Written by Willow Aliento, Principal, Geronimo AdvisoryChair of Session 1 of the 2025 CIBSE ANZ Seminar Series, Building Performance: Imagination to Reality
31.7.2025
When we talk about the “value” of a building, what do we mean? Is it the numbers equating to leasing fees, the quantity of investment capital or the budget for a development project? Hearing the insights from the speakers at the first seminar of the 2025 CIBSE ANZ Seminar Series, Building Performance: Imagination to Reality, the idea of “value” aligns more closely with matters such as human wellbeing, climate adaptation and resilience, social inclusion and opportunities to innovate in design, materials and operations.
The presentation by Fiona Cousins, COO at ARUP and Immediate-Past President of CIBSE framed the context for the series. Drawing on key elements and themes of the Building Performance Reimagined report and research project, Fiona outlined how to intellectually create space for building services engineers and the wider industry to translate sustainability meta concepts into tangible design, specification, delivery and operational decisions.
The over-arching themes and standpoints of the report aim to reduce negative environmental impacts and enhance the degree to which buildings serve people.
Imagination and innovation are called for. As Fiona said, the professions need to ask whether we are solving the right problems. We also need to recognise that the art and science of engineering means you can “think your way into the future”.
In the panel discussion, Fiona also foregrounded the value of small decisions, noting that whatever is “scalable” is the low-hanging fruit in terms of improving environmental sustainability and reducing emissions.
The solutions are not only equipment or system based, they also include operational initiatives, such as reducing set points down by half a degree in winter, or up by one degree in summer. The impact on occupant comfort will be extremely minor, however the benefit in terms of reduced operational energy, scaled across a year and across multiple buildings, can be significant.
Bringing everyone into the room
ASBEC CEO Alison Scotland brought the importance of collaboration to centre stage. As an organisation incorporating peak organisations from across the property value chain including materials manufacturing, trades, developers, consultants, builders and certification and accreditation bodies, ASBEC has proven itself to be a successful enabler of positive change.
The outcomes have included research, reports and policy documents that have positively influenced the trajectory of the Australian National Construction Code and industry practices, including the shift towards all-electric buildings, uptake of voluntary energy efficiency improvements, the new emphasis on embodied carbon and the collective progress towards net zero.
There are so many interconnections between buildings and the environment, she explained. And the impact of buildings on both the natural environment and human communities can be both positive and negative.
Buildings need to serve people, serve the environment, and serve the biosphere and the planet. The work of those designing, delivering and managing buildings also needs to consider the intangibles such as social cohesion and liveability. How people feel within the building is one of the most crucial indicators we need to consider.
In the panel discussion, Alison highlighted the need to bring positivity into the industry. There is an array of low-hanging fruit to engage with including improving skills around sustainable design, tackling embodied carbon and shifting to electrification of both new and existing Australian buildings.
Progress to net zero in Aotearoa
Aotearoa/New Zealand faces similar challenges to Australia, however, local conditions do create some specific challenges, according to Sam Archer from the New Zealand Green Building Council.
His presentation focused on four key challenges: Indigenous inclusion, electrification, peak demand and overheating.
The NZGBC has adopted Green Star and adapted it for local circumstances. New credits include significant opportunities for partnering with local Māori iwi or hapū to develop place-based approaches to Indigenous engagement, involvement and project legacy benefits.
Electrification is the nation’s most significant opportunity for achieving net zero. Phasing out gas also has a sound business case, as NZ has gas supply challenges and the price is continually escalating. There is no financial case nor operational effectiveness case for new buildings to include gas.
Peak demand and reducing it through measures including passive design is a priority. This forms part of the new ‘Resilience’ credit in NZ Green Star. The NZGBC has also shifted from focusing on a metric of ‘measuring emissions’ in buildings to ‘minimising energy use’ as electrification will engineer out the majority of building-related emissions given the NZ grid is at almost 100% renewable energy.
One of Sam’s points during the panel discussion was the importance of knowing your audience when working to achieve change and also identifying the skills you need to make it happen.
Reasons to be hopeful
The final question to all the speakers was, “what makes you optimistic?”
For Alison, it is the member organisations of ASBEC and their commitment to progress. For Sam, it is the finance sector, which is not waiting for policy to mandate sustainability but is making clear decisions to prioritise it and direct capital in positive ways.
Fiona said, “if we do not have optimism, what do we have?” We must have hope that we can improve things, because that is what enables us to try.
“It’s all still possible, but it’s only possible if you want it to be,” she said.
CIBSE would like to thank Willow Aliento for hosting Session 1 and all of our speakers, Fiona Cousins, Alison Scotland and Sam Archer, sharing their insights, wisdom and time with our audience.
Join Session 2 of the Building Performance Seminar Series, live, 12pm Tue 5 August 2025. We will explore the theme of Connectivity in its various forms as an essential concept for the longevity of Building Performance.
2025 Seminar Series - One ticket, 5 sessions!
Register here for a 40% discount, with access to the recording of Session 1 and speaker resources included.