financial sustainability as well as NZC. Sourcing eco-friendly materials, adopting energy-efficient solutions like renewable energy systems, and high-efficiency building systems, embedding circular economy principles are well within the gift of the FM as we develop and maintain our existing building stock.
● Supply chain resilience: Considering the Building Performance Reimagined theme, and learning from the loss of suppliers like Carillion and the impacts of a global pandemic, FMs need diversify their supply chain to ensure uninterrupted operations during global emergencies and incidents. ● Skills and competency: The Building Safety Act 2022 emphasises the importance of competency among professionals in building design, construction, and management – and this includes FM. Maintaining high competency standards is essential for ensuring building safety and protecting occupants. The operational arena is suffering a skills shortage and lack of technically qualified and competent personnel at all levels, so this focus will become even more intense, especially with the need for ongoing education in smart building technologies, energy management, and sustainable practices. Ensuring technical competence through regular training is vital for developing our sector and optimising building performance.
What do you most hope to achieve in your role? As a board member and trustee of CIBSE, we act collectively, and not on personal agendas; however, I hope to support the president on her theme and do my best to promote the interests of FM while raising its profile in the wider built environment and engineering sector. I hope to drive the conversation on innovation and collaboration in FM. Leveraging data analytics, IoT, and AI – promoting knowledge-sharing within the CIBSE and wider FM community – to address future challenges and improve the overall quality of our built environment I intend to use my platform as vicepresident of CIBSE and chair of the CIBSE LGBTQI panel to be a visible member of our community and show that sexual orientation is not a barrier to success in our industry.
FAC I L I TAT E J U LY-AU G U S T 2024
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02/07/2024 09:15