Following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower various investigative processes were set up and are still to report Without pre-empting the outcomes it would be fair to say that there appear to be some systemic problems in the construction industry and that it is vital that the industry responds with a serious look at how it can improve standards and quality of design, delivery, compliance and enforcement, accountability while overcoming the performance gap in use. This is not only as a collective professional duty, but also necessary to instil confidence in the building users. Quality in construction and the built environment has an impact across a broad spectrum from environmental performance and resource stewardship to human health and well-being. Have we abandoned too much red tape’? Do quality and regulations actually reinforce each other? How do we ensure that fit for purpose specifications agreed by the design team are delivered on site? How do we manage value engineering’? Are present procurement methods and costs a barrier to getting things right? Is it time for a quality campaign to bring back confidence in the industry? This session will explore the issues with a focus on housing, both new build and retrofit, for which the construction industry is now very challenged to deliver with long term quality and value. We will invite the audience to contribute their own suggestions and by the session end we will identify three key recommendations as the most universally applicable.

Videos:
- See Peter Caplehorn discuss the debate here

In collaboration with the Good Homes Alliance

Chair:
Jane Duncan

Speakers:
Lynne Sullivan - LSA Studio, Chair Good Homes Alliance & the Edge
Richard Cook - Head of Residential Lendlease
Paula Higgins - Founder and CEO, Home Owners Alliance
Peter Caplehorn - Deputy Chief Executive and Policy Director Construction Products Association
Robin Nicholson - Senior Partner Cullinan Studio & the Edge

The imbalances and inequalities of the housing market have been well documented. It is our collective responsibility to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 11 by 2030 to ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing. Are we ignoring the economics of housing? Are there more effective ways of providing for all, retaining quality and delivering quantity? Is the British dream’ of homeownership a chimera? Do we have responsible leadership to overcome the problems? This session will explore challenging and new solutions to the problem. We will invite the audience to contribute their own suggestions and by the session end we will identify three key recommendations as the most universally applicable.

Chair: 
Jane Briginshaw - Jane Briginshaw Associates & the Edge

Speakers: 
Polly Toynbee - journalist and writer
John East - Strategic Director Growth and Homes London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
David Roberts - Director Igloo
Claire O’Shaughnessy - Director Deloitte Real Estate

12.00 - 13.00 Ecobuild Conference

Closing the Performance Gap: A Plan for Action

It is generally agreed across the construction industry that there is “a gap between how buildings are meant to (and probably promised) to perform, and how they actually perform in service that in any other industry would be regarded as a scandal. There can hardly be a cause more deserving of cross-industry collective contemplation and action than the constant failure of its product”. Paul Morrell, Collaboration for Change, The Edge Commission Report on the Future of Professionalism, 2015. The time has come for action and this session offers practical guidance for professionals and their clients to overcome the performance gap.

Chair:
Paul Morrell OBE, Paul Morrell Consulting, former Government Chief Construction Adviser, Commission Chair and Principal Author of Collaboration for Change.

Speakers:
Karen Rogers, Design Manager, Canary Wharf Contractors
Alan Penn, Dean, Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment
Nick Higgs, Arup
David Adams, Technical Director, Wilmott Dixon Energy Services
Lynne Ceeney: UK Green Building Council
Simon Hart: Innovate UK

Venue: Building Performance Hub, Ecobuild, Excel London

Downloads:

A presentation to CIC Council on the performance gap on the 16th March 2016 following the Ecobuild event

Investment in sustainability measures makes financial sense but the payback is usually longer than the five-year parliamentary term. Successive governments have proved reluctant to compel individuals to invest in upgrading the energy efficiency of their homes because this is politically unpopular. Proposals to make homeowners upgrade the energy efficiency of their home when building an extension have been dropped three times. Can a democratically elected UK government ever introduce the tough measures needed to ensure we hit our 2050 carbon reduction target?

Host: Babita Sharma, BBC World News presenter

Speakers:
John Sauven, Executive Director, Greenpeace
Rt. Hon. Lord Deben, John Gummer, Chairman, Committee on Climate Change
Jane Davidson, Director, Institute of Sustainable Practice, Innovation and Resource Effectiveness’s (INSPIRE) and former Minister for Environment and Sustainability, Wales

Jane Davidson will be introducing the Edge’s thinking on a National Plan as part of the debate