All for change

Take the case of engineer Brian Mark and his wife Gwen’s first attempt at being responsible developers. The couple set out with high ideals and a desire to show it was possible to incorporate sustainable features into a relatively commonplace construction project – only to find the cost of their ideology jeopardised the viability of the scheme. But, by tempering their ideals with a sprinkling of developer’s realism, they have managed to create a sustainable project with the prospect of a realistic return on their investment to boot. Equally important, the change has equipped them for future dealings with developers so that they can engineer a more appropriate sustainable solution.

In this month’s lighting feature, we highlight a proposal to revolutionise daylight design by ditching the long-established daylight factor-based solution in favour of a more realistic system based on location and the position of the sun. The change will enable lighting designers to place a greater emphasis on realistic daylight evaluation early in a building’s design and so achieve the optimum balance between daylight and solar gain to reduce energy consumption.

On a more basic level, Adnams brewery has forsaken the convention of using a giant tin shed as a distribution depot and opted instead to pioneer a new, and more appropriate, form of construction. This has enabled the creation of a low-energy building, which will ensure its precious cargo is maintained in appropriate conditions without the need for expensive cooling.

Finally, change is also on the agenda at CIBSE, with the arrival of its new chief executive. As we report in our interview with Stephen Matthews, now is an important time for the Institution to decide how it wants to influence the debate on climate change and how it wants to take that debate forward in an informed way. Bring on the changes.