Behind CIBSE

Fiona Cousins, CIBSE president and Arup leader, discusses her engineering journey, emphasising the need for broader problem definitions in building services, beyond cost and efficiency, to include carbon reduction, biodiversity, and social value. 

She highlights how evolving client demands for decarbonisation and carbon neutrality shape the industry. She stresses integrating safety, climate change, and societal impacts into design goals to prevent issues like those revealed by the Grenfell Report. She also advocates for better building operation and AI tools to optimise energy efficiency, emphasising whole-life value over short-term cost in creating sustainable, functional buildings.