Construction workers are essential for the success of the EU building stock renovation.
ADVERTISEMENTLack of skilled workers is jeopardising efforts to reduce energy consumption in buildings, as Europe looks to speed up renovations in a building sector where 75% of stock performs poorly, officials said during a Belgian Renovation Week in Brussels today (16 January).
Buildings in the EU account for around 40% of final energy consumed in the bloc, official data reveals, pushing the EU executive to prioritise slashing energy consumption from the building stock as it seeks energy saving in its aim for zero-emissions in buildings by 2050, as stipulated under the recently revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).
Deployment of heat pumps has been touted as one enabler for such renovation, but a shortage of skilled workers could compromise EU ambitions. European Commission energy policy officer Pau Garci Audi acknowledged the necessity to “tackle the problem of the workforce”, echoed by his colleague Sylvia Rezessy, policy officer at the Commission’s directorate for energy, who referred to a recent Commission public consultation which found lack of available technicians to be a key barrier to heat pump deployment, with a 68% shortage of skilled or certified installers.
“We don’t have enough skilled workers to fulfil capacity issues and skills. We’re making a lot of heat pumps, hopefully in 13 years we will have found a solution,” Audi told the audience at the Belgian Renovation Week, an event organised by the Belgian presidency of the EU.
Discussing the need to attract workers at national level, Rui Fragoso, buildings and efficiency resources department at the Portuguese agency for energy (ADENE), said Portugal has recently developed more “skills centres” to support and attract technicians with the aim of increasing capacity.
Flemish official Stijn Caekelbergh said the challenge of a skilled workforce was more acute as a result of new requirements to dispose of fossil heating systems. “In Flanders, heat pumps are the go-to option since fossil heating systems are forbidden with new law [EPBD],” said Caekelbergh, the deputy chief of staff for the Flemish energy minister Zuhal Demir, citing the requirement under the new law for gradual phase-out of stand-alone boilers powered by fossil fuels.
Panellists agreed the skilled worker deficit affects more than deployment of heat pumps, with technicians able to install and maintain solar photovoltaics also in great demand, and an urgent need to up-skill and re-skill existing workforces.
Installing solar PV systems and heat pumps requires specialised skillsets covering knowledge of electrical systems, renewable energy technologies, and construction.
Roel Vermeiren, policy advisor at the Flemish Energy and Climate Agency (DEKA) pointed to scientific evidence used to calculate the number of building constructors, from architects to construction workers, revealing that the region of Flanders needs 40 to 60 thousand additional workers in the construction sector for the next decades.
“We need capacity in the building sector in line with this intense work that lies ahead of us, otherwise it won’t be feasible to renovate all the existing buildings,” said Vermeiren.
