CIBSE’s ‘Building Performance Reimagined – What’s Next?’ conference brought senior engineers, architects, innovators and policymakers together at the Royal Society in London to interrogate the future of building performance. Aligned with 2024–25 CIBSE president Fiona Cousins’ theme, the programme focused on practical strategies to boost sustainability, efficiency and occupant wellbeing across the built environment.
Drawing on recent CIBSE reports, the event drilled into four core themes: thermal comfort, energy saving, data measurement and retrofit. Throughout the day, speakers shared case studies that showcased emerging performance metrics, new technological solutions and successful retrofit projects, with organisers signalling that future sponsorship packages are expected to include opportunities for partners to contribute their own case studies.
The first session, ‘Fabric first’, chaired by Sasha Krstanovic, founder and design lead at mstep and a CIBSE trustee, examined decarbonisation and climate resilience. Speakers Kathryn Dapre (CALA), Tom Smith and Ola Bialas (Hoare Lea) set out the challenges of cutting emissions and mitigating overheating risk, using examples from the housebuilding sector to illustrate best practice.
Session two, led by CIBSE head of government affairs Sam Baptist, explored how research and policy can underpin more sustainable, resilient buildings. Presenters Becci Taylor (Arup), Lewis Turner, Dipo Lafinhan and Andrew Wholley discussed themes such as affordability within planetary boundaries, offering forward-looking perspectives on delivering homes that are both environmentally responsible and economically viable.
The final ‘People first’ session shifted the lens to occupants as the critical determinant of real-world performance. Speakers Tom Randall, Jon Belfield and Vic Tink (InTandem Systems) shared practical case studies and strategies that place users at the centre of building design, operation and performance assessment.
Across all three sessions, the conference maintained a strong emphasis on real-world application rather than theory. According to the event report, ‘Building Performance Reimagined – What’s Next?’ reinforced CIBSE’s commitment to driving high-quality building performance and tackling the sector’s pressing sustainability, efficiency and wellbeing challenges.
By spotlighting actionable examples, surfacing emerging innovations and encouraging cross-sector dialogue, the event set a clear benchmark for future CIBSE conferences. For UK construction and property teams, the message was that better performance will come from combining robust fabric and data strategies with people-focused design and policy-aware planning.
