The case for Centres of Excellence in sustainable building design
The case for Centres of Excellence in sustainable building design
The case for Centres of Excellence in sustainable building design
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Low carbon construction skills<br />
Low carbon construction skills<br />
Clearly the targets <strong>for</strong> carbon abatement cannot be met by the adoption <strong>of</strong><br />
technology alone. Present policy encourages <strong>in</strong>vestment <strong>in</strong> the manufactur<strong>in</strong>g<br />
technologies associated with the generation <strong>of</strong> renewable energy and with<br />
energy-efficient equipment and system components. However, as demonstrated,<br />
improv<strong>in</strong>g energy efficiency <strong>in</strong> energy consum<strong>in</strong>g systems does not necessarily<br />
achieve the desired results. In order to deliver carbon abatement at the lowest<br />
possible cost to society, a step change is required <strong>in</strong> the level <strong>of</strong> available skills <strong>in</strong><br />
build<strong>in</strong>g science and <strong>in</strong>tegrated low carbon and susta<strong>in</strong>able <strong>design</strong>.<br />
New skills are required <strong>in</strong> build<strong>in</strong>g eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g physics <strong>in</strong> order to deliver<br />
build<strong>in</strong>gs which are com<strong>for</strong>table and high-per<strong>for</strong>mance through the use <strong>of</strong><br />
passive, rather than active, energy-consum<strong>in</strong>g measures. New skills are required<br />
<strong>in</strong> systems eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g to ensure that the many disparate parts <strong>of</strong> a build<strong>in</strong>g<br />
function <strong>in</strong> harmony to achieve the desired objectives with the m<strong>in</strong>imum energy<br />
consumption. New skills <strong>in</strong> <strong>design</strong> synthesis are needed to br<strong>in</strong>g together ideas<br />
and expertise from many different discipl<strong>in</strong>es. New skills and understand<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>in</strong> human behaviour and build<strong>in</strong>g operation are necessary to ensure that<br />
build<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>design</strong>ed <strong>for</strong> low carbon can be operated as such. F<strong>in</strong>ally a new level<br />
<strong>of</strong> understand<strong>in</strong>g about the requirements <strong>for</strong> the low carbon paradise required<br />
amongst those creat<strong>in</strong>g and en<strong>for</strong>c<strong>in</strong>g regulations.<br />
<strong>The</strong> demand <strong>for</strong> low carbon skills<br />
A number <strong>of</strong> government announcements around <strong>The</strong> Green Deal <strong>in</strong>dicate that<br />
around 250,000 workers with specific low carbon skills will be required to deliver<br />
the strategy by 2030. This is around 10% <strong>of</strong> the current work<strong>for</strong>ce and requires<br />
a growth rate <strong>in</strong> low carbon <strong>design</strong> and construction specialists <strong>of</strong> over 12,000<br />
per year. In addition, this growth <strong>in</strong> construction and <strong>in</strong>stallation work<strong>for</strong>ce<br />
will demand an equivalent growth <strong>in</strong> management, <strong>design</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essionals and<br />
specifiers.<br />
A significant part <strong>of</strong> <strong>The</strong> Green Deal strategy is <strong>for</strong> f<strong>in</strong>anc<strong>in</strong>g the eco-retr<strong>of</strong>its from<br />
a Green Lend<strong>in</strong>g Bank. As with other f<strong>in</strong>ance-led policies such as the feed-<strong>in</strong><br />
tariffs, it is almost certa<strong>in</strong> that Green Deal f<strong>in</strong>ance will only be accessible <strong>for</strong> works<br />
<strong>design</strong>ed or undertaken by approved persons.<br />
<strong>The</strong> previous job creation schemes <strong>for</strong> approved persons, domestic and<br />
commercial energy assessors and air condition<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>spectors, had managed to<br />
accredit a total <strong>of</strong> around 16,000 persons across the entire construction <strong>in</strong>dustry<br />
by 2009 [Landmark 2010]. <strong>The</strong> accredit<strong>in</strong>g bodies also reported that the majority<br />
<strong>of</strong> these registrants were already employed elsewhere <strong>in</strong> the construction<br />
<strong>in</strong>dustry and so this number does not represent entirely new jobs.<br />
If allowance is made <strong>for</strong> potential new jobs <strong>in</strong> commercial low carbon retr<strong>of</strong>it pro<br />
rata to those <strong>in</strong> the domestic sector and the projected rates <strong>of</strong> expenditure <strong>in</strong> the<br />
two sectors, it can be seen that the total new job requirement could be double<br />
that <strong>in</strong> the domestic sector alone. Thus the future tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g and accreditation<br />
requirement annually could far exceed all the new energy assessor jobs delivered<br />
across the whole construction <strong>in</strong>dustry to date.<br />
This is not only a significant issue <strong>for</strong> recruitment and tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, but with such<br />
significant growth <strong>in</strong> the field it is essential that the tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g is appropriate so<br />
that the new jobs will focus on carbon abatement at the lowest cost to society<br />
rather than the lowest cost to the contractor. Thus the total number <strong>of</strong> new jobs<br />
to be created <strong>in</strong> the low carbon construction <strong>in</strong>dustry must be <strong>in</strong>creased by the<br />
number <strong>of</strong> suitably qualified tra<strong>in</strong>ers also required.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>case</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Centres</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Excellence</strong> <strong>in</strong> susta<strong>in</strong>able build<strong>in</strong>g <strong>design</strong> 23