The ECA and HVCA have recently held their annual get-togethers. Of course both conferences tackled the issues of the day head-on, but both also spent a fair chunk of their time predicting the contracting scene in years to come. If leading futurologist Peter Kingsley is to be believed, m&e contractors can look forward a whole new level of prefabrication as buildings grown organically using nanotechnology are delivered to site.

Roger Flanagan of the University of Reading warned of hordes of contractors coming into the market from the emerging Eastern European and Baltic states and predicted consolidation of companies on a massive scale.

Perhaps the starkest warnings at both conferences came from speakers from the CIBSE, who alarmed audiences with predictions of melting ice caps, rising sea levels and soaring temperatures if the industry fails to address sustainability issues. The Thames Barrier, designed to raise once or twice a year when it was built in the 1980s, rose 19 times in January this year.

Good reason then to consider a visit to CIBSE’s national conference where sustainability is the topic. Time to spend some time looking at the future.

Source

Electrical and Mechanical Contractor