Helping employers identify growth opportunities is the Green Deal

On offer from SummitSkills is an easy-to-follow guide to help businesses take advantage of opportunities in the move to low and zero carbon buildings and homes, the sector skills council for the building services engineering (BSE) sector. SummitSkills commissioned the report – Low Carbon Buildings and Homes: Skills and Opportunities – from the Zero Carbon Hub as a way to help businesses get to grips with the current and emerging legislation and regulations affecting the growing ‘green’ agenda.

The document also summarises the policies and initiatives that the UK-wide Government and the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have put in place to encourage the move to low-carbon buildings. Although its primary target is building services engineering operatives, the report will be a useful guide for any businesses operating in the wider built environment sector who are planning ahead and looking for development opportunities.

Keith Marshall OBE, chief executive of SummitSkills, said: “We wanted to produce a guide that brought together everything businesses need to know, which would enable them to spot the opportunities for growth. With a recent BIS report showing that the ‘green’ sector is growing much more strongly than the overall UK economy, now is the time for employers to plan ahead to maximise their future success.

“It was encouraging to see so many people at our launch of this report recently, and I was pleased that it generated lively discussion about the way forward for built environment employers. “

Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the Zero Carbon Hub, said: “With the changing requirements affecting nearly every aspect of the construction process, Zero Carbon Hub has been working with many different sectors to try and provide as much information as possible about what’s happening. It is great that SummitSkills are taking this forward for the building services engineering sector and I hope that this is only the beginning of much more collaborative working between SummitSkills and the Zero Carbon Hub.”

The report was launched in London recently by SummitSkills, together with partner Rushlight Events, at an event chaired by Lord Martin O’Neill. Head of Zero Carbon Policy at the Department for Communities and Local Government, Henry Demaria, spoke at the launch along with chief executive of the Zero Carbon Hub Neil Jefferson, Ian Millard from Climate Energy Homes, John Bootland from the Good Homes Alliance, SummitSkills’ own Nigel Hollett and Kevin Schofield from BDO who hosted the event at their Baker Street offices. The event is the first in a series of business seminars that SummitSkills and Rushlight Events plan to run, focusing on the green agenda.

The guide covers the key points of changes to the Zero Carbon Homes definition, Parts L, F and J of the Building Regulations, the Feed-In-Tariff, the Renewable Heat Incentive, the forthcoming Green Deal, the Code for Sustainable Homes, the new National Planning Policy Framework and where this leaves existing local plans. It concludes with a summary of the new skills required to engage in the ever-moving arena and ensure businesses are best placed to profit from the new and exciting opportunities.