Constructive Voices

This episode features a really interesting conversation between two construction industry experts. Irish builder and TV star, Peter Finn, talks to David Hernandez, Managing Director of Elecosoft LLC. 

Although David is based in America, he also talks to Pete The Builder about how the industry is doing there right now, Elecosoft’s history can actually be traced back to 1895 in Essex, England.

..”So you have performance and predictive analytics. To me that is the piece that I think could be really transformative for the industry.”

David Hernandez is the Head of US/Managing Director for Elecosoft, LLC, a provider of Innovative Planning and Scheduling solutions for the construction industry.

For over 15 years, David has been involved in virtually all aspects of the commercial construction industry. From Business Development to running his own business, he brings diversified experience to his role at Elecosoft.

Previously, he was head of sales at eMOD by BuildSafely LLC, where he helped construction companies digitalize their safety processes, safety plans and inspections, ensuring that crews would come home safely at the end of their shift. He began his construction technology career at Trimble Viewpoint, shortly after leaving his partnership in a commercial construction company in Houston, TX.

David understands the pain created by tremendous company growth without proper processes and poor technology in place. Removing that pain is what drives him today, and that is what ultimately brought him to Elecosoft. Based in Austin, Texas, the company provides solutions that are built by construction for construction that revolutionize the way projects are planned, tracked, and delivered.

In the world of project management, efficiency, accuracy, and collaboration are paramount to success. At Elecosoft, David is instrumental in delivering one of the premier technology tools to the construction industry. In doing so, he is helping customer companies to achieve these goals.

Constructive Voices, has been inspired by a former guest to create something new and exciting. Thanks to Emma Nicholson, we are collaborating to bring you a number of episodes that Focus on Females in the built environment. So far these have been extremely well received.

In the third Focus on Females episode features , Emma Nicholson speaks to Océane Mbaguta, a recent Environmental Engineering graduate. Océane’s interview will be a great inspiration to younger women but for sure, her immense passion and motivation will trigger something in all listeners.

In this interview, Océane shares her motivation to study engineering, the challenges she has encountered and her future aspirations as a young female engineer in the sustainability and built environment sectors.

In the area of diversity and inclusion she’s hoping to see BAME and people with disability have more opportunities in the engineering sector. She ends with an inspiring quote for young females –

“We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”~Marie Curie.

Océane Mbaguta is a recent Environmental Engineer Graduate. She graduated from The University of Nottingham with a Masters Degree (MEng) in environmental engineering including an industrial year.

She has also received the Nottingham Advantage Award, recognition given to students who have achieved extra-curricular modules. She completed her placement year with an international energy company, where she worked as an Environmental Consultant. She’s excited to soon start her graduate scheme with a multinational infrastructure consulting firm.

Océane’s passion to study engineering, came from her desire to develop solutions to tackle climate change. She aspires to become an environmental manager.

Océane is a committee member of the WES EDI Special Interest Group. Outside of WES, she is a graduate member of ICheme and IEMA.

She’s also a STEM ambassador and she enjoys volunteering. She held several positions at University such as Vice-President of The Sustainability Society and Treasurer for Women’s Engineering Society.

Océane enjoys working in teams and has experience in project management, team work, organization and planning.

Emma is an award-winning Chartered Construction Manager and Chartered Environmentalist and has been a previous Board Trustee with the Women’s Engineering Society.

She is a Principal Sustainability Project Manager with a multi-disciplinary national UK consultancy with 25 years built environment industry experience.

She is also Chair of the EDI Specialist Interest Group for the Women’s Engineering Society and is an EDI Advisory Group member of the Chartered Institute of Building.

Emma founded the international LinkedIn Group, Women in Sustainable Construction and Property and has been Chair of the UNA-UK Harrogate Group since 2022.

In the second Focus on Females episode features , Emma Nicholson speaks to a trailblazing female engineer, Jo Parker.

Jo has had a fascinating career. She was originally inspired to be a civil engineer when she was only around 14 years of age.

The interview also delves into the challenges women currently face as engineers in the built environment.

Jo also discusses biodiversity and sustainability with us. 

Jo Parker is a chartered civil engineer, who works as an independent consultant having worked in the water industry for over 40 years. She has held senior roles with UK water companies up to Director level and has also worked in a variety of other countries as varied as Afghanistan and Australia.

She is also Chair of the Water and Sanitation Community Advisory Board for the Institution of Civil Engineers, Vice-President Engineering of the Institute of Water and a fellow of the International Water Association.

She was voted one of the UK’s top 50 women engineers in 2020

Emma is an award-winning Chartered Construction Manager and Chartered Environmentalist and has been a previous Board Trustee with the Women’s Engineering Society.

She is a Principal Sustainability Project Manager with a multi-disciplinary national UK consultancy with 25 years built environment industry experience.

She is also Chair of the EDI Specialist Interest Group for the Women’s Engineering Society and is an EDI Advisory Group member of the Chartered Institute of Building.

Emma founded the international LinkedIn Group, Women in Sustainable Construction and Property and has been Chair of the UNA-UK Harrogate Group since 2022.

Once again, Constructive Voices, has been inspired by a former guest to create something new and exciting. Thanks to Emma Nicholson, we are collaborating to bring you a number of episodes that Focus on Females in the built environment.

This very first Focus on Females episode features Emma Nicholson interviewing Kat Draper.

Kat is a Chartered Civil Engineer and has been working in the construction industry for more than 15 years.

We cover why Kat chose engineering as a career in the first place, what motivates her and what special skills she feels are important to being an engineer.

Emma asks her about some of the most interesting engineering projects she has been involved in.

We talk about some work she has done that really helped a community.

The interview also delves into the challenges women currently face as engineers in the built environment.

Kat also discussing biodiversity and sustainability with us. 

Kat is a Chartered Civil Engineer and has been working in the construction industry for more than 15 years. She completed a Master’s degree (MEng) in Civil Engineering at the University of Southampton and has completed the APM Project Fundamentals Qualification.

Kat first became Incorporated (IEng) before later becoming Chartered (CEng). Her latest roles focus on management and co-ordination of design teams; roles include Team Leader, Project Manager and Design Manager.

The projects she’s worked on range from early feasibility studies, preliminary design and detailed design, with extensive collaboration with Contractors, Clients and various third parties and Stakeholders.

Kat is keen to encourage others into the construction industry and is passionate about creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive industry. She promotes engineering to others through mentoring, by being a STEM Ambassador and facilitating student work placements and attending career events.

She is a member of the Women Engineering Society Equality Diversity Inclusion (EDI) committee, which provides a platform to assess the Engineering industry, highlighting best practice whilst challenging the industry in areas that require improvement.

With lower-than-average numbers of women and minority groups working in the industry, Kat acknowledges that change is required to make the industry more effective at attracting and retaining talent.

Kat believes that if people have certain skills or are capable and keen to do certain roles, they should be able to do a role that utilises those skills. This shouldn’t be limited or defined by gender.

The best teams will have different skills, emotions and personalities within them, and this provides resilience and balance. Everyone within the team has the right to be their authentic self, and being able to be authentic, they can give their best and achieve their own and the project objectives.

Emma is an award-winning Chartered Construction Manager and Chartered Environmentalist and has been a previous Board Trustee with the Women’s Engineering Society.

She is a Principal Sustainability Project Manager with a multi-disciplinary national UK consultancy with 25 years built environment industry experience.

She is also Chair of the EDI Specialist Interest Group for the Women’s Engineering Society and is an EDI Advisory Group member of the Chartered Institute of Building.

Emma founded the international LinkedIn Group, Women in Sustainable Construction and Property and has been Chair of the UNA-UK Harrogate Group since 2022.

Discover this episode and more at Constructive Voices.

In our 60th episode ever, Claire Wansbury talks to Jackie De Burca about biodiversity net gain, its implications and specifically the online training series that we are creating in partnership with Claire and a wonderful line-up of top experts – Beyond Biodiversity Net Gain.

The accessible online training series will comprise of 15 modules to begin of around twenty or so minutes per module. It is designed to be easy to dip in and out of and will cover the necessary nitty gritty as well as inspirational case studies. 

“If we work with nature we work with the ultimate multi tasker”

Claire is an Atkins Fellow and Technical Director Atkins, a world-leading engineering and environmental consultancy. In June 2023, the Society for the Environment named her as their 2023 Environmental Professional of the Year Winner.

Claire is one of the UK’s top experts on biodiversity net gain, including having co-authored national good practice principles.

The team at Constructive Voices are delighted to be collaborating with Claire on the Beyond BNG Training.

In 2022, Claire was included in the Ends Director’s Power List of the 100 most influential environmental professionals.

With over 30 years of experience as an award-winning ecologist, in the last few years, Claire has been working with environmental economists and others to build a shared understanding of the value of benefits our natural world provides to people.

Together with some of her colleagues, Claire produced an excellent short magazine before COP15. This is a very useful resource regardless of what your level of knowledge is as it combines insights and hopes from top experts along with a selection of case studies.

Heating and cooling are essential to modern life. This includes comfort control for homes and buildings, and temperature control in industrial processes. It also includes the cold chain that ensures safe delivery of food, medicine and vaccines around the world…

Heating and cooling technology for buildings create around 15% of global carbon emissions, while food loss adds 10%, according to research.

New technologies that are helping to decarbonize these areas are increasingly being used for industry and transportation.

As the urgency to combat climate change intensifies, the race towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 has become a paramount goal for the United Kingdom.

While many industries grapple with finding affordable and sustainable alternatives, the commercial heating sector has found a promising solution: catalytic combustion.

This innovative approach not only offers significant advantages over traditional heating methods but also provides a cost-effective pathway towards achieving net-zero targets within the industry.

Catalytic combustion, as a highly efficient heating technology, harnesses the power of chemical reactions to produce heat with minimal carbon emissions.

Continue reading – Catalytic Combustion: A Cost-Effective Pathway to Net Zero in the Commercial Heating Industry 

We carried out these installations to do beta tests. We put gas meters on every single appliance, so that we could measure and collect the data to prove that what they had before versus what they’ve got now.

There was a significant reduction in energy consumption from the installations we’ve done so far.

The return on investment average is around about 24 months and as far as I know, there’s not another heating system, which can be installed which can achieve that.

Thomas McGee is the Founder of X-Heat Ltd, a leading innovator in energy-efficient heating solutions for the commercial and leisure industry.

With over a decade of hands-on experience in the heating industry, I am now working with cutting-edge technologies that reduce carbon emissions and increase cost savings for businesses.

Prior to founding X-Heat, Tom held various leadership positions where he gained valuable experience in the industrial/commercial and domestic heating sectors.

He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Engineering Institute of Technology, Qualified GAS SAFE Registered engineer for 10+ years.

Tom is truly passionate about using technology to make a positive impact on the environment and society.

Understand more about Biodiversity Net Gain With Sustainability Lawyer, Ben Stansfield of Gowling WLG. Ben specialises in environmental and planning law.

BNG – biodiversity net gain is a really positive step. I suspect 10% improvement through development stops the rot, preventing further degradation.

But actually, it’s only when we get to 20 to 30% biodiversity net gain that we can start to see some reversal of some of the damage that we’ve done in the last 200 years

Ben is a Sustainability Lawyer at Gowling WLG, specialising in planning and environmental law.

He is a Trustee of the UK Environmental Law Association and a frequent speaker on nature and climate issues.

Ben was part of the inaugural ENDS Report Power List, recognising 100 environmental professionals who had had a significant impact since 2020.

And much more besides. Ben is a superb guest and this is one not to miss!

“Clean energy cities is a framework of recommendations that we gave to five different typologies of cities globally across the world.” Dr. Stephen Lorimer, Centre for Net Zero

If you want to be ahead of the curve in understanding how are cities need to change and are being transformed, then be sure to listen to Dr. Stephen Lorimer of the Centre For Net Zero, who speaks both passionately and expertly on this topic.

Dr. Lorimer has built new programmes and teams across smart cities, data, and energy. Clean Energy Cities is his project at Centre for Net Zero, powered by Octopus Energy – and delivered an international standard for cities to be the new leaders of the energy transition.

He has written the £16m business case that created the Data Standards Authority for the UK Government, and the £5m case for the London Office of Technology and Innovation for London’s 33 boroughs and the Mayor.

Stephen has managed a new £2m pre-seed fund for sustainable technologies at Imperial Business School.

He is an expert in sustainable cities and data sharing after years as the policy lead for data sharing for the UK government, for smart cities for the Mayor of London, and as a consultant for urban design and regeneration.

We took data from 17 cities to form these from the open data about the structure of the city, the number of people the commercial floor space, the number of households, the density, and the open space available within the city, but also from the energy system. How much was decarbonized?

The Global Policy Research Group is the the policy hub for next-generation policymakers that brings senior researchers, young professionals, and students together. One of their most recent reports investigates case studies and other aspects of Sustainable Housing in Europe.

Jackie De Burca speaks to GPRG’s Research Leader of the Environmental Solutions, Katharina Fey, and Research Fellow, Jordan Everetts about the report’s findings, which policy makers will be considering.

Discover some of the possible solutions for Sustainable Housing in Europe, hear about urban and rural concepts, existing stock, UK case studies and more.

“We have one planet, we have a set of resources, use only what you need and make sure that what you have is actually being utilized, be that the resources that already exist, or be that the housing stock and it’s already there.” Katharina Fey

Katharina Fey is the Research Leader of the Environmental Solutions team at Global Policy Research Group.

She brings experience from having worked and being educated in both Germany and the UK, as well as Malaysia, the Netherlands and Sweden in her graduate studies.

First hand experience with the different facets of sustainability in each of these environments, as well as the overarching theme of overconsumption and mismanagement of resources inspired her to dedicate herself to both development and sustainability topics.

She holds a Masters Degree in Development Economics, an undergraduate degree in International Cultural and Business studies and is currently completing a complementary double degree in Development Economics with a focus on Sustainability.

Outside of academic work she enjoys exploring her current residence Sweden and engaging in post-growth and community initiatives.

“My messaging towards policymakers would be mostly to listen to what the market is saying there is a need for this type of shift towards these types of conversions towards the adoption of sustainable materials.

Towards these types of schemes, to better address sustainability issues in the housing environment.” Jordan Everetts

Jordan Everetts is a research fellow at Global Policy Research Group with the Environmental Solutions team.

Jordan comes to the GPRG team from a small, rural town in Central Pennsylvania in the United States.

Growing up in a farming community, he is accustomed to the wide-open spaces of nature that come with living in a rural community.

Being close to nature and a rural way of life influences his research into sustainability. He holds two bachelor’s degrees, one from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and one from the University of Florida specializing in economics and geographic information systems.

Currently, he is studying human geography at Lund University. His research interests include housing inequality, degrowth, sustainability in value chains, and education inequality.

Outside of his work and research, Jordan is an avid hiker and plays basketball on the weekends. If he could move anywhere in the world, he would go to the Azores to spend his days fishing and hiking.

As a forward-looking policy think tank from the Nordics, GPRG aims to be the policy hub for next-generation policymakers by bringing senior researchers, young professionals, and students together.

GPRG carves a unique discussion space for everyone interested in improving the quality of policy-making through publications, initiatives, events, and social media.

With policy teams from a number of disciplines and major issue areas, GPRG applies creative approaches to develop ideas for policymakers that lead to real change.

Our extensive communication and outreach efforts allow us to adapt to a rapidly changing media landscape and move our ideas in the national and international policy debate.

Learn more about the Global Policy Research Group here

Jane Findlay is the Immediate Past President of the Landscape Institute of the UK, and the director of Fira Landscape Limited. She has a wealth of experience in not only landscape architecture but also how it works in healthcare settings and therefore, how it can affect our health.

Your life expectancy improves, if you live within 10 or 15 minutes walk of a green space, it’s as stark as that.

If we want to continue to have a healthy lifestyle, we have to be more considerate about our environment, and how we build, how we plan, how we restore nature.

And we have to accept nature coming into our cities, and we’re going to have to make you know, we’re going to have to make some sacrifices to allow nature into our cities.

Jane founded Fira with Sue Radley in 1997, having both previously worked together for PTP Landscape. She is the immediate past President of the Landscape Institute, having been on the Board of Trustees since 2019.

She is an experienced master planner and designer of the public realm and has completed a number of high-profile schemes across the UK and overseas. Key projects have included the International Convention Centre and Brindley Place in Birmingham, Salford Quays, and Cardiff Bay.

I think people are beginning to realize just how important our survival is and how dependent our survival is on nature. And anything we do to damage nature actually damages our own health.

She is passionate about promoting the psychological and physical benefits that quality landscape design plays in all aspects of the public realm.

Jane is a member of the Healthy Buildings Focus Group, part of the Business Council for Sustainable Development and Architects for Health.

Placemaking is at the centre ofh her work, using the public realm to define the character of a new development or to redefine the character of an existing urban area.

Jane has led the Fira team on large and complex commercial and public sector projects, creating sustainable civic spaces that are designed to promote enjoyment and a feeling of well-being in the people who use them.

We continue to build these multi storey developments, right bang in the city centre with no space around them for green.

It just saddens me that in the striving to create homes, for people we’re not thinking about how the spaces around them, the places that we’re creating for those people.

I just wonder whether we’re building the problems in the slums of the future.