Winners of the 2024 awards
The shortlists for the CIBSE Building Performance Awards have been revealed, and Savills is leading the way with eight nominations. As well as making the cut in the Engineer of the Year and Leadership categories, it picked up nominations for facilities management, learning and development, air quality product or innovation, portfolio workplace and best digital innovation in both organisational strategy and project delivery.
Other multiple nominees hoping to win big at the ceremony on 27 February, at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, include Max Fordham, British Land, Hoare Lea, Aecom and AtkinsRéalis.
There are two new categories for the 2025 awards – Client of the Year and Leadership – and three categories for workplaces: new build, portfolio and retrofit.
Client of the Year recognises those who have demonstrated leadership in driving whole life building performance, and acknowledges those who have prioritised energy efficiency, user satisfaction, carbon reduction, and value across projects.
The judges were impressed by the shortlisted organisations’ level of commitment to reducing carbon emissions and remarked on the diverse range of finalists, ranging from local authorities to developers.
The Leadership Award celebrates individuals, organisations or initiatives that have shown exceptional leadership on climate action.
Good leadership among the nominees tended to focus on influencing and leading the wider sector, rather than internal teams, said the judges.
The quality of entries for the Embodied Carbon Award – Products and Systems: for Manufacturers and Suppliers also impressed the judges, who said it showed manufacturers are taking embodied carbon seriously and investing resources in assessing and reducing it.
Consultants were also commended in the Embodied Carbon Award for services and projects. The judges said consultancies are ‘doing a lot of great work to improve their understanding of the processes required to assess and reduce embodied energy in their projects’.
In the Project of the Year workplace categories, the judges were impressed by the quality of entries and the high number of retrofit submissions. They were encouraged to see upfront carbon being considered more seriously in the Residential Project of the Year, and said submissions were pushing boundaries.
In the Product or Innovation thermal comfort category, there was a better spread this year of quality entries and new technologies demonstrating innovation. Adaptation to climate change was a common theme, and the judges also observed a move away from refrigerant-based cooling to more natural means of temperature control.
The Wellbeing category judges were pleased to see solutions primarily targeting retrofits, while, in the facilities management category, there was a consistently good selection of entries, which made the scoring close.
Consultancy of the Year shortlists
The three Consultancy of the Year categories are always fiercely contested, and this year is no exception. Judges said the quality of entries in the less than 50 employees section indicated how competitive the market was, with companies showing strong client relationships.
In the 50-300 employee category, they noted that the best-scoring section among entries was on staff development and diversity, inclusion and equality, reflecting positively on the sector’s progress on retention and training, and on recruiting engineers from diverse backgrounds.
In the more than 300 employees category, judges said the excellent innovations and approaches deserved a wide audience.
To book a table at the awards, visit www.cibse.org/bpa
