On one of the hottest days of the year, delegates attended the Chartered Institute of Plumbing & Heating Engineering’s (CIPHE) National Conference, which took place at Warwick University Conference Park on 29th – 31st May.
On Saturday, a line up of highly regarded speakers delivered a rich technical programme that was both educational and thought provoking. Many of the topics covered water conservation issues and water efficiency.
John Griggs, BRE’s domestic water expert, talked about The Code for Sustainable Homes and the proposed amendments to Building Regulations. John warned that if a totally integrated approach to both design and installation is not taken, the adoption of water efficient systems and fittings could potentially pose contamination risks.
Dr Lynne Jack, Director of Research in the School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, gave an in depth talk on the possible impacts of climate change upon the way in which water is used in and around buildings.
‘Misconnections’ was the theme of the presentation by Fiona Keates, Technical Officer, Environment Agency. Every day streams and rivers are polluted as a direct result of misconnections. Fiona gave delegates some frightening statistics when she detailed the some of the cases the Environment Agency had uncovered. She also went on to talk about how this problem can be prevented.
Other speakers on the day covered equally compelling topics, such as Richard Lockwood (HSE), who discussed Risk Assessments; Keith Needham (Gas Safe), talked about the progress of the new Gas Safe Register and Steve Southam (Bristan), gave a presentation on Water Efficiency.
Blane Judd, chief executive of CIPHE, was the last speaker of the day. In his presentation on the Institute’s new GreenPlumb initiative, Blane explained the need for such a scheme, which is designed to protect the public and the environment.
Simon Bartley, chief executive of UK Skills chaired the conference, which was sponsored by Plumb Center, Bristan and Worcester Bosch. Delegates and their partners enjoyed a Gala Dinner in the evening, with live entertainment.
At the Annual General Meeting on the previous evening evening, Ben Bradshaw EngTech MCIPHE RP was duly elected as the National President of the CIPHE and Allan McIntosh EngTech MCIPHE RP was elected as the Vice-President. Grant Nicoll EngTech LCGI MCIPHE RP was elected as a corporate member to serve on the Board of Trustees for the next three years and Reg James was ratified as the Independent Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
END 410 WORDS JUNE 2009
For further information on this press release, please contact Carol Cannavan on 01708 463114 or email carolc@ciphe.org.uk. Images are available on request.