Upfront

Directors of university estates are busy people with a ridiculously wide remit including portering and mail, car parking and energy contracts. And, most significantly, capital development.

AUDE members are the hands-on clients for projects in all 148 UK universities and higher education institutions. They mostly trained as chartered surveyors, although 10% are registered architects.

The role is increasingly strategic. Government money is no longer just doled out to universities; directors of estates have to meet targets, raise funds and calculate whole life costs as well as pushing down utility bills. All these feed into their concerns for the end products of their building programmes.

Members of AUDE get together regularly, regionally and online, to network and trade moans, groans and gossip (also known as ‘sharing best practice’). They all contribute usage data to a huge database which allows them to work out how they are performing against other universities of their type.

Their big concern is sustainability in all forms, especially since the government charged the sector with becoming an exemplar in environmental standards. Everybody is looking for answers, and Breeam assessments are being specially tailored for the sector.

The legacy of 1960s construction is particularly taxing estates directors. Some universities, such as Essex and UEA, have entire campuses dating from this energy-guzzling, asbestos-ridden era, but almost all have at least a few buildings in that category.

Recent AUDE research has focused on the question of demolition or refurbishment and created a toolkit to help its members decide.