It’s fascinating observing a group of people think about the problems of the construction industry, and how to solve them. The gripping part is watching them move towards solutions slowly, step-by-step, overcoming ingrained prejudice and old ways of thinking.

In this issue we’re covering two major events in which members of our sector were asked to seriously consider how building services can cope with today’s challenges, and move into the future. BSj’s own event, ‘Secrets of success’, involved workshops in which we encouraged future champions of partnering to identify pitfalls – and then to suggest how they might work around them. The results of their hard work are here for you to see.

We also have highlights from the ‘Think 2010’ weekend thinkathon organised by BSRIA and supported by several key services organisations including CIBSE, ECA, HVCA and FETA. Invited delegates bravely tackled the question of what our industry will look like at the end of the decade – and what we all have to do to create better buildings (and business) than we have now.

Of course it’s not entirely fair to ask only small groups of people what they would do to solve our problems, especially in such a short space of time. But there were some very encouraging signs from both events.

Firstly, the fact that it is possible for individuals from many parts of the building services sector to sit down and talk calmly about good and bad working practices. No blaming, no finger-pointing and a lot of shared experiences. The exchanges were direct but demonstrated a clear commitment to making this a better industry to work in, and to giving clients better service. Great stuff.

The second positive outcome was that everyone seemed to agree on how we might achieve all this – working together, cooperation, openness, early involvement of specialists, asking clients what they really want. If you ever wondered whether the messages of Latham and Egan had got through, rest assured, they have.

Source

Building Sustainable Design