Skip to main content
Facilitate Magazine: Informing Workplace and Facilities Management Professionals - return to the homepage Facilitate magazine logo
  • Search
  • Visit Facilitate Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit Facilitate Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @Facilitate_Mag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management Logo of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management

Main navigation

  • Home
  • News
    • Comment
    • People
    • Reports
    • Research
  • Features
    • Analysis
    • Features
    • Round Tables
    • Webinars
  • Outsourcing
    • Contract Finder
    • Contracts
    • FM Business Models
    • Interviews
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Opinion
    • Procurement
    • Trends
  • Know-How
    • Explainers
    • Legal Updates
    • White Papers
  • Jobs
  • Topics
    • Workplace Services
      • Hospitality
      • Catering
      • Cleaning
      • Front of House
      • Grounds Maintenance
      • Helpdesk
      • Mailroom
      • Manned Guarding / Security
      • Pest Control
      • Washroom Services
      • Disaster Recovery
      • Specialist Services
    • Professional Performance
      • Behavioural Change
      • Continual Professional Development
      • Education
      • Management
      • Recruitment
      • Training
    • Workplace Performance
      • Benchmarking
      • Health & Wellbeing
      • Operational Readiness
      • Procurement
      • Security
      • Workplace User Experience
      • Workplace Culture
    • Compliance
      • Health & Safety
      • Risk & Business Continuity
      • Standards
      • Statutory Compliance
    • Building Services
      • Architecture & Construction
      • Asset Management
      • Building Controls
      • Building Fabric
      • Drinking Water
      • Fire Protection
      • HVAC
      • Landscaping
      • Mechanical & Electrical
      • Building Security
      • Water, Drainage & Plumbing
    • Technology
      • Building Information Modelling
      • CAFM
      • Data & Networks
      • Document Management
      • Information Management
      • Internet of Things (IoT)
      • Software & Systems
    • Energy management
      • Energy Management Systems
      • Electricity
      • Gas
      • Solar
      • Wind
    • Sustainability
      • Environmental Quality
      • Social Value
      • Waste Management
      • Recycling
    • Workspace Design
      • Agile Working
      • Fit-Out & Refurbishment
      • Inclusive Access
      • Lighting
      • Office Interiors
      • Signage
      • Space Planning
      • Storage
      • Vehicle Management / Parking
      • Washroom
    • Sectors
      • Corporate Office
      • Education
      • Healthcare
      • Manufacturing
      • International
      • Retail
      • Sports & Leisure
      • Regions
  • Buyers' Guide
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Sections
  • Topics
News
Sections
Building Services
Workplace services
Workplace Performance
Professional Performance
Sustainability
Procurement
Education
Research
Space Planning
Career Development

Engineers urged to seize potential of technology's 'golden age'

Open-access content Tuesday 11th April 2017 — updated 7.14pm, Tuesday 26th May 2020

11 April 2017 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal


Engineers are being called on to embrace the potential of technology to deliver more comfortable and effective buildings.

 

Delegates at the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Technical Symposium at Loughborough University heard an opening presentation by Tim Wentz, who emphasised the dramatic changes being driven by digital technologies.

 

Wentz, president of ASHRAE (the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) - referring to what he believes is an imminent 'golden age' for engineering - listed psychology and its role in occupant satisfaction as being a growing area for building services engineers to learn as traditional disciplines are increasingly taken over by computers.

 

As computers are capable of more processing power than all of humanity predicted would exist by 2050, Wentz encouraged engineers to embrace the opportunity to build better buildings than ever before in a "built environment renaissance".

 

This theme was reflected in other presentations assessing the potential of digital engineering.

 

Tom Lawrence from the University of Georgia demonstrated the potential of sophisticated demand response tools to lower energy use while increasing thermal comfort and without triggering any adverse feedback from occupiers.

 

John Field, president of CIBSE, said: "It is an exciting time to be an engineer as technology changes our profession right before our eyes. We need to be prepared to embrace new ideas and techniques as they develop to take full advantage of their potential."

 

Retrofitting of existing buildings was a major topic on the second day of the symposium, with a variety of case studies presented that demonstrated lessons learned in a diverse range of situations. Marianne Heaslip of Carbon Coop presented on delivering building performance in the context of a Manchester housing retrofit. 

 

Sergio Fox of AWE made the case for simplicity in system design over added technology, and Abdullahi Ahmed demonstrated lessons learnt from a low-energy retrofit at Coventry University.

 

Also filed in
Topics
News
Content
Building Services
Workplace services
Workplace Performance
Professional Performance
Sustainability
Procurement
Education
Research
Space Planning
Career Development

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Today's top reads

 

Latest Jobs

Operations Director

Barnsley
Competitive – AfC Band 9 Equivalent
Reference
59401

Head of Facilities

Norwich
Market competitive salary with excellent benefits package
Reference
59397

Deputy Director of Estate Services

Newcastle-under-Lyme
£75,000 per annum
Reference
59396
See all jobs »

 

 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to print

Sign up to receive our bi-monthly magazine

Subscribe
Facilitate magazine cover, June 2020
​
FOLLOW US
@Facilitate_Mag
Facilitate Magazine
Facilitate Magazine
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel: 020 7880 6200
​

IWFM

About IWFM
Become a member
Qualifications
Events

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to Facilitate Magazine
Write for Facilitate Magazine

General

IWFM Jobs
Help

© 2023 • www.facilitatemagazine.com and Facilitate Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ