I like buildings which are intelligent. This are being designed by engineers on the building services industry.

In the building services industry, the engineers is an "ALL-IN-ONE". An electrical engineer with a building services experience could not only design electrical installations but fire protection, communication, security, HVAC and all other requirement for a building to be able to provide the best services to its tenants.

These engineers have a very broad knowledge of almost everything required in the building.

In the heavy industries which are mostly on mineral, oil and gas, an electrical engineer is basically an specialized field. Seldom do you find someone who do design electrical and instrumentation. Normally, its one or the other.

With regards to design, installation and material specification, a building services engineer normally uses domestic products which are light duty and last only for a few years, just locate the fixture on the plan and leave the cable routing to the installer.

In the heavy industry, all materials need to last for a minimum of 10years, suitable for the worst environment, the layout includes cable routing, cable tagging and up to the cable termination. The installed just need to read the plans carefully.

If an electrical engineer with a building services background designs something for an industrial installation, then it will be a nightmare for the maintenance personnel. Switches are for hotels, lights are decorative, ventilating fans are light duty or a UPS is for a desktop are some of the sights you will expect.

I was able to prove this when I visited a pump station designed by a building services electrical engineer.

The building services and the heavy industries electrical engineer are on the opposite of the spectrum.