reimagining building performance: mstep at cibse’s flagship 2025 conference

on 26 november 2025, engineers, designers, policymakers and thought leaders gathered at the royal society in london for cibse’s annual flagship event, building performance reimagined – what’s next. the event asked a timely question: how must our buildings, and the systems within them, evolve in response to mounting social, environmental, technological and regulatory pressures?

mstep was proud to be part of the conversation, with founder aleksandra sasha krstanovic delivering the conference’s opening keynote: “being the connectors (digital x physical)”; a deeply human, systems-thinking perspective on the evolving role of building services engineers.

engineering performance: from numbers to meaning

sasha’s keynote grounded the conversation in one simple but powerful idea: real performance isn’t about complexity, it’s about coherence.

drawing on her 30-year career, she reflected on the shifting nature of engineering practice, from a discipline once considered late-stage and reactive, to one that now actively shapes design from day one, integrating technical systems with user experience, environmental impact, and long-term adaptability.

“performance today,” she said, “is as much an ethical challenge as it is a technical one. every lumen, litre and kilowatt is a climate decision.”

key themes: connecting the physical and digital

using cibse’s four “reimagined performance” themes - variety, readiness, connectedness, and emergence - as a foundation, sasha explored how engineers today must operate as connectors. not just between systems, but between worlds: between data and fabric, carbon and comfort, infrastructure and empathy.

performance isn’t only about outputs, it’s about experience

sasha invited attendees to reframe building performance through a broader lens: one that includes not just energy and co₂, but also comfort, clarity, wellbeing and equity.

“a building can meet every technical target and still fail if the people inside feel alienated or exhausted.”

this human-centred framing was one of the event’s strongest takeaways: that true building performance must nurture the people it serves, adapting to changing needs over time without overwhelming its users.

digital tools must deepen, not dilute, our relationship to place

far from promoting tech for tech’s sake, sasha argued that digital systems, used well, embed empathy into engineering. they allow buildings to learn, to adjust, to listen. they reveal hidden flows, like thermal drift, occupancy rhythms, or air quality spikes, and translate them into better, more responsible decisions.

“fabric x data is the new frontier. the body and the mind of a building, working together.”

beyond compliance: mstep’s vision of high performance

mstep’s contribution to the conference underscored its core belief: that buildings must be designed not only to meet today’s regulations, but to hold the weight of tomorrow.

for mstep, a genuinely high-performing building is one that:

• respects planetary limits

• integrates digital systems without overwhelming its users

• enhances comfort, clarity and agency for occupants

• adapts gracefully to environmental and social change

the firm’s work across civic, cultural, residential and education projects consistently reflects this philosophy, blending low-energy building systems with human-centred thinking and long-term adaptability.

community, culture and climate intelligence

throughout the day, panel sessions and case studies echoed many of sasha’s themes, from retrofit strategies and smart ventilation systems, to adaptive reuse and lifecycle carbon analysis. but a unifying thread remained: collaboration is the infrastructure of climate action.

sasha closed her keynote by reminding the audience that building services engineers are not just technicians, but custodians of both evidence and empathy.

“what we build together today must hold the weight of tomorrow.”

key conference takeaways

• cibse’s 2025 conference explored how building performance must evolve to meet future social, environmental and technological challenges

• mstep founder sasha krstanovic delivered the keynote, highlighting the role of engineers as connectors between systems, people and the planet

• themes included digital integration, embodied carbon, comfort, adaptability and collaborative ecosystems

• mstep reaffirmed its vision of low-energy, high-performance buildings that are ecologically grounded and human-centred

want to reimagine performance with us?

mstep partners with architects, estates teams, and developers to deliver building services that support both people and the planet. if you're working on a project that needs thoughtful, systems-led engineering, get in touch. we'd love to help.

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