CIBSE is the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineering, a UK Professional Engineering Institution.
The Silver medal is CIBSE’s second highest achievement and is awarded in recognition of exceptional, outstanding and distinguished service to CIBSE and the wider built environment industry.
Having joined CIBSE in 1993, David Stevens has achieved the highest membership grade of Fellow, is a Chartered Engineer, a European Engineer and a fellow of other recognised organisations.
David serves on the CIBSE board and as vice chair & secretary of the FM group, alongside being both a judge of the CIBSE awards and interviewer for membership.
Previous to this he served on CIBSE’s Resilient Cities Group, Mentoring Working Group, Diversity Panel and Inclusivity Panel. David was on the SLL Education and Membership Committee and in 2014 led a CIBSE FM Task Group which reviewed and submitted recommendations for changes to CIBSE evidence / competence criteria for UKSPEC, in relation to Operational Engineers. He has also presented at Build2Perform and the Technical Symposium.
David is also one of the lead authors for the review of CIBSE Guide M, and in 2021 was awarded a presidential commendation for his contribution to CIBSE’s Emerging from Lockdown Series.
His impressive achievements continue beyond his dedication to CIBSE and to the industry as a whole where he is a lead judge for IWFM, the Building Controls Industry Association and Green Sky Thinking Week. David serves as deputy chair of BIM4FM and chair of the Rumford Club.
During his time in the industry, David has also mentored numerous candidates, has presented at STEM events at a secondary school, and is a guest lecturer at UCL.
All these roles David covered have been in volunteering function, which really show his commitment to the profession. When asked about it, David said: "I initially submitted an application to join a committee having seen an advert from the institution (CIBSE) and everything took off from there. The more you give the more you get!"
About the award, David said: "I thoroughly enjoy volunteering for CIBSE and my profession. Volunteering is its life blood. It enables us to grow as individuals, to develop our personal networks and provide a valuable contribution back to those that helped support and mentor us in the early days of our career.
"Without volunteering, our standards wouldn’t exist, our candidates wouldn’t be interviewed, our regions wouldn’t provide local support, and our groups wouldn’t provide the valuable sector experience that they do.
"I would call on all employers to actively encourage volunteering with professional engineering institutions as a part of continuing professional development and to include it in personal objectives. It is only by volunteering that we can grow and develop as an institution, a sector and as society".