‘We need DECs on all buildings, not just public buildings,’ says new RIBA Sustainable Futures chair, Alan Shingler
Sheppard Robson's Alan Shingler, new chair of RIBA Sustainable Futures Group
I meet Feilden Clegg Bradley’s Bill Gething at almost every sustainable design event I attend. Now there’s likely to be a new face on the circuit. Alan Shingler of Sheppard Robson recently took on the chair of the RIBA’s Sustainable Futures Group after Gething’s six year stint (two three year terms).
The approximately 16-member group meets quarterly and also includes 20 ‘corresponding members’. Shingler observes that the committee has an impressive depth and array of specialist expertise in different aspects of sustainability. See the membership of the group here. There’s no formal process for joining; it’s by ‘invitation.’ Shingler stresses that the group is not ‘a closed network; people who are passionate and knowledgeable about the topic should speak to us and potentially join.’
Shingler outlined to me three areas of focus for the first few months of his tenure:
- collaboration with non-architects: (engineers, RICS and BPF) and other existing sustainability organizations (UK-GBC, Zero Carbon Hub)
- post occupancy evaluation: Not just energy, but post occupancy generally. ‘Architects are in the unique position to influence carbon reduction through influencing behavoiur’. This is music to my ears, as I’ve been banging on about POE in the AJ for some time.
- RIBA Knowledge Communities: raise awareness of this new tool and use it to communicate activities of Sustainable Futures Group.
One of the group’s primary roles is to respond to the plethora of consultation papers relating to sustainability – which Shingler describes as ‘a mammoth task.’ They’ve just released a response to Part L consultation, and are currently looking at the Code for Sustainable Homes, the Code for Non-Domestic Buildings, Energy Performance Certificates and the Carbon Reduction Commitment.
‘We can’t get these codes out to industry quick enough because of protracted consultation periods,’ says Shingler, citing in particular the lengthy revision process for the Code for Sustainable Homes. ‘We need to have a significant shift in the short term or our task of confronting climate change becomes increasingly more difficult.’
To date, the Sustainable Futures Group has maintained a low profile. This is deliberate - according to Shingler - in order not to compete with other sustainability organisations. My view is that if the group is doing meaningful work, it should contribute more actively to the debate.
Shingler joined Sheppard Robson in 1998 and started a sustainability group within the practice in 2000.
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