CIBSE Young Members

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Headway Down Under
Australia is a rewarding location for environmentally minded young building services engineers. But, says Illina Nanitsos, the profession needs to push the green agenda harder

Australia has in the past been thought of as a country that lags behind the UK and other European countries in discovering new initiatives and technological advances. Today, however, this gap seems to have decreased dramatically as our connections around the globe increase and organisations such as CIBSE provide a ‘real time’ view of technological and sustainable advances in the industry.

Building services in Australia are driven primarily by the industry. Ratings that we use to measure efficiency, such as NABERS and Green Star, have the effect of pushing us further to improve the country’s standards in design. These ratings did not begin as legislative requirements – they were the result of the industry aiming to raise building services quality, efficiency and effectiveness.

The large populations and building-project density in the UK and around Europe give the advantage of being able to test new technologies and green initiatives. At the same time, this concentration creates an inertia that affects the rate at which these fine ideas may be integrated into society.

Australia has the advantage of implementing these ideas at a somewhat faster rate as they filter their way to our side of the globe. Ideas, once grasped, are quickly implemented and, due to our lighter density, each structure that is built creates a huge impact ‘down under’, and helps push our industry forward.
Being an Engineer in Australia has been a great experience for me and many other young engineers that I work with. In the short time that I have worked in the industry, I have learnt not only a fantastic amount about building services design (an am still in awe of how much more there is still to absorb), but I have also become aware of the importance of being a consultant, not just an engineer.

It has been a tremendous learning curve and I feel that I have been fortunate enough to work with consultants who have emigrated from all over the world, each with the knowledge and expertise they have acquired from their own country or through their travels. Unfortunately, it seems that much of the Australian public remains unaware of the ever-changing and expanding green technological advances that persist around the globe, as we strive towards a more sustainable future.

This makes it difficult to recruit young Australian engineers into an industry that has so much to offer.
It is up to engineers in the industry to make others aware of the importance of sustainable development so that we may set in motion an avalanche of ideas that will make the industry and our society develop into the sustainable vision that we strive for.

Creating a sustainable future is everyone’s responsibility. Each person should take a stand to minimise their own carbon footprint and take care that their lifestyle encourages a greener environment. While the bulk of society can separate paper from plastic, shut the lights off when they leave the room, and maybe even buy a Prius, a great burden of responsibility falls on the building services engineer to create designs that promote a high level of sustainability within commercial and residential buildings.

Buildings are part of every society across the globe. It is essential when producing a design that we ultimately become a part of this society that we are not merely conscious of the sustainability issues inherent in the makeup of every building, but we must use our powers of engineering for good instead of evil.

Through the command of our designs we have an obligation to practically minimise the detrimental effect these structures have on our environment.

Illina Nanitsos is a Project Engineer with Steensen Varming (Australia), and President of the CIBSE Young Engineers Network Australia/New Zealand. 

Last Year Steensen Varming Australia won the YEN Champions Award. The Award is to recognise companies which are committed to developing and recruiting young engineers. If you work for a supportive company, go to www.cibse.org/yen to find out how you can enter them into the YEN Champions Award for 2010. 
 

To read this article and others similar please visit the CIBSE Journal Website.