The Parliamentary Committee for Energy Security and Net Zero recently called for submissions on Workforce planning to deliver clean, secure energy. This is the submission on the need for a more coherent and climate conscious education for skilled building workers made by Linda Clarke (Emeritus Professor at the Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment, and member of the GJA Steering Group).

Retrofitting is concerned with producing clean energy through renewables, both solar/photovoltaic and air or ground source heat pumps, and reducing energy consumption by sealing the building envelope, involving insulation and window replacements. Reducing energy requirements inevitably increases the effectiveness of renewables, so this is a priority given that England’s 25 million homes produce 58.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually due to a combination of gas central heating and poor insulation, the equivalent of average annual use of 28 million cars.

An important study carried out on VET requirements for low energy construction (LEC) is the on-going European Union (EU) Build-up Skills initiative, begun in 2010 and covering 30 countries including initially the UK. The national reports show VET for LEC poses challenges technically and because of process management complexity and the cross-occupational coordination needed. The overview report notes ‘weaknesses of national education and training systems’ and ‘shortage of cross-trade knowledge and skills’, including ‘insufficient coordination between occupations’, ‘unsatisfactory interdisciplinary training opportunities’, and ‘lack of any understanding for a house/building as one integrated system’.

VET for LEC therefore demands a holistic approach and broader occupational profiles to bridge interfaces and facilitate integrated team working and communication, implying greater educational input to achieve energy literacy for all workers concerned, including

• knowledge of physics,
• how to eliminate thermal bridges,
• properties of new materials,
• and climate literacy

so each worker understands the impact of their respective work on reducing carbon emissions.

‘Skills’ – or better know-how – and competences of building envelope and building services occupations also need improving regarding

• communication and data processing, which are not generally in the curriculum,
• sealing and insulating the building envelope to achieve energy efficiency; given that air leakages in houses typically occur through the physical interfaces between roof, windows, doors and walls.

This implies a minimum Level 3 qualification, though most construction trainees in Further Education (FE) Colleges only train up to Level 2 (L2) and struggle to obtain the necessary work-based experience for L3, unless they obtain an apprenticeship.

In FE overall, there is double the number of construction trainees compared to apprentices, but no clear pathways to transfer from trainee to apprentice, even though obtaining work-based experience is critical.

There has been a significant decline in construction apprenticeships. 33,610 apprentices started in construction, planning and the built environment during 2022/23, but there were only 13,550 apprenticeship completions, measured by end point assessments, for construction and the built environment for 2023-2024. This falls short of the estimated 350,000 new apprenticeships required over the next 10 years to meet Government’s housing and net zero targets.

The urgency for more construction trainees is compounded by the need to upgrade the VET system. Though occupational standards now exist, Britain has not had a recognised insulation occupation; ‘insulation and energy efficiency’ being simply referred to in Level 2 and 3 bricklaying, site carpentry and plastering qualifications.

There is also no knowledge requirement to understand the envelope as a single system, no reference to air barriers, air tightness or thermal bridging, no requirement to understand interplays between separate envelope workers and final energy performance, and no celebration of climate and energy literacy of the construction worker.

Of the main occupations involved in realising zero carbon construction, the building services are more advanced, with the newly introduced L3 domestic electrician qualification equipping trainees to install, for instance, heat pumps.

And FE colleges are increasingly equipping themselves with workshops containing solar panels and heat pumps, as well as mock houses to demonstrate air tightness and different forms of insulation.

Most noteworthy are events organised by colleges to promote green construction to women.

Nevertheless, developing a comprehensive programme of VET for retrofitting is hampered by the undervaluing and underfunding of FE, as well as a shortage of experienced trainers.

Linda Clarke, Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment (ProBE), University of Westminster