Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers

Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers

Type	Building services engineering, Architectural engineering
Professional title	Chartered Building Services Engineer
Founded	1976 (1976)
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Area served	Worldwide
Services	Professional accreditation room hire library contract mailings
Members	approximately 17,000
Membership cost	£192 (free for students)
Website	cibse.org

The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE; pronounced 'sibs' or 'sib-'see') is a British professional engineering body based in London, England that represents building services engineers. In the United Kingdom CIBSE is regarded as an authority on building services engineering^{[citation needed]}, and has been consulted by government on matters relating to construction, engineering and sustainability^{[citation needed]}. It is also licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers.

History

The Chartered Institution of Building Services (CIBS) was formed by the merger of the Institution of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (founded in 1897) and the Illuminating Engineering Society (founded in 1909) in 1976, receiving a Royal Charter in the same year. The word 'Engineers' was added in 1985, and hence the Institution became CIBSE. CIBSE's first president was John Gundy.^[1]

Overview

The Institute states that its objective is to ‘support the Science, Art and Practice of building services engineering, by providing our members and the public with first class information and education services and promoting the spirit of fellowship which guides our work.' ^[2]

As of May 2007, CIBSE claimed a membership of over 17,000, from "more than 80 countries".^[3] The Institution is organised on a regional basis; with 16 regions in the United Kingdom and 3 regions overseas:

• Republic of Ireland
• Australia and New Zealand
• Hong Kong

In recent years there has been an increasing focus on sustainability and green design by the UK government. CIBSE has responded to this growing trend by providing training to accredit engineers to become Low Carbon Consultants (LCC) and Energy Assessors (LCEA), the latter of which are qualified to issue Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) and Display Energy Certificates (DEC), in addition to their Professional Engineering registration.

Many training options are available through CIBSE, with the aim of providing specialised courses and seminars for those within the building services industry. Mid Career College (MCC) is a branch of CIBSE which focuses on providing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training, to improve and enhance the skills required to be engineering professional. Included are a range of courses from fire safety and mechanical and electrical services courses, to facilities management and business skills-focused training.

CIBSE Guides

CIBSE publishes several guides to building services design, which include for various recommended design criteria and standards, some of which are cited within the UK building regulations and therefore form a legislative requirement for major building services works. The main guides are:

• Guide A: Environmental Design
• Guide B: Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
• Guide C: Reference Data
• Guide D: Transportation systems in Buildings
• Guide E: Fire Safety Engineering
• Guide F: Energy Efficiency in Buildings
• Guide G: Public Health Engineering
• Guide H: Building Control Systems
• Guide J: Weather, Solar and Illuminance Data
• Guide K: Electricity in Buildings
• Guide L: Sustainability
• Guide M: Maintenance Engineering and Management

CIBSE Societies

Three societies exist within CIBSE to reflect special areas of expertise that exist within the field of building services:

• Society of Facade Engineering (SFE) was set up in 2003 as a Society of CIBSE but with the support of the IStructE and RIBA. Its aim is to advance knowledge of and practice in facade engineering to meet the many and varying requirements placed on them.

• Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) acts as the professional body for lighting in the UK. It represents the interests of those involved in the art, science and engineering of light and lighting in their widest definition and has over 2,000 members in the UK and world wide.

• Society of Public Health Engineers (SoPHE) is to provide a higher profile and focus for public health engineers within CIBSE.

Low Carbon Consultants

Changes to the UK building Regulations Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power) in 2006 led CIBSE to set up the Low Carbon Consultants Register to ensure that a body of competent and trained professionals was available to implement the various requirements of the regulations, specifically in undertaking the relevant calculations to demonstrate the required reduction in carbon emissions from buildings both in design and operation. Members of the Register must undertake specific training and examinations to demonstrate their competence in various aspects of the regulations.

The CIBSE scheme further offers accreditaion as a Low Carbon Energy Assessor (LCEA), again subject to specific training and examinations, who are then able to provide the Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Display Energy Certificates (DECs), as required under the Energy Performance in Buildings Regulations (EPB Regulations). These certificates can only be provided by accredited energy assessors who are members of an approved scheme such as the Low Carbon Energy Assessors Register. Furthermore, assessors are required to update their training regularly to ensure that continued high standards of competency are met.

The LCC scheme has been expanded in recent years to include for the grade of Low Carbon Consultant: Energy Management Systems, these LCC's having being trained and tested by CIBSE to ensure they have the relevant competencies to assist organisations to implement BS EN 16001

CIBSE Special Interest Groups

CIBSE lists a number of special interests groups that operate within the Institution^[4]:

• ASHRAE
• Building Simulation
• Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
• Daylight
• Electrical Services
• Energy Performance
• Facilities Management
• Healthcare
• Heritage
• Homes for the future
• Industry, Education and Training
• Information Technology (IT) and Controls
• Intelligent Buildings
• Lifts
• Natural Ventilation
• Project Management
• School Design
• Young Engineers Network (YEN)

Although CIBSE lists American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) as one of its special interest groups, it is a completely separate body that CIBSE liaises with.^[5]

Categories of membership

CIBSE has eight grades of membership, with the upper four granting designatory postnominals. In descending order of hierarchy, there are:

• Fellow (FCIBSE)
• Member (MCIBSE)
• Associate (ACIBSE)
• Licentiate (LCIBSE)

Below this there are four grades of membership with no designatory postnomials:

• Graduate
• Student Affiliate
• Companion, a grade for professionals of other disciplines who have "made a contribution to the promotion of building services engineering".
• Affiliate

Past CIBSE Presidents

Past presidents (1990–present) include:

• Derek S Gillingham CEng FCIBSE 1990
• Tom Smith FEng CEng FCIBSE 1991
• Brian Moss OBE CEng FCIBSE 1992
• David Lush OBE CEng FCIBSE 1993
• David Arnold FEng CEng FCIBSE 1994
• Alec Moir CEng FCIBSE 1995
• Jerome O'Hea OBE CEng FCIBSE 1996
• Geoffrey Brundrett FCIBSE 1997
• Ronald Kirkwood CEng FCIBSE 1998
• James Fretwell CEng FCIBSE 1999
• David Wood CEng FCIBSE 2000
• Max Fordham OBE CEng FCIBSE FREng 2001
• Doug Oughton FREng FCIBSE 2002
• Terry Wyatt FCIBSE 2003
• Graham Manly CEng FCIBSE MInstR 2004
• Donald Leeper 2005 OBE BSc(Hons) ARCS CEng FCIBSE FIMechE FRSA FConsE
• Eur Ing David Hughes CEng FCIBSE 2006
• John Armstrong MPhil CEng FCIBSE MIMechE MBIFM

For the complete list, please refer to CIBSE Official Website - CIBSE Past Presidents (1898-present)

See also

• Society of Engineers
• Chartered engineer
• Incorporated engineer
• Engineering technician
• Construction Industry Council
• American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
• Energy Performance Certificate

References

1. ^ "What is CIBSE?". CIBSE. http://www.cibse.org.au/page/what_is_cibse.html. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
2. ^ "About CIBSE". CIBSE. http://www.cibse.org/index.cfm?go=page.view&item=37. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
3. ^ "Archived copy of What is CIBSE?". CIBSE. Archived from the original on 2007-05-23. http://web.archive.org/web/20070523164912/http://www.cibse.org.au/page/what_is_cibse.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
4. ^ "What is CIBSE?". CIBSE. http://www.cibse.org.au/page/what_is_cibse.html. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
5. ^ "What is CIBSE?". CIBSE. http://www.cibse.org.au/page/what_is_cibse.html. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 

External links

• Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
• CIBSE training website
• CIBSE Young Members Blog
• CIBSE Certification website
• CIBSE School Design Group UK
• Electrical Services Group Website
• Building Sustainable Design
• CIBSE Journal - The official magazine of CIBSE
• Modern Building Services journal
• The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air- Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
• The Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) BSRIA
• Institution of Lighting Engineers (ILE)