The success of the Green Deal Code outlined by the Government will hinge on the availability of a workforce of highly trained and approved installers of environmental technology, say SummitSkills, CITB-ConstructionSkills and Asset Skills.
The Government has announced that you will only qualify for Green Deal funding if you use approved installers to ensure that the new environmental technology is effective and safely installed.
Identify demand
SummitSkills, the sector skills council for the building services engineering sector, is currently working on identifying which qualifications will be needed to enable today’s plumbers, electricians, heating and ventilating engineers, air conditioning and refrigeration experts to become the champions of the energy efficiency measures included in the Government’s Green Deal.
Keith Marshall, Chief Executive of SummitSkills said: “Our experience unfortunately shows that there is likely to be a plethora of organisations trying to offer below-standard training to cash in on the extra interest generated by the Government’s Green Deal announcement and the extra demand that it will create for renewable technologies like solar panels and ground and air-source heat pumps.
“We welcome this recognition, provided by Government through its criteria for financial assistance, that professionals need the right training and that customers need to be able to depend on the skills of the professionals they employ when they commit to doing their bit for the environment.”
Cut the carbon
To help businesses acquire these skills and understand the policy and regulatory changes linked to carbon reduction, CITB-ConstructionSkills is running the Cut the Carbon campaign, a partnership between CITB-ConstructionSkills, the National Specialist Contractors Council and the Federation of Master Builders.
The campaign supports small businesses in understanding what the new carbon legislation will mean for them and equipping them with a tangible mix of knowledge and skills to respond to increased client demand.