Focus on education and guidance to ensure industry is prepared for low carbon housebuilding

A recent report published by the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE), which looked at the UK’s ability to deliver the Government’s low carbon housebuilding initiative, concluded that some elements of the construction industry are vastly unprepared for the task that lies ahead.

The plumbing and heating industries were singled out as areas of concern, citing the absence of adequate green skills knowledge and understanding of the latest installation techniques necessary for reducing emissions rates in new-build homes.

There’s no denying that large-scale change is on the way across the UK construction industry in the delivery of new-build housing stock with much higher green credentials.  However, the RAE report does only focus on one particular area of the industry and does not capture the desire across the whole sector to up-skill for building this new type of housing stock.

Greater collaboration between industry and Government on how renewable targets are met and implemented to a high standard (and on time) presents the biggest challenge in the switch to renewable energy. Before such a large-scale renewable roll-out scheme can take place, the tools, workforce and information to deliver it across the UK do need to be developed much further.

Communication and simplified terminology is a recurring issue when it comes to construction.  For example, the latest changes to Part F were received as quite complex by the ventilation industry, prompting NHBC Foundation to produce its own Part F 2010 – where to start guide to better inform fitters of the new regulation requirements. Simplification of terminology surrounding low and zero carbon technologies is also explored in the forthcoming NHBC Foundation research on current attitudes of occupiers, housebuilders and housing associations.

The Government’s Green Deal scheme will offer loans to homeowners for upgrade work by a multitude of providers, including individual plumbing/building contractors, therefore the focus needs to be on informing, guiding and educating, ensuring that installers of new technologies do have the adequate skills and are prepared.