The scale of the challenge is huge... and there simply isn’t the workforce to carry out the work.

There is a huge skills shortage in the construction industry, particularly in areas relating to low-carbon design and construction. This, in turn, makes creating more sustainable buildings and homes even more challenging (and costly), which then makes the potential for net-zero carbon even more difficult.

 

We’ve developed a series of training courses and individual workshops, embedding Carbon Literacy to give a clear overview as to why and how we should be building much more sustainably, and embracing modern and lean construction processes.

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how we differ...

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We really do focus on the quality of the education we deliver, ensuring participants are engaged and have a thorough understanding on how to use the knowledge and skills they've learnt.

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In addition to meeting the standard course (accredited) content, our workshops go a step further and address the following issues:

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• understanding the connection between Climate Change and the carbon emissions from our buildings through "Carbon Literacy"

• how the embodied carbon (of the materials we use) is more important than operational carbon, or lifecycle analysis, as it is having an immediate effect on our present day greenhouse gas emissions

• how a fabric-first approach should be implemented before using renewable heating or cooling systems

• the impact of materials and building science on our health and wellbeing

• how retrofit can help to tackle fuel poverty and the "cost of living crisis"

• how we need to encourage more people into this exciting and fast-changing industry to address the skills shortage

• how advances in building technology will make a huge impact on all of the above

• and how behavioural science can facilitate noticeable change at all levels of the process

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In our longer workshops we also include lots of interactive tasks and games to increase engagement and support learning.

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everyone needs to get involved...

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The workshops are designed for a wide variety of people in the construction industry, and those who are interested in getting involved... in fact, we've found the more diverse the group is, the better the workshop.  

 

Participants include:

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• self-employed construction-based tradespeople

• building contractors, subcontractors & installers (including business owners, directors & managers)

• designers, architects & technologists

• surveyors and building consultants

• full/part-time students

• stakeholders - including developers and private and social landlords

• leaders, policy makers and council staff

• manufacturers & suppliers of materials

• home owners or anyone who wants to know more about retrofit...!

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We're also finding that networking between the participants is also an intrinsic element of the learning process - so we'll be setting up a discussions forum soon to help this to continue after the workshops have finished.