Green Jobs: Qualifications and Skills for Installers · Periodic After-Sales professional services...

…..can all expectations be fulfilled?

Green Jobs:

Qualifications and Skills for Installers

© GCI-UICP/FOB/23-09-11

GCI-UICP Annual Congress 2011

EU-Energy Council (February 2011):

�Create 2 million green jobs by 2020

� .....but how?

.....and what is ‚green‘?

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Challenges

� issue is not sufficiently high on (national) political agendas,

� low awareness on the benefits from energy efficiency, quality installments and qualification („plug & play“)

� widespread irritation on the best available solution,

� how to finance, and

lack of skills

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Framework

� A methodology to calculate and rate the energy performance

� Define minimum energy performance requirements

� Stimulating financing mechanisms for energy efficiency investments in the building sector

� Exemplary role of the public sector

� Energy performance certificates

� Regular inspections of HVAC systems

� Skills for green jobs (mutually recognisable)

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(EPBD, RES Directive, Energy end-use efficiency, Eco-Design,Energy-labelling, etc, etc, etc......):

What building owners expectWhat building owners expectWhat building owners expectWhat building owners expect:

� Professional advise

� Huge savings

� Improved comfort

� Highest quality = best value for money

� Little investment

� Long-term reliability

� Repair facilities even on christmas evening – if needed

� Future-proof solution

� One contractor is better than 5 or 10 different contractors

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Why skills?Why skills?Why skills?Why skills?

� Green-collar professionals

� Green investment/finance specialist

� Green engineering

� Green construction

� Process understanding

� Integrating skills: consulting, managing, planning,technically enabling, financially advising, facilitating, operating, maintaining, performance improving, inspecting, and.....

...is all of this possible?

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Qualification FrameQualification FrameQualification FrameQualification Frame

� Integrated skills

� Include Lifecycle considerations

� Explaining/consulting/marketing skills

� Smart qualifications

� Periodic After-Sales professional services (energy performance inspections)

� New jobs „up-“skilling

� Technically advanced, up-to-date

with most recent technologies

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MegatrendsMegatrendsMegatrendsMegatrends

� Demographical developments

� Declining interest among young people towards technical professions

� Technical innovation much faster than skills development

� Manufacturers of products/energy utility companies do not install energy efficiency systems at end-users

� SME installers cannot afford urgently needed „upskillings“

� New green jobs need to have lifelong career perspectives, rather than being ‚limited until end of subsidies period‘

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Qualifying installers of small-scale RES systems

mutually recognized across EU

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The RES Directive: FOCUS on certification schemes

Article 14

Member States shall ensure that certification schemes or equivalent qualification schemes become or are available by 31 December 2012 for installers of small-scale biomass boilers and stoves, solar photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, shallow geothermal systems and heat pumps. Those schemes may take into account existing schemes and structures as appropriate, and shall be based on the criteria laid down in Annex IV. Each Member State shall recognise certification awarded by otherMember States in accordance with those criteria.

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QualiCert’s objective

Develop recommendations to MS during their process of writing national schemes for quality certification or equivalent qualification for installers:

�For different technologies (solar thermal, PV, biomass, geothermal, heat pumps)

�Relying on an interdisciplinary multistakeholder approach

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The QualiCert Manual

� The state of the art of certification / equivalent qualification at European and national level

� Analysis of identified "key success criteria”

� Sectoral specificities and best practice examples

� Conclusions on how to define a common approach and ensure mutual recognition

� www.qualicert-project.eu

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Framework for certification/equivalent qualification

� heterogeneous set of certification/equivalent qualification schemes in the EU (structure, compulsoriness, actors involved, costs): meet regulatory requirements

� mostly new schemes (under further adjustment to the market needs), but……. acknowledged importance of implementing a certification/equivalent qualification scheme in order to:

� improve the quality of RES installations / give access to a network of qualified installers

� develop installation standards and best practices

� increase the consumers’ confidence

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Challenges

� Financial costs to set up a quality scheme and maintain it

� Administrative burden for installers: “upskilling is time & money”

� Support from public authorities generally considered as necessary

� Concern about legal barriers in case new regulations/legislation need to be determined

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Recommendations

� Public / private partnership: It’s an advantage when setting-up schemes (during start-up phase and first years of running)

� One centrally managed scheme for all RES technologies: When coherent with any other existing national schemes (less fragmentation, more quality)

� The importance of periodic audits: Particularly for their role in increasing the scheme’s credibility and guaranteeing quality installations

� Communication tools: To give customers and installers (and, therefore, the market) reliable information

� Mutual recognition: Large number of central features – that generated consensus – as a basis for a common approach; set up of a “European Transparency Platform”

ConclusionConclusionConclusionConclusion:

� Integrated skills (smart, mutually recognisable, process-oriented, life-long learning, flexible)

� Enable national, regional dialogue among social partners, value-chain partners, building-owners training-providers and other stakeholders

� Internalise skill-costs to the general energy performance of buildings debate of quality

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Thank youThank youThank youThank you

GCI-UICPRue Jacques de Lalaing 4

B-1040 Bruxelles

BELGIUM

Tel: +32 2 2850 727

E-Mail: f.baumeister@ueapme.com

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