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Last edited 06 Oct 2023

Guest editor, Phil Henry, engineer for Genuit group and chair of CIBSE resilient cities group

1 Introducing Phil Henry as out guest editor
2 Can you tell us about the news items and features that you have chosen ?
3 Can you tell us a little about your background, activities and interest in buildings?
4 Do you think there are specific areas of knowledge that are lacking across the industry?
5 Do you think there is value in sharing knowledge across disciplines and institutions? And what are the main barriers to sharing and applying knowledge?
6 How did you first discover Desgning Buildings?
7 Do you have any particular themes relating to buildings and construction, or particular technical areas to discuss?
8 Would you like to nominate someone for the guest editor slot ? and please do give us a little feedback on the experience of being our guest editor.
9 Related articles on Designing Buildings

[edit] Introducing Phil Henry as out guest editor

Phil Henry is highly experienced engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Engineering Technology. He is a serving board member of Constructing Excellence, The Housing Forum and Chair of CIBSE Resilient Cities Group. An active member of many special industry interest groups including, IET Built Environment Group, BSRIA, Chapter Zero promoting the transition to Net Zero within the built environment. His experience specifically in Modern Methods of Construction, Blue Green roofs, and low carbon sustainable water solutions for the built environment and a keen interest in strategic planning for training, skills, mentoring and collaboration. He represents the Genuit Group (Polypipe) within the built environment and engages with industrial bodies and government departments at board level.

We invited him to join us as Guest Editor and caught up with him to discuss water to fire, carbon to contracts and collaborating between teams.

[edit] Can you tell us about the news items and features that you have chosen ?

I have chosen the Earth overshoot day article because the rate we are using new resources clearly means that this will impact the ecology of the world and other species we share the planet with. And this links with the articles below with regards to the built environment and nature and species decline in the UK

The CIOB recently published Guide to sustainability in the built environment and the State of Nature report 2023 from the National Trust, both seem to me to be key documents published at the moment, along with a few others.

[edit] Can you tell us a little about your background, activities and interest in buildings?

[edit] Steel draftsman to fire protection

I was on a call this morning as a next generation mentor for the housing forum, which coincidentally took me back to my time in 1976. In the construction sector I started in structural steel design, training as a draftsman within a company. We worked on the then new Royal Free Hospital as it was then, so that’s where my career started, with designing, site measurements and producing drawings. From there I moved into fire protection, then towards systems, fit-outs, ceilings, air conditioning etc.

[edit] Technical specification to water management

When I joined Marley in the 80s, my direction changed more towards technical specifications, something I was really quite interested in, especially with the commercial element of it. From that point on I stayed in the technical realm, but shifted definitively to water management, which has adapted as I've got more involved in developments relating to flood mitigation systems, blue- green infrastructures and so on.

[edit] Product manufacturing and market development

On joining Polypipe I was involved more in the product and manufacturing side of things. I had an opportunity to shift to other products and worked with a German window manufacturer at a time when the UK started to look more closely at window efficiencies, and public interest in quality grew through shows like grand designs. This was still technically focused but also involved developing the market and engaging more on the commercial side, with technical knowledge.

[edit] Blue green infrastructure and net zero

After a few years an opportunity drew me back to my old employer, though with some changes and redirections. Where I continued with the product focus, looking at rationalising all the products of the company, and testing, certifications and how the market was changing. I've been with them since then, now a more senior role in the group, sitting on a number of industry construction boards, housing forum as well as the Future Homes Hub. So I tend to represent our group as a whole rather than one business area, looking at the shifts in Net Zero and the impacts on infrastructures, particularly water related green infrastructure.

[edit] Do you think there are specific areas of knowledge that are lacking across the industry?

[edit] Understanding the impact of specification

In working from design to site practices, down the product level and manufacturing, certification and so on, you realise the significance of specification. Understanding specifications, how products get specified, how the experience of this is understood within the contract, and how it will work both technically on site as well commercially and environmentally. How products sit within and beyond specification, to the accompanying training, skill sets and so on.

I think the experience of being a subcontractor, working with a main contractor, then working with manufacturers helps to understand both sides of the process. Over the years specification has changed dramatically, from sustainability through to he Building Safety Act.

[edit] Sustainability from the edges to the core

I think what's happened recently is sustainability, which in my experience, about 10-15 years ago was a sort of nice to have, or part of the sustainability box ticking, something often value engineered out. But now with the climate crisis and net zero, it really should be sitting central to every company, with targets and awareness of the commercial implications. This means sustainability really has to be foremost in project thinking. So it's not an add on, but is at the core of each project.

[edit] Skills development

To support this there are for sure further skills development needed, in particular I think digital design such as environmental and thermal modelling tools at buildings scale but also digital tools at planning scale. When sustainability becomes central, the engineers involved need to have greater knowledge rather than treating it as a separate discipline, engineers need to know the capacity, volumes and sustainability goals of the design being worked on, it is core to really good design that these things can be woven in.

[edit] Building Safety Act and skills challenges

If you look at the Building Safety Act there are also massive skills challenges both in the inspectors required and experience, along with the existing practitioners, to understand and know what skills have you got, what is your competence level and how do you measure that level. I think there's much more work to be done there, to show what good looks like, to make sure businesses can measure themselves on competence as well. We are where we are really, in terms of trying to find a best route out or forward. But clearly we have a skills issue, I think apprenticeships have been successful bringing people in with experience and learning, that's one form and I think we do also need the university route.

[edit] Do you think there is value in sharing knowledge across disciplines and institutions? And what are the main barriers to sharing and applying knowledge?

[edit] The right people collaborating well

I think in construction generally we just don't seem to be putting enough people in to deal with all the sections needed, we may have an issue attracting apprentices if they're going into other industries perhaps. It isn't enough just to have the consultants, teams need to be discussing, for instance working around water, needing to know usage figures, working as a team across disciplines from design.

In our case knowing a design can’t started, for instance until we know how much water we will use or how we deal with water in general, otherwise there can be a huge amount of wasted effort. So you've got to work collaboratively and I think the other issue, as well as the skills is the contract issue. I mean construction in my experience over the years there is a barrier simply created by the contractual nature of construction.

[edit] Preparing for claims in a litigious industry

My first job as an apprentice years ago would be to go off and get box files, for the claim that was going to happen on the scheme at the end of it, we knew there was going to be litigation or LADs. So we would go and get box files, ready so we could defend ourselves in the court case. And its depressing because you start the business on the basis you may be called in. But that's the forms of contracting which at the moment tends to be very very strict. To say you, you will deliver this you and that and there is not a great deal of talk of collaboration, it’s not encouraged because the legal guys take over and say know your responsibilities, if you go outside of them then you are breaching the contract.

I think those forms of contracts especially around D&B can be tricky. Alliancing is probably better because you get the people around you. But if you look at the Building Safety Act, and the way that's going to be operated for HRB's in particular, we have to look at that form of contract very carefully, because you need all of that design work taken on very early and we don't tend to appoint contractors at the moment in that way, we appoint them very much later.

[edit] Improved working across disciplines and institutions

Institutions do have an important role to play, if we are asking for cross-discipline collaboration on projects then we need the same at institution level. A frustration is when one body produces a document but then there is another working group working on the same theme and they didn't know, so similar documents come out, which confuses messages. I've done quite a lot of work on knowledge transfer between organisations. Obviously there are membership organisations so there is that element but there is a need to find the gaps and try to link between the fields.

I think that's where we have possibly had issues previously, but if you look at the work that's going on in the moment with the Future homes Hub, LETI, RIBA, CIBSE there are a lot more crossovers which is encouraging to see. But digital skills, environmentalists in terms of biodiversity, we don't have enough ecologists, that's an issue.

[edit] How did you first discover Desgning Buildings?

I know Gregor Harvie from involvement on the knowledge transfer events we did, and we did try to get a blue or a water green infrastructure microsite set-up with help from various bodies, including our firm. Unfortunately, it didn’t ever go live, in the end which was a real shame, I think it was a missed opportunity at the time in terms of helping move along biodiversity and net zero. Since then I haven’t written articles on the site, but I will maybe start again. But I do use the site and reference it quite often.

I think the trouble is good knowledge is out there, it's making sure that we have those good areas of knowledge and experience that we can reuse for projects and we collect and pool that knowledge back, the wiki helps as a portal to good knowledge.

Last week I was asked to go and talk on green roofs and I did use a slide from Designing Buildings and asked how many knew of the site, I would say half the hands went up with a lot of the designers and young trainees, others got their phones out and I just said to check the site out in terms of things like the formation of contract law terms and more. This site and the idea of it is good to build an industry trusted knowledge base that you can use.

I do get the updates that come through from DB and I do send them around the business if they're relevant and also around other groups that I'm involved in. So I do get those posts and I do look periodically and reference the site in presentations. Particular with the next Generation because they they're like a sponge and it’s a good place for them to get their knowledge and information.

[edit] Do you have any particular themes relating to buildings and construction, or particular technical areas to discuss?

[edit] Linking up low carbon solutions

I think in terms of low carbon solutions it is not going to be, in my opinion one solution, say heat pumps alone, it will be a combination of solutions and trying to get all those different solutions to talk to each is going be the next big challenge. There are so many solutions coming out but they all have interconnected elements that will help or hinder uptake. For instance in some cases the need to replace entire systems in order for heat pumps to work, increasing the costs. Or space requirements for things like expansion vessels, hot water tanks, thermal stores in existing flats there just isn’t the space. Look at what they're doing in the Future Homes Hub with the five different types of options right up to passive house, this helps inform the conversation.

[edit] Shifts in the market, materials and recyclability

For us as a pipe manufacturer, knowing the direction of higher or lower temperature systems effects pipe designs. Pipes designed for higher temperature radiators need different materials than those for low temperatures, which use materials that can be more easily recycled. It's really flagging up what the size of the market is going to be, how it will change and how we are going to deal with the legacy we have. New electric off grid boiler systems coming out with phase change storage materials and so on. There are so many different options coming out very quickly and it’s a fast-changing industry which has its benefits for sure but can also bring issues.

[edit] Reconnecting fabric and technology with skills development

We were worried about the disconnect between fabric and technology, people just going out and buying some tech without having the due diligence to work out what the fabric performance is. There are still the skills needed to look at what needs to be done and actually carry out the calculations. The risk being heat pumps running at 50 degrees all day because it thinks it hasn't got up to temperature and actually burning through a lot of power not getting to temperature. So I think I think the whole area of net zero there are going be different types of solutions and an understanding of interconnections between systems, between use and technology as well as fabric and specification.

You know most designers can design a commercial building to run on gas, but for an electric system, say heat pumps and battery storage they don't have many of those to refer to. So I think it's going to be a push against design fees which have been fairly flat, it is it going be a push by consultancies and push back by finance and the management team I suspect.

[edit] Favourite buildings and why

Pantheon Rome 14AD still the worlds largest un reinforced concrete domed roof - amazing given the issues we have now with RAAC.
Medieval Cathedral building to me it’s equivalent to them putting a man on the moon given the money, time and technology of the time.
Le Corbusier Architect many designs one in particular the UN building in NY
Royal Festival Hall building London built for the Festival of Britain 1951. Its Grade 1 listed Robert Matthews and Leslie Martin brought together the best people in design, acoustics and MMC along with a Scandinavian influence. Fantastic bar and restaurant called Skylon. Its been updated to include ground source heating and cooling using the Thames.

[edit] Would you like to nominate someone for the guest editor slot ? and please do give us a little feedback on the experience of being our guest editor.

I would like to nominate Sehrish Wakil a graduate from Atkins and a keen organiser of the CIBSE YEN London and secretary to the CIBSE Resilient Cities Group. Sehrish has a interest in gaining knowledge and experience and most of the challenges we face in the construction sector and her generation will need to deal with. I also think women like Sehrish are changing the image and diversity of the construction sector for the good.

The experience has given me time to review my career in the construction industry and the challenges of skill and experience that cannot be fast tracked. I always try and promote the DB website shamelessly because I have seen people in meetings who do not understand a topic, name, process. No shame in that but going to Google is not the answer and at best possibly wrong information and at worse dangerous. Clearly I am a collaborator by nature and I don’t have all the answers and having a group of people with various experiences in my experience clearly has benefits.