Taking
action
Members of the IED may
be well-placed to act to
improve the environmental
impact of human activity.
According to the Institution, “Design
is a major in uence on environmental
issues, including use of materials, ‘cradle
to grave’ life cycles, recycling, use of
energy, production of energy and so on. All
engineering and product designers have to
be aware of and work to legislation based
on or incorporating sustainability and
environmental issues.”
Indeed, respect for the environment
is enshrined in the Institution’s code
of conduct. Among other things,
new members must pledge “at all
times to take care to avoid waste of
natural resources and damage to the
environment.”
Some members, however, have made
a deeper commitment by becoming
Chartered Environmentalist, a registration
awarded by the IED through a licence from
the Society for the Environment (see box).
Three IED members who have become
Chartered Environmentalists speak about
their experiences.
For two of them – Kevin Hogwood
MSc CEng CEnv CBuildE FIED
and Peter Easton CEng CEnv
MIED – their interest in
registration came out of their
line of work, construction.
Hogwood (pictured, inset),
a building services design
engineer and director of
Walker Construction and Invvu
Construction Consultants, says that the
extra quali cation provides him with a
competitive advantage. He says: “More
and more, and certainly during the
design process, do we need to look at
environmental issues, whether it’s energy
conservation or looking at materials that
come from a sustainable source. The
CEnv registration gives us credibility as
an organisation that there’s someone
there that can talk with some authority on
the subject.”
Hogwood says that the company’s
work in infrastructure construction for
rail and road clients touches on issues,
such as endangered species,
carbon emissions, sustainable
materials, transport, even local
skills sourcing. And it has
embedded lifecycle analysis
in its own processes, he
adds. “We get involved in
practically every aspect that
you can think of with regards to
environmental issues.”
Hogwood describes a recent project
near the needles on the Isle of Wight to
develop an old Napoleonic fort previously
owned by the MOD. The building, which
had been abandoned, was home to “quite
a bat colony”. As part of the project,
Walker Construction rehoused the colony
by procuring a purpose-made bat house,
setting it up nearby, and enticing the
bats to form the colony there, so the
fort’s casements could be cleared for
redevelopment as a café.
Above: Delphotostock/stock.adobe.com Main: Adge Grif n
Just worrying about the environment is no longer good enough. Members of the IED who have
qualifi ed for the Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) registration explain how they are making a
difference
12 www.ied.org.uk
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