This is a tough brief. There is a commonly accepted rule that the higher the quality, and the less damaging to the environment, the more technology costs. It is certainly true in the consumer market, where for example an all-electric car with anything near respectable performance can cost as much as a Bentley coupe.

In building services, as we all know, the imperative to deliver value is acute. Few areas of industry are so exposed to pressure to improve their environmental and energy credentials, and yet subject to such competitive and cost pressures. The customer effectively wants a car with the quality of a Bentley coupe, the frugal performance of a Toyota Prius, but is only prepared to pay the price of a Nissan Micra. Does that ring bells?

The principles laid down by Sir John Egan, in his seminal report on Rethinking Construction, provided an excellent basis to construct a new approach to delivering greater value in our sector - and I believe it is still totally valid today. Egan identified five factors key to improving quality and efficiency: committed leadership; a focus on the customer; the integration of processes and teams; a quality-driven agenda; and an overall commitment to the well-being of people. How far have we come in delivering the promise?

To be fair, I think we have come a long way over the past ten years. Cast your mind back to some of the practices of the past, the clunky technology, the waste, the non-joined-up management, the lack of focus on quality and performance, and you begin to get a sense of the distance we have travelled.

On the other hand, an honest assessment has to conclude that we have a long way to go before we are able to deliver the quantum leap in value, quality and sustainability that the market now clearly requires. I make no apology for citing off-site assembly and prefabrication as forerunners of such a transformational approach to building services. Wolseley, with its Sustainable Building Center and Modular Engineering facility, is addressing these issues.

If your client challenged you to improve site project efficiencies from the industry average of 30% to 80%, where would you begin? Offsite assembly of multi-service modules can achieve that. If you were asked to reduce project costs by 40%, which materials or components would you cut? Modular offsite assembly can deliver this kind of saving, and with no loss of quality. In fact, it can actually improve the quality of the final project, as well as reducing health and safety accidents on-site, and - not least - cutting project lead times.

Enlightened clients are waking up to the benefits, and it is increasingly becoming more mainstream. And it will happen long before we get a battery-powered Bentley for the price of a Nissan Micra!

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