CIBSE Energy Assessors

Finally the month the industry has been building up to – April 2008, the month when the EPBD legislation comes into force which means that new buildings, major refurbishments and large public buildings throughout England and Wales must have an energy certificate to rate the energy performance of the building. As you will all know by now, from 6th April, Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) will be compulsory for all commercial buildings of more than 10,000 sq m whenever they are purchased or rented.

The build up to this implementation has been impossible to escape from and for much of last year and the beginning of this year, CIBSE and the industry in general have been frantically laying the foundations for the schemes which will make these certificates a reality. The people behind the certificates are the ones who will bring the legislation to life, without accredited energy assessors there would be no EPCs. It hasn’t been an easy road to setting up and gaining approval for the CIBSE Low Carbon Energy Assessor scheme but we are finally there and all the hard work has been worth it.

So, despite the various challenges along the way, we feel that the CIBSE Low Energy Assessor scheme has made a positive start and will respond well to the growing demand for assessors that will build during the coming months. There will be a lot of questions directed at CLG and the accredited training schemes, and there will always be those who criticize and bring up the flaws of other initiatives such as Home Information Packs but the point is that CIBSE, and the industry, are rising to the challenge and will do everything possible to meet the expectations of the government, of clients and of the general public.

Meanwhile CIBSE Flexible Learning has been launched; aimed at the corporate training requirement, at least to begin with. The teaching material is broadly based upon our own publications and subject matter experts, we anticipate delivering at least twelve modules on applications such as ducts, cables, drains, low energy design – on-demand web based training to the highest standard with the intention of creating best practice, a reference library and case studies. We held two briefing sessions one to the academic community and one to industry and are looking to have early adopters who will help guide and inform this learning. Already we have four companies committed to the scheme with another twelve very interested. If you would like to know more about the opportunities and benefits of getting involved with the programme, please do feel free to contact me. In the longer term I believe we shall create a “knowledge network” on line, hopefully, for all. We start in September and we are all very excited about it.

Stephen Matthews
CIBSE Chief Executive

CIBSE Review of 2007

Reading back my BSJ column for January, I am struck once again by how fast time flies! My second Christmas at CIBSE already and I am now fully emerged in the high and lows of working in an engineering institution. What a diversity of activities and issues touch the Institution. Certainly we have made progress during 2007 but of course we can always do more and will be looking towards the New Year with a sense of achievement and of motivation for 2008.

In my January column, I remarked that, with regard to CIBSE’s position within the engineering institutions, CIBSE is the relatively agile, responsive one in the land of dinosaurs. Do I still feel that to be the case? Have we started to adapt and evolve? To both questions there is a definite …Yes! Perhaps the one issue for me is that we do need to maintain our agility, especially in the arena of Climate Change; yes there is intent and substance but in other ways progress has been much slower at the political and regulation level. Certainly our profile and standing as the prime source of knowledge for sustainable buildings has risen significantly. It is how we as individuals and collectively can best bring the engineering knowledge and skills to bear for the benefit of society – that remains our challenge.

Are we any further in identifying volunteers and developing the Patrons Scheme? Well at best probably “Not Yet”. True there has been some work in this area, there are plenty of green shoots and we are starting to develop some plans for 2008. I am particularly interested in how we generate and maintain the volunteer stream. So much of our work is dependant and predicated upon our army of members who give so much of their time and energies to the Institution, simply I cannot take you for granted. Getting our young members to participate and influence our work is crucial element of our development.

2007 has been such a busy year for CIBSE that it is difficult to mention just a few highlights – we have had a productive 12 months and the proof can be seen in good publication sales, membership levels, improved industry connections and successful seminars.


CIBSE Young Engineers have had a positive year, with a number of meetings, events and social evenings helping to strengthen the role they play in ensuring the Institution remains relevant to the younger generation. Projects such as the second 100 Days of Carbon Clean Up campaign, the Low Carbon Consultants Register and the revamped website have spread the word about CIBSE to new audiences and underlined the need to engage with key issues within the industry. Meanwhile the work to establish CIBSE Services and our Certification with energy performance regulations will mean that 2008 is an exciting year for us all.

As 2007 comes to a close I would like to take this opportunity, from all of us at Delta House, to send our very best wishes of the Season to our members and friends throughout the world.


Stephen Matthews
CIBSE Chief Executive