April 2011 South West Building & Construction 3
COURSES AND SEMINARS
Focus on renewable technology
SOUTH Devon College has a five-year vision - to help turn the area into a renewable technology hotspot that will bring new jobs and help fuel an economic cornerstone of recovery. The first installation courses
available in the college’s Energy Centre are Solar Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal for both electrical and non-electrical contractors. Both of these courses will give a broad knowledge of the systems and will develop skills to install, commission and maintain these systems and qualify to register on the National MCS Registration Scheme. In addition to these courses, local companies have been given the opportunity to attend a Renewable Technology Awareness course which is designed to give an overview of all the renewable technologies and what they involve. Also available is the MCS
Registration Awareness course which provides a detailed overview of the scheme clauses and gives support in completing the registration paperwork to be part of the National MCS Registration Scheme. The college has equipped special workshops and classrooms in the Energy Centre and plans to repeat the courses on a two-weekly basis. This is all part of Phase 1 of the plan to upskill the local labour market to meet the new demands for green energy within the residential and tourism markets - including both guesthouses and hotels. Ian Hutchcroft, regional director of The Energy Saving Trust, has identified that to meet 2020 Government targets the region must install over 285,000 off gas grid biomass plants and 650,000 domestic PV arrays. This work is part of an ambitious Government plan to retro-fit the region’s existing housing stock. To carry out this work, approximately 500 renewable energy installers will need to be trained in the region each year for the next 10 years. Patrick McNevin, South Devon College’s Section Head of
Building Services and Renewables, said: ‘Phase 1 was an interim phase, based on the fact that there was a clear need for such training in Torbay and the surrounding areas. ‘South Devon College is one
of the first in the area to set up training in this field. This is a highly exciting new industry which has already seen a number of European companies setting up in the South West to capture this expanding market, which is now being supported by Government initiatives in the wake of the Kyoto Energy Summit.
‘What we are trying to do is to stimulate and promote awareness of the new, green technologies in the area. This will come in the form of help, guidance and upskilling of the local workforce. ‘We feel that the tourism industry can also benefit a great deal from this - particularly with the Feed-in Tariff which is now operating, the Renewable Heating Incentive which is due to come into force in the summer and then we have the Green Deal coming out in 2012.’ If you fit a PV system on your house, you are eligible to get a tariff back from the Government if, when you are not using the power, it is fed back into the National Grid.
The heating incentive will be
similar but covers solar hot water. The Green Deal will look at the energy efficiency of the building as a whole, including renewable technologies and insulation and provide a financial incentive based on the findings. There are future plans to run courses covering the installation of air source and ground source heat pumps as well as biomass and rainwater harvesting systems.
Those wishing further details on courses at the new Energy Centre at South Devon College should call Sarah Hawke on 01803 540457 or email renewablecourses@southdevon.
ac.uk.
Knowles Spring 2011 Factfile
“Contemporary Contractual Nightmares”
● Tuesday 10th May 2011 - BRISTOL ●Wednesday 11th May 2011 - CARDIFF ● Thursday 12th May 2011 - EXETER
8.00am – Registration 8.30am – 10.00am – Factfile
Refreshments will be provided along with a delegate pack and CPD certification
For further details and to reserve your place on one of these FREE seminars
Contact: Molly Stephens
Knowles Ltd, 31 Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5QD
Telephone: 0117 376 3251 Email:
molly.stephens@
jrknowles.com
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