Byng vs. Tuffin: let's move on

What a shame there seems to be a woeful lack of it at the RICS. The spat between QS champion Michael Byng and president-to-be David Tuffin is worthy of the football training pitch rather than the boardroom.

It displays a lack of knowledge across the sprawling institution that must frustrate those attempting to improve its image and service and underlines why a restructuring is so necessary.

But perhaps the Byng-Tuffin dust-up may prove an overdue catalyst. Byng claims his clear-the-air statement, after Tuffin complained of members whinging about the RICS rather than offering any productive proposals, is making some waves in the corridors of Great George Street. And the thrust of what Byng has to say makes sense - from focusing on key areas such as measurement to e-procurement and the APC, where members are crying out for a better service to strengthen the position of the QS and construction faculty within the institution. Here's hoping his proposals aren't kicked into the long grass, as many noble attempts to redirect the veritable oil tanker that is the RICS have often ended up before.

All things green...

Plenty of work is needed on whether the current mania for all things green and sustainable will actually provide the benefits promised. Using renewable sources such as solar or wind might assuage guilt over how greedy our buildings are as far as energy use goes, but will they really work in the long term? It's a pertinent question raised by client Marcus Boret, whose firm Akeler is adopting a root and branch look at the basics of a building such as M&E before adding solar panels or wind turbines. Unless such technologies provide real results, they will end up short-term fads rather than real solutions to climate change.