To find out more about CIBSE’s newest Technical Memorandum,  Dynamic thermal modelling of basic blinds  (TM69) ,we have interviewed its main four authors: Professor Darren Woolf, Maria Gabriela da Silva Costa, Dr Bahareh Salehi and Elpida Vangeloglou . The ultimate goal of the document is to narrow the gap between predicted and actual performance of buildings, recognising the value of blinds in reducing peak energy loads and improving thermal comfort. - Elpida Vangeloglou Could you tell us about yourselves? Professor Darren Woolf: I have a number of roles and responsibilities which could lead me to describe myself as a professional juggler. My day job is Head of Building Physics at Wirth Research . We’re a wind, building physics and product design company specialising in high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD). I’ve been a visiting professor within the Building Energy Research Group at Loughborough University for over 10 years now and always enjoy the limited time I get to i

How do you search for your employees’ training? Are you making the most of all the filters available to find the training you need? Here’s a small illustrated guide to some of the most popular training course filters.  1. Topic area  If you are looking to expand your employees’ knowledge in a particular area, you might be looking for the topic criteria. Remember to check if there are more options than displayed by scrolling up and down. 2. Learning format   There are various formats to choose your next employees’ training from when selecting the ‘Search training’ option, including:  Face-to-face - traditional classroom-style learning  Remote - Live online interactive classes  On Demand - study online at your own pace  Some training providers might also offer the option to take an exam after specific training courses.  You can read more about choosing remote vs on demand training from our previous blog .    3. Duration  It is important to know the amount of time your employees will re

The theme for  #NationalEngineeringDay  2022 is how engineering improves lives. We hear from Ruth Tatanga, CEng MCIBSE as she shares her engineering journey, r ising to the #CIBSE125Challenges  and celebrating  #NationalEngineeringDay   (02 November 2022) Ruth is chair of the Young Engineers Network (YEN) London Committee. She is also a member of CIBSE's Minority Ethnic Group Panel and was one of the 2022 judges for the Apprentice of the Year, at the CIBSE Young Engineers Awards (11 October 2022).  Read about Ruth's journey below: I wanted to work in the energy sector in general as, growing up in Cameroon, it was the main driver of the economy and employment. I started my journey with the French equivalent of an HND in Energy Engineering, and the internship at the end of the program was what made me fall in love with building services and sustainability. I went to Guadeloupe Island for three months and worked on energy audits and energy efficiency refurbishment. During this t

With the return to the office and the ‘new normal’ of hybrid working, we have seen the reintroduction of face-to-face training. However remote courses, which enable people to be trained virtually have remained popular, with people expecting both types of training to be available. For corporate training there is no extra travelling required by employees, for either face-to-face or remote training. You can choose your own date and time, and the content can be delivered in either format. So, what are the differences between the two learning options? Preference. The main criterium for choosing face-to-face or remote training is based on people’s concentration level, preferred style of interaction, the learning environment and their digital knowledge, or simply, some people just prefer one learning format to another. Focus. People’s attention span varies. Some people concentrate better when they have someone speaking physically in front of them, whilst others find it easier to follow if t

Following a request from the Irish Government for temperatures in public buildings to be kept at no more than 19 degrees in a bid to save energy this winter, Michael Curran, CIBSE Ireland chair spoke on RTE Radio One's Morning Ireland show.  As highlighted within the feature, these measures are not new and are reflected in Environmental Design: CIBSE Guide A.  CIBSE provide a number of internationally recognised resources around thermal comfort. Listen to Michael's interview on RTE via  https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22144700/ Find out more about CIBSE and resources relating to thermal management and comfort via www.cibse.org.uk  

Following their Manchester Seminar in June, Dave Cooper, Managing Director of LECS UK provides an update from the CIBSE Lifts Group. I have the great pleasure of attending many events and very often I come away thinking that was just so worthwhile; the CIBSE Lift Group Meeting in Manchester on 7   June 2022 was one of those. I made the trip up from London, having seen the agenda and knowing that the topics covered were so relevant to what is going on in our industry now.    I was also delighted to present the CIBSE President’s message for the year. There were two main themes – evacuation lifts and professional competence.    Nick Mellor presented the standards affecting evacuation lifts, explaining the relevance of  BS9999: Code of practice for fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings ,  BS9991:2015 Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings. Code of practice  and  BS EN 81-76 Safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts .  N

Now in its 15th year, the CIBSE Building Performance Awards is the only awards scheme to celebrate the measured performance of projects and products in use while celebrating the engineering consultancies and manufacturers that are contributing to a low carbon future. Michael Lonsdale Group won the Embodied Carbon Award for its pioneering work with suppliers to create a database of low embodied carbon products that enable it to recommend low carbon building services systems to its clients.  We heard from Michael Lonsdale Group about what this award means to them: Caption: Senior Environmental & Sustainability Manager, Joanna Constandis (right) and Engineering Services Director, Paul Cornwell (left) collecting the Embodied Carbon Award at BPA2022. Industries and businesses throughout the globe have begun to show ownership of their environmental agendas. The significance of the topic has been realised, identifying the need for progress towards Net Zero Carbon. So, when Dame Jo da Silv