The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has announced the launch of a groundbreaking initiative titled “Building Performance Reimagined.” The visionary project, commissioned by CIBSE and researched by Arup, aims to transform the landscape of building engineering and sustainability.
Unlike traditional engineering approaches that focus solely on system sizing, maintenance, or controls, Building Performance Reimagined takes a holistic, future-oriented perspective. The project seeks to redefine the parameters of traditional engineering practices and equip CIBSE members with the tools to meet future challenges head-on.
At its core, Building Performance Reimagined explores the dynamic and evolving nature of building performance, going beyond energy efficiency and carbon reduction to consider broader forms of value within the built environment. This theme was also central to the Presidential Address of CIBSE’s new President, Fiona Cousins. In her address, President Cousins emphasized the importance of embracing future-focused approaches and reimagining building performance to meet evolving societal and environmental needs.
The report introduces four pivotal performance metrics designed to guide the industry towards enhanced health and resilience. These include optimizing building services to promote space efficiency, adaptability, and user diversity; enhancing building services to anticipate and mitigate risks; integrating building services with local and wider systems; and enabling building services to contribute positively over time.
Building Performance Reimagined expands the role of building services engineers beyond traditional boundaries. Engineers are now tasked with enhancing all aspects of life within and around buildings, fostering biodiversity, promoting social equity through design decisions, and influencing urban contexts to harmonize with local and city infrastructures.
CIBSE invites industry professionals to embark on this transformative journey, leveraging futures and systems thinking methodologies to anticipate evolving needs, explore potential futures, and identify opportunities to shape a sustainable built environment. This forward-thinking approach aims to redefine “high performance” in buildings by emphasizing collective social value and multi-species stakeholder interests.
The Building Performance Reimagined report is now available for free download on the CIBSE website at https://www.cibse.org/policy-insight/key-policy-areas/building-performance-reimagined.
