20 April 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal
Construction currently does "not allow for the necessary exchange of ideas between stakeholders in the building process", delegates at the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers' symposium heard this week.
On the second day of the symposium, Richard Rooley, former president of ASHRAE, a global society advancing human wellbeing through sustainable technology for the built environment, told attendees that construction was not a linear process.
He said that to avoid current issues with underperforming buildings "we must create models which allow proper collaboration and information sharing between stakeholders and outside influences, rather than rely on a linear model which discourages dialogue".
Rooley added: "We must focus less on strict processes and more on the product - making sure to analyse the consequences of decisions made during the project and how these affect the finished building, with the input of all stakeholders, rather than allowing these changes to derail the project from its original targets."
He also said that the building services industry needed to give "more attention to what it is trying to achieve, and how to manage people, projects and processes to deliver buildings that perform as the clients require".
The annual CIBSE Symposium took place at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University.