CRO skills – rebooting the National Platform and Roadmap

Introduction

Analysis of the renovation process that has been carried out in recent years in Croatia indicates the need to step up and to increase the level of energy renovation of the total building stock. Given that in the period from 2014 to 2020 only 0.7% of the total building stock was renovated on an annual basis, this situation highlights a significant area for improvement.

Current Situation

In Croatia, energy inefficient buildings are responsible for:

• 40% of energy consumption
• 36% of CO2 emissions

As much as 30% of buildings belong to the category of buildings with the worst energy performance. Increased intensity of energy renovation of existing buildings and deployment of new nZEB buildings would greatly reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the building sector. This would positively contribute to the energy and climate goals of Croatia and the EU by 2030.

Workforce Requirements

To achieve these ambitious goals, Croatia needs a workforce educated in:

1. New technologies
2. Innovative renovation/construction methods
3. Building standards (nZEB)
4. Application of new materials in construction
5. Application of digitalization in the construction process
6. Other factors influencing the fulfillment and achievement of the decarbonization goals in the building sector

Project Goals

Bearing this in mind, the CRO skills RELOAD project intends to:

• Re-establish the "National Qualification Platform"
• Improve the "National Roadmap" in order to achieve national energy and climate goals

The project will act on all segments of the renovation process ecosystem, including:

• Decision makers
• End users
• Manufacturers of materials and equipment
• Contractors
• Designers
• Energy service providers
• Future nZEB specialists (students)

The intention is to reach the common goal: adopt nZEB standards and sustainable construction as the key levers for achieving decarbonization goals, with a special emphasis on the importance of education and lifelong learning.

Building on Previous Initiatives

The project will build on and upscale the results of the previous BuildUP skills initiatives and projects supporting new skills development.