The opening of the new Skills Hub at CIBSE’s headquarters is a fitting milestone for Ruth Carter’s five-year anniversary as CEO. The extensive refurbishment of the lower two floors of the five-storey building comes only 18 months after she oversaw the relocation of CIBSE to central London after 45 years in the suburbs of Balham.
More than just a new facility, it is the physical embodiment of Carter’s central tenets for CIBSE: members, knowledge and commerce. Under her leadership, membership has risen by almost 20% and revenue by 56% over the past five years , the latter making it possible for the charity to make a significant investment in the Skills Hub.
The move from south London was a key objective for Carter, providing CIBSE with a location and building that befits its international standing. ‘If you are one of the fastest-growing professional engineering institutions, whose voice and influence are making ripples around the world, that needs to be represented in its headquarters,’ she says. ‘CIBSE now has a modern, vibrant building in central London that reflects our profession.’
Carter is keen that non-UK-based members make use of the building, and she says its new location makes it possible for engineers to enjoy a coffee in the members’ lounge only an hour after landing at Heathrow airport.
More than 30% of CIBSE Members are now based overseas, and Carter predicts this figure will grow as the Institution’s knowledge and professionalism continue to cross borders. ‘Engineering transcends politics, religion, geography. The laws of physics are the same in every country,’ says Carter. ‘One in seven of our members sits in Hong Kong, with an increasing number in the Greater Bay Area and China at large.
‘We have a very vibrant, growing community in the Middle East, and one of our fastest-growing regions is Australia and New Zealand.’
Jennifer Cox
Jennifer Cox
Ruth is an advocate for young engineers and has been a mentor to me since I won Graduate of the Year in 2020. As much as she values the input of her volunteers, she makes sure CIBSE gives back just as much. To me, she has provided invaluable guidance.
Ruth has brought a huge presence to CIBSE and made the Institution visible to its members. This can be seen by the growth that CIBSE has seen over the past five years. Her experience and personality shine through at events.
Jennifer Cox ACIBSE, is a member of CIBSE Council and senior electrical engineer at Cundall, and was CIBSE ASHRAE Graduate of the Year 2020
Carter highlights that Ireland is also a key area for CIBSE, in part because of its strategic relationship with the US and the EU. She is clear, however, that CIBSE doesn’t want to expand all over the globe – just in key regions where it is already experiencing growth and where engineers need its support.
‘It’s about having a really clear sense of purpose to what we do,’ says Carter.
A good example of targeted support is the publication of regional TM65 guides on embodied carbon for the United Arab Emirates, North America, and Australia and New Zealand.
In explaining the reasons for CIBSE’s healthy rate of membership growth, Carter expands on the Institution’s purpose: ‘CIBSE is very clear on its sovereignty. We are focused on building performance, building safety and decarbonisation. We’re not trying to be all things to all people. If you want to be part of a 100,000-plus institution, don’t join us. We’ll never be the biggest, but I promise we will continue to strive to maintain our position as being the best.’
Maintaining the quality of corporate members and their professional engineering levels is also important, says Carter, and delivery of guidance and training is a key objective for CIBSE. Technical integrity is fundamental to its identity and underpins everything it stands for as an institution.
Carter aims to leverage this to increase the pace of knowledge delivery as the industry moves into an era of rapid decarbonisation and technical change.
Dave Cooper FCIBSE FSoVT
Dave Cooper
The move from Balham to Saffron Hill, making our offices accessible, has had a major impact, along with bringing a ‘red Ferrari’ dynamic to our organisation, which has seen growth in membership and engagement.
CIBSE President Elect
‘People need to be able to access information quickly and easily,’ she says. ‘There’s a huge piece of work in how we increase information provision without compromising the quality and depth.’
One area of rapid change is around artificial intelligence (AI), which Carter believes will enhance, rather than threaten, engineers’ roles. She cites a significant development in Abu Dhabi where the design of the services took weeks. With AI, that can now be done in hours and frees up time for engineers to be more creative.
‘If we can weather CAD, the internet and BIM, then we can weather AI. It will make engineers’ lives easier and faster,’ she says.
Carter emphasises that CIBSE training should be directed as much towards mid- and late-career engineers as to those entering the industry. ‘Overcoming the skills shortage isn’t just about feeding the funnel at entry level; it’s about making sure we’re retaining people who have really deep skill sets,’ she says.
‘One of the most unique things about CIBSE is the desire of its members to encourage younger engineers. They are deeply unselfish about wanting to share knowledge.’
Seventeen per cent of CIBSE Members have been chartered for more than 30 years, so it’s important their experience is passed on to the next generation, adds Carter, who is very optimistic that the profession can attract a new generation of engineers to close the skills gap.
‘Engineering is a fast-paced and continually evolving profession, and that really reflects the mindset of young people coming through now.’
Building services can be promoted as a career that drives decarbonisation and fundamentally changes the way a building performs. It’s far more alluring than the language of the past, says Carter, who adds that the number of women entering the sector is encouraging – although more must be done to keep them in the industry after they have families.
Vincent Ma FCIBSE
Vincent Ma FCIBSE
Ruth hasn’t just changed CIBSE through its strategy, but through her boundless energy and humanity. She has changed the culture from ‘static’ to ‘dynamic’ simply by being herself, and she has a team that is as passionate about engineering as she is.
She has continued to strengthen its international connections, and helped make CIBSE accessible and agile as membership continues to grow.
Vincent Ma FCIBSE is a CIBSE Board member
‘There’s a discussion being had at CIBSE about how we can help women back into the workplace. This could be through accessible training during maternity leave, so they can keep up to date with technology and standards.’
Carter is proud of the Institution’s drive to be representative of people from all backgrounds and neurodiversities. ‘CIBSE has been really proactive in having different equality, diversity, and inclusion [EDI] groups [neurodiversity, LGBTQ+, women and ethnic minorities]. ‘You can’t just lump EDI together and say “tick, done”. You have to be specific, focused and relevant, and we are quite passionate about that.’
Carter is now working with a team on the next phase of the HQ’s development, including an overhaul of the building services depending on how the building is used in the next year to 18 months. ‘It was really important to me that we didn’t rush in, rip everything out and create a finished product straight away,’ she says. ‘We have to live our ethos and the impact on embodied carbon of ripping everything would have been horrendous. We will closely monitor the building and Skills Hub, and use the data captured to start our decarbonisation journey.’
Imran Shaikh FCIBSE
Imran Shaikh
Under Ruth’s leadership, CIBSE has evolved into a genuinely international professional institution, with the Middle East positioned as a strategic priority rather than a peripheral market.
She has championed meaningful regional engagement through senior-level presence, strengthened member and student outreach, and revitalised the CIBSE MENA Awards.
Imran Shaikh FCIBSE is chair of the CIBSE MENA Region
Carter is optimistic about the expanding global role of building services engineers. ‘The role has fundamentally changed over the past few years. It’s no longer the last point of consideration, but has become upstream in its influence and its voice. Take data centres; their technical demands provide the ideal environment for building services engineers to truly thrive.’
Carter is also looking forward to welcoming members to the Skills Hub and is excited that members from across CIBSE’s Groups, Regions and Societies will be able to meet and network there .‘
The opportunity for serendipity, as well as all the structured learning,’ she says. ‘I think that’s going to be fabulous.’
