HVCA past president Peter Hoyle has been elected president of GCI-UICP, the European umbrella body for the mechanical services and plumbing industries.
In his inaugural address to the GCI-UICP general assembly in Berne, Mr Hoyle stressed that the best way to ensure that an organisation's key strategies were progressed was to set a schedule of initiatives at the outset.
'Among the current priorities, prominence must be given to the recasting of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive - an undertaking that has considerable implications for GCI-UICP members throughout the European Union and, indeed, across all disciplines,' Hoyle said.
Representing a key element in the Commission's policy on renewable energy, the directive had been designed to secure a 20% energy saving from the construction industry - which itself represented 40% of total EU energy consumption, the new president explained.
'I understand that the Swedish presidency - which took effect in July - is planning to have completed the recasting by the end of the year, and I am delighted that, in its current form, the revised directive offers significant benefits for installers, and for the building services engineering sector.'
He added that, in order to assist member organisations in lobbying their national governments, a position paper had been produced which argued strongly - and, he believed, persuasively - that the proposed changes should be retained.
'I urge all of you to make the necessary representations - on behalf of the industry and your own member companies,' said Hoyle.