Winners!!

We are thrilled to have won
Consultancy of the year (up to 50 employees)
at the CIBSE Building Performance Awards 2024 last month.

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This recognition means the world to us. We are very fortunate to work with some amazing clients and collaborators (you know who you are), and we are grateful to the CIBSE award judges for appreciating that small can be mighty!

Here’s what the judges said about us:

In a strong category, the judges singled out Inkling as ‘an organisation punching well above its weight’. It is, they added, ‘an influential node in industry, using collaboration as a means to advocate for positive change through the support network built from its work’.

Founded in 2011, Inkling is a building physics consultancy with only two permanent members of staff (now 3!) – but its impact on championing the role and value of dynamic thermal modelling in improving building performance has been significant.

The judges praised its blog as ‘an influential place for industry discussion, covering many current industrial affairs’, and said Inkling was ‘incredibly prolific in spreading understanding and knowledge across the industry’.

Inkling has contributed to CIBSE TM59, TM54 and AM11 (peer review), and to LETI’s Climate Emergency Design Guide, and was lead author of LETI’s Operational Energy Modelling Guide. It has also co-written other industry publications, including ones for the Good Homes Alliance and the Future Homes Hub.

Inkling’s ‘highly collaborative approach’ with industry, academia, industry bodies, trade associations, and other consultancies is what drives its innovation, noted the judges.

The consultancy has invested in training for partner Dr Claire Das Bhaumik to become one of only 11 Independent Design Review Panel members for NABERS UK, while Inkling’s other partner, Susie Diamond, has developed expertise in assessing overheating risk in buildings. She was awarded the CIBSE bronze medal for her contributions to the building services industry at the 2023 Technical Symposium in Glasgow.

Both partners are long-serving members of the CIBSE Technical Symposium scientific committee and act as peer reviewers for BSERT.

The judges noted that the best consultancies in this category showed commitment to collaboration, knowledge sharing, and progressing the profession. Training and development is also gaining in importance, as is the wellbeing of staff. In addition, the best consultancies are taking the initiative with outreach work, and have developed innovative diversity and inclusion policies that will contribute to a more representative profession.

We have always championed flexible working and the importance of work/life balance. Currently we all work an average of 4 days a week, and we don’t have an annual leave limit. We want to spread the message that it is possible to run a successful and impactful consultancy without being workaholics.

We are especially proud to have won in a competitive category against 13 other consultancies, all doing impressive work for the industry. We hope this award will help us consolidate our place championing dynamic thermal modelling and a more comfortable and energy efficient built environment!