CIB W70 Brisbane 2000 Symposium

Citation

Finch, E. (2001), "CIB W70 Brisbane 2000 Symposium", Facilities, Vol. 19 No. 3/4. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2001.06919cac.001

CIB W70 Brisbane 2000 Symposium

CIB W70 Brisbane 2000 Symposium

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) was the host for the biennial CIB W70 Symposium that has now established itself as a key event in the facilities management diary. CIB is the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction and coordinates the activities of many working commissions involved with research in built environment disciplines around the world. The origins of CIB W70 are in maintenance management, but with the renaming of the commission to Facilities Management and Maintenance in the last two years under the direction of the co-ordinator Danny Then, the emphasis on customer-focused and business driven agendas has emerged.

The event, at the Rydges hotel in Brisbane (Plate 1), involved more than 170 academics and practitioners from around the world. Issues covered included space planning, post-occupancy evaluation, asset performance measurement, IT applications and procurement.

Plate 1 Rydges Hotel, Brisbane, Australia - venue for the CIB W70 2000 Symposium

Some of the notable presentations included that of Barry Varcoe (Plate 2) – from Johnson Controls who gave a provocative analysis of Web-based business and its impact on the facilities management industry. Another engaging keynote presentation was given by Tore Haugen from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, who illustrated a lifecycle planning approach being used to design the new library building in Alexandria, Egypt with a design life of 200 years!

Plate 2 Presentation on the impact of the Internet on'facilities management by Barry Varcoe, Johnson Controls

For many people it provided an opportunity to network and discuss common interests (Plate 3). Aside from all the seriousness of academic debate, the attendees did take the opportunity to pick up some Australian momentos (Plate 4).

Plate 3 From left to right, Russel Kenley (University of Melbourne, Australia), John Hinks (Director for the Centre for Advanced Built Environment Research, UK) and Barry Varcoe (Director, Strategic Development, Johnson Controls Inc., UK)

The CIB W70 working commission continues to reflect its roots in building related aspects of facilities management. There is clearly a tension between the traditional discipline of maintenance management and the emerging discipline of facilities management.

Plate 4 Keith Jones of Greenwich University takes the opportunity for some lunchtime souvenir shopping

However, it is attracting many of the key individuals working in the facilities management, providing them with the opportunity to share and reflect on ideas, without the interference of commercial interests.

Edward FinchEditor