INTERVIEW | ADRIAN CATCHPOLE LEADING THE LINE To ensure engineers can meet net zero challenges while adhering to the building safety regime, CIBSE President Adrian Catchpole FCIBSE is launching bold initiatives to increase competency, tackle poor procurement and attract talent to the industry. Alex Smith reports Catchpole stands outside the entrance to the Cobbold Stand at Ipswich Town FC I n his CIBSE Presidential Address, Taking a lead, Adrian Catchpole FCIBSE called on building services engineers to step out of their comfort zone to guide and inspire others to cut carbon emissions in the built environment. Speaking to a packed room at The Royal Society in London, CIBSEs incoming President said it wasnt just organisations that needed to meet the challenges of cutting carbon. As engineers, we must help move the built environment from being a significant contributor to global emissions to being an exemplar of how to reduce them, said Catchpole. Each one of us needs to step forward with solutions and commit to taking a lead. To decarbonise building stock and respond to the requirement of the Building Safety Act, there needs to be increased competencies, innovation and collaboration, said Catchpole. During his address, he announced CIBSE initiatives aimed at attracting talent, upskilling engineers and increasing dialogue across industry. They are: a STEM Ambassador Scheme, designed to attract more young people into the industry by matching engineers with secondary schools; CIBSEs new Chartered Organisation Programme, which will enable organisations to demonstrate competence; and a cross-industry collaboration on improving procurement procedures to ensure that net zero carbon buildings meet their design intent. Catchpole says he is delighted by the response to his address: People called it challenging, inspirational and presidential. Its been overwhelming and LinkedIn messages havent stopped. Like many building services engineers, Catchpoles route into the industry wasnt by design. He wanted to be an architect and, at 16, applied for a job as an architectural technician at Ipswich multidisciplinary consultant Johns Slater 18 July 2023 www.cibsejournal.com and Haward (JSH). He didnt get the job, but impressed the company enough to be offered an opportunity in M&E engineering. Its the best thing that could have happened to me, says Catchpole. From there, he went to work at Ipswich Borough Council and it sponsored him through his degree at the University of Hertfordshire, which involved a five-hour return trip to Hatfield. East Anglia is still one of only three regions in the UK without a CIBSE-accredited degree course in building services, laments Catchpole, who returned to JSH in 2001 and is currently a director at the firm. While he has spent his career in Ipswich, it has not limited his opportunities. Building services engineering is so wide-ranging, Catchpole says. Ive done everything, from a one-off domestic heating installation that changes the life of a disabled person, to overseeing dock developments in Liberia. One of his most important career moves was 30 years ago, when he decided to volunteer for CIBSE. I wanted to give something back, says Catchpole, who started as education secretary at the CIBSE East Anglia Region and, more recently, was CIBSE treasurer for four years. The value of collaboration Working across CIBSE taught him the value of collaborating with others to spread knowledge and new approaches. We dont do it enough, says Catchpole. You achieve so much more when you collaborate, whether its in your own offices, with colleagues, or with wider industry partners. Engineers tend to sit in silos and do their own thing. In his presidential address, Catchpole highlighted the cross-industry coalition behind the development of the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (NZCBS) as a prime example of successful collaboration. For UK buildings to stand a chance of meeting the new NZCBS, which is expected by the end of the year, there will need to be a change in industry procurement practice, he says. Encouragingly, RICS, iStructE and RIBA have agreed to discuss how industry could collaborate more effectively. Catchpole wants to see performance metrics incorporated into procurement