9 May 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal

The new president of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), John Field has urged engineers to raise the profile of the “vital work the industry does by making buildings perform better”.

Addressing CIBSE members at the Royal Society in London in his inaugural address, Field said it would be a priority for his term as president to pursue this issue and said the work of engineers “affects the lives and health of billions of people every day, and who provide enormous benefits to the general public behind closed doors”.

But he also noted that, despite a central role in modern life and considerable achievements to date, the industry still isn’t as well known and respected as its work deserves.

To correct this, Field promised a year of “inspiration and empowerment” that would spread the work of engineers, and encourage young people and other professions to join the work that building services engineers do.

Field said: “What we as engineers need to do is to raise our profile, show off our achievements to politicians, other professions and the media, and make it clear that what we do is of vital importance to the world. I myself was a nuclear engineer before I was inspired to work in building services by the great work being done in the industry – we need to capture that spark of enthusiasm and get others to feel it too – students, other professions, and the public at large.”