Are you ready to carry out all this retrofitting?
FMB member, Tim Fenn, Sustainability Director at Oakwood Builders and Joinery Limited and Vice Chair of the Oxfordshire Construction Training Group asked members if they and their teams were ready to tackle the huge retrofit job that is just round the corner.
The perfect opportunity for FMB members
Who is going to build all these new zero carbon homes and carry out all the retrofitting work required, in order to meet the Government’s targets to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent compared to 1990 levels by 2050?
I’d like to talk to you about accredited training programmes, designed by builders for builders. You have heard about the Code for Sustainable Homes for new builds and these regulations are coming in quickly particularly with energy standards all orientated round CO² emissions and builders need to be involved in every aspect. But the biggest market as we have heard already today is in retrofitting the existing stock. This provides the perfect opportunity for FMB members.
Now, five million people live in fuel poverty and the era of cheap energy is over. Energy consumption is rising rapidly leading to climate change and If we are going to get anywhere near the 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions, builders are in a better position than anyone to address these issues, but as well as the actual building we need to consider other issues related to the build where energy can be saved, for example, the use of local labour, transportation of materials and waste disposal.
The quest
There is a big increase in the number of clients asking for sustainability to be a primary consideration in their projects, there are many sources of information and it is no wonder that consumers get confused. So really, the builder has to become the ’Green Champion’. Ultimately, a builder should aim to be able to advise homeowners of the best ways to conserve energy in their homes. To achieve this, training is paramount (beginning with apprentices) and it’s what many small companies want, followed by accreditation, real recognition and maintenance of high standards. Builders should be confident enough to be able to advise homeowners about energy efficiency and renewable energy methods that would benefit them and their particular property.
Training which concentrates on increasing the skills of an existing workforce also promotes workforce development and can lead to specialist training and learning, leading to higher standards general.
Members should be reminded that first class employee training should:
- Be focussed on upskilling the existing workforce
- Promote multi-skilled workforce development
- Promote specialist training and learning
- Encourage companies AND individuals to undertake training
- Acknowledge short courses AND on-site experience
- Promote self-esteem and status of workers
- Lead to REAL recognition of skill levels
- Lead to higher standards.
The FMB works with Tim Fenn to provide training to other members and he was closely involved in the launch in June this year of the FMB research work carried out by the London School of Economics. The FMB is developing its Competent Persons Scheme and as part of that, the FMB will develop and improve its training for members in a very practical way.
