“The event turned out to be an enormous success and the overall response from the audience was very positive, in fact the general comment was that the industry had moved to a new level of professionalism. The awards were not only given for engineering excellence and product innovation, but for other specialist skills, such as marketing and energy management.

“The building controls industry now has an award event that it can be proud of giving the people and companies working within the industry the recognition they deserve and enhancing the creditability of Building Controls within the marketplace. The Building Controls Industry Awards are now firmly established as an annual industry event and we are confident of their future growth and development.”

A great opportunity

The event gave everyone the opportunity to see exactly what the industry has achieved as well as the opportunity to network with other professionals within the industry. It also provided the opportunity for the sponsor companies to showcase their products and services and show the industry what they had to offer. Sponsors included:

• Trend Control Systems Ltd who sponsored Student of the Year
• Siemens Building Technologies who sponsored Engineer of the Year
• FETA who sponsored the Frank Dennis OBE Marketing Award
• Honeywell Automation & Control Systems who sponsored Systems Installer of the Year
• Priva Building Intelligence Ltd who sponsored Technical Innovation of the Year
• TAC who sponsored the Energy Management Award
• Resource Data Management who sponsored Best Service & Maintenance Provider

Steve Nicoll, Sales & Marketing Director for Resource Data Management said: “The effects of climate change are now starting to have an impact on every walk of life, from the taxes we pay to the cars we drive. Without doubt the way we manage buildings now and the way we will manage buildings in the near future is going to change dramatically and that means the industry is going to step up several gears.

“The awards dinner is a great way of bringing the industry together, it gets innovative, like minded companies talking to each other, debating the possibilities, and it shows the customers that the controls industry is alive with vibrant companies, innovative solutions and enthusiastic, well educated individuals ready to meet the challenges ahead. It was an exciting evening that heralds the dawn of a very exciting and a very important future.”

Harry Swinbourne, UK Business Manager for CentraLine Building Automation Honeywell Control Systems Ltd was also delighted with the evening. He said: “This was a well-organised and well-executed event which reflected well on the BCIA. To all the individuals responsible for its success we say ‘thank you and well done’. We will be supporting the event and the same category next year.”

The stars of the show

The stars of the show were without doubt the award winners who were overjoyed to win the prestigious awards. John Quinn, Managing Director of Ashdown Control Services whose company was a finalist in the Best Service & Maintenance Provider category and whose employee Callum Hunter walked away with the Student of the Year award said: “To be judged a dual finalist in this year’s Building Controls Industry Awards was not only a great achievement for Ashdown Controls but it was also another milestone in our endeavours to provide the highest level of service in our campaign to encourage youngsters into our industry and to promote apprenticeship schemes.

“As a founding member of the BCIA, Ashdown Controls together with our parent company Evolve Energy were delighted to attend the industry awards. To be awarded winner and finalist in the two categories entered, was the culmination of many years’ dedication and hard work by all of the team focusing on the desire to serve our clients and to encourage and support our trainees.

“Having attended and been judged as a winner in the inaugural function last year, we were impressed how this event had evolved into such a glitzy function. From the Champagne reception, through the ceremony, to the after dinner networking, this was a well organised and thoroughly professionally run event. We look forward to next year’s event.”

ADT fire and Security who won the Energy Management Award were also delighted with their achievement. Mike Cassell, BMS Manager for ADT said “Everyone involved in this project were extremely pleased to have been nominated for the award in the Energy Management category and are thrilled to have won on the night.

“ADT see the award as positive step to introduce the BACnet open system and the associated investment by the facilities staff at the Birmingham Hippodrome. We are also pleased that our commissioning engineer, Dan Wright, was able to collect the award on ADT’s behalf as acknowledgment of the hard work and dedication that he provided to ensure the system performed to such a high standard and to achieve the level of energy savings that the Hippodrome has witnessed.”

Raising the roof

It wasn’t just the awards which proved to be a huge success because the charity raffle which raised a massive £2,895 for Habitat for Humanity also proved to be a highlight of the night.

Ian Walkden, National Director of Habitat for Humanity Great Britain said: “We are very grateful to the BCIA for their generosity. The money raised will go towards our Habitat for Humanity HopeBuilder programme, where it will be used to build two complete houses and lay the foundations of a third house, giving more families in the developing world a safe and affordable home where they can raise their children and look forward to a better future.”

Our grateful thanks go to the following companies for their generous prize donations:

• BDC for a vacuum cleaner
• CentraLine by Honeywell for tickets to a RSC production in Stratford-upon-Avon
• Cylon Controls for a digital photo frame
• Nobbs & Jones for a large bottle of whiskey
• Pedersen Hotels for a weekend break for two at any Pedersen Hotel
• Priva BV for a Red Letter Day ‘Extended Rally Driving Experience’
• Resource Data Management for a Dell laptop
• Siemens Building Technologies for a magnum of Champagne
• Ticketmaster for tickets to the West End Show ‘Wicked’
• Tower PR for a portable DVD player
• Whirlpool for a Max microwave oven

Priva BV also donated a cheque for £700 to Habitat for Humanity.

The 2007 awards have been a huge success and have celebrated the many successes of the building controls industry – we can now look forward to next year and the many innovations and applications which we are sure to see.

Further information about the 2008 awards will appear in the August issue of BSEE so get your thinking caps on and start planning your application now.

www.buildingcontrolsindustryawards.com

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend