New Skills for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings

Introduction

The use of renewable energy and digital technologies in the building sector is heavily emphasised in the relevant EU Directives and Regulations. These technologies have an important role to play to help meet the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, to achieve a fully decarbonised building stock by 2050, as well as to address the energy crisis in Europe.

Project Aim

Given that background, the NS4nZEBs project aims to tackle existing mismatches between the skills currently characterising the energy performance and the ones increasingly in demand and indispensable in the future. The goal is to increase the number of skilled building professionals in the fields of:

1. PVs
2. Smart electrical systems
3. Heat pumps
4. Hydrogen technologies

This will be applicable at all levels of the building design, operation, and maintenance. The outcome will lead to an increased application of new energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies for the successful uptake of (nearly) Zero Energy Buildings, the upscaling of ambitious renovation interventions, and the roll-out of efficient renewable-based heating and cooling, particularly heat pumps. Thus, this project contributes to phasing out EU dependence on fossil fuel imports.

Training Development

This objective will be reached through the development of new and upgrading existing training methods and curricula, as well as qualifications courses for all types of professionals involved in the building value chain ('blue collars' and 'white collars').

Stakeholder Involvement

All relevant stakeholders – authorities, employers, end-users, as well as VET providers – are involved to work on feedback mechanisms. This ensures that training programmes and curricula are labour market-relevant and proactively integrate emerging skills. In addition, the number of people who will benefit from the regularly updated training developed under the project will be constantly increasing in the long term.

Consortium

The consortium is a partnership of excellence, with experts (installers, engineers, architects, experts in IT, automation, education, and communications) from six countries, namely Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Ukraine.