New name would breed better design

During more than 27 years in the Asia Pacific construction industry, I have seen the deteriorating standard of design from young engineers in Hong Kong, attributable both to the slowdown of the construction industry in the past decade and the shortage of intelligent new entrants.

As a result, the focus of design has remained on basic functionality, compliant to statutory regulations and without consideration of the building lifecycle. Very often, the operation and maintenance facets are not considered diligently in the design, making the building “unsustainable”. Improvement work has to be carried out to enhance the energy efficiency, operational and maintenance effectiveness of the systems.

Sustainable development, with a cradle-to-grave approach for buildings, including M&E services, is the way forward in our industry. The construction downturn in Hong Kong has, however, hindered our profession from exploring and presenting cost-effective solutions to clients. As a result, design has remained less than creative and sustainable, and young engineers may have found their work mundane and less recognised by the community, which means less talent would be attracted to join the profession.

I support unequivocally the idea of changing CIBSE’s name. Our fellow engineers, as well as the institution, should shift the focus swiftly to “sustainable buildings” instead of just the commonplace of “building services”.