Modern Building Services

MODERN BUILDING SERVICES JULY 2022 7 INDUSTRY NEWS Making building servicesmore inclusive for all In response to the lack of women and other under-represented groups in the building services engineering sector - less than 1% of tradespeople are female - leading Awarding Organisation (AO), LCL Awards has launched an Inclusivity Charter for its centres, to encourage them to take steps to make their training facilities welcoming places, with flexible course options to suit people from all walks of life. Officially launched to LCL Awards centres, those that sign up to the Charter must • Be committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive environment where both learners and centre staff feel safe, heard and supported. • Not tolerate offensive language, such as sexist or racist comments - from trainers or trainees. • Consider the needs of all learners, in order to enhance learning experiences and increase opportunity. • Are actively exploring a range of training options, using creativity and innovation to improve engagement. The ambition is to help as many people as possible access the building services engineering sector; improve lives, improve the sector and combat skills shortages. We believe that inclusion creates an environment where everyone is valued, feels valued and are therefore is able to achieve their highest potential. www.lclawards.co.uk/inclusivity-charter Coalition of leading industry bodies join forces to develop UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard A cross-industry steering group, representing stakeholders across the built environment, have joined together to develop a standard for verifying UK buildings as net zero carbon. BBP, BRE, the Carbon Trust, CIBSE, IStructE, LETI, RIBA, RICS, and UKGBC have joined forces to champion this initiative. Whilst significant progress has been made in defining what ‘net zero’ means for buildings in the UK, a process of the market analysis showed a clear demand for a single, agreed methodology. The UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard will enable the industry to robustly prove their built assets are net zero carbon and in line with our nation’s climate targets. www.nzcbuildings.co.uk CIBSE and BEIS launch new free guidance for large heat pump installations in non- domestic buildings. The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has launched newguidance AM17: Heat pumps for large non-domestic buildings. Arup has worked as technical authors under the direction of the CIBSE Technical team supported by a steering group comprising industry stakeholders and representatives including developers, landlords, occupiers, designers, installers, operators, manufacturers, and other specialists The guidance sponsored by BEIS is free to use for designers, contractors, and consumers, and will enable installations to follow best practices and be delivered safely, legally and to a high quality. AM17 is available as a free download from the CIBSE website Knowledge portal and then conducting a website search for AM17. www.cibse.org Consultants and engineers share long-term fears over the inflationary impact on wages, energy, project delivery and client confidence A snap survey of members of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) reveals long-term concerns over inflation, with 80% of respondents viewing it as an issue in the next 12 months and beyond. All members stated that inflation was an “operational concern” – 20% said it had led to higher energy costs with anecdotal responses revealing the extent of this impact. One company shared that gas and electricity costs for their HQ “had tripled.” There were also concerns around client confidence, with 20% stating that it had already been impacted. As well as apprehension over projects stalling owing to material price increases, there were worries over the impact inflation was having on the overall economy, and on the pipeline of projects next year. Wage inflation was also flagged as an issue, with 60% saying it had negatively impacted recruitment. Half of the respondents stated they are increasing staff wages as a result. Despite increased costs, 30% stated they were not significantly changing their approach this year, and only 20% indicated that they will be passing on costs to clients. Even in these challenging economic circumstances, 90% of respondents are still expecting their business to grow in 2022. The results follow an announcement from the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) which outlined a series of measures to ease the impact of inflation across the construction sector. www.constructionleadershipcouncil.co.uk/news/clc- acts-to-ease-impact-of-construction-inflation/ ACE’s membership base, is made up of around 370 member companies, 86% of which are SMEs with fewer than 50 employees. www.acenet.co.uk