New president highlights BESA members’ role in zero carbon goals
John Norfolk has been elected to serve as President of the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) for 2019/20.
Norfolk is senior project manager at Imtech Engineering Services. He was chair of BESA Yorkshire region from 2010 to 2012 and is a long serving member of the Association’s membership and legal & commercial committees. He described BESA members as the Association’s greatest asset and pledged to build on the technical legacy of the 115-year-old body to help tackle the modern challenges created by climate change and the need for better buildings to help address social problems.
“Never has our sector’s specialist knowledge been more in demand and more valuable,” said Norfolk in his inaugural speech. “We are in the midst of major technical and philosophical change in this country.
“Part of the political upheaval, which dominates headlines and conversations, are the critical challenges we face around climate change. This will transform the way we work and thrust our industry into the limelight,” he added. “However, this also creates an opportunity to address even more fundamental social issues affected by building performance.”
He also paid tribute to outgoing BESA president Tim Hopkinson, thanking him for taking on the responsibility of a second year in office in order to “steer the Association through some choppy waters”.
The new president recognised the role of BESA members in delivering government goal of net zero carbon by 2050. “BESA and its membership are in the vanguard of zero carbon action,” he commented.
“We are already delivering low carbon building services systems; energy efficiency and clean energy projects up and down the country. Aiming for low and zero carbon development will also have a hugely positive effect on the economy. However, to be successful, we must champion the high technical standards that BESA has always stood for and stress the need for our clients to insist on seeing evidence of competence – as proposed in the Hackitt Review.”
