Green light for on-site

As office shelves creak ever-louder under the reams of energy efficiency legislation the construction industry has to contend with, it is the contractors on the ground who are charged with the task of putting all these directives, codes, statements and guides into practice.

The latest demand from a number of local authorities is for 10% of heat and power needs of large projects to be generated on site from renewable sources. Green-minded politicians are well aware of the boost a few PV panels or micro-wind turbines atop their roofs would give to their environmental responsibility profile, and many are asking for more than that as a minimum figure.

That percentage is only set to go one way in the coming years, with a review of the London Plan this year already predicted to up the requirement for on-site renewable technology to 20%. Contractors will need to be on their game to ensure they snare a slice of the market.

In short, this means training. In April next year the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) will launch its accreditation scheme for installers. The scheme will replace the current approved installer list run by the Clear Skies grant programme that provides funding to renewable technology projects.

The Building Research Establishment has been charged with the job of developing the competent installer scheme, alongside a similar route of approval for products. Associate director Anthony Heywood says: “Like any sort of sector that is about to boom, the technologies are there but you run risks if they are not installed correctly. Installers need to be up to scratch and if they are not registered they wont be able to do work that will attract grants from LCBP.”

It is not just grant-funded work that unapproved contractors could miss out on, says Heywood: “Although local authorities and other procuring bodies don’t get the tax benefits from schemes like the Enhanced Capital Allowance, they do actually use those lists, so the list of accredited installers will last much longer than any grant scheme. Work in the market will be worth hundreds of millions in the next few years because you’ve got all these local authorities having 10% renewable requirements and there is going to be scope for people that can install a whole range of technologies.”

The market will be worth hundreds of millions in the next few years.

Head of technical services for the ECA Giuliano Digilio says it is vital for contractors to “be seen as competent” on the installation of renewables: “On-site renewables present a lot more opportunities for contractors but at the moment there is a lack of awareness about this new technology. We want to provide information to contractors in terms of what they need to know, what they need to do, how they need to engage themselves, and we’ll do that as more information becomes available.”

Several manufacturers of renewable energy products run their own training programmes. Richard Scott, business manager of heat pump and solar panel manufacturer Applied Energy says the demand for these types of products is incredible, and while they wait for official training schemes to get up and running they are training long-term partners on their own products. “We have lots of contractors very interested in becoming approved installers but they need to do the training and understand the products.

“Once there is an accredited method we will be requiring our installers to have gone through that course,” he adds.

Contractors are well aware of the benefits of becoming approved installers. Operations director for Powerminster, Peter Rose, says they currently run their own training school and work closely with manufacturers to ensure their installers are competent. But he can see a time where accreditaion will be a must: “We have been involved in schemes that wanted to use these technologies but it never happened because of problems with planning permission, but I think the market is being driven towards renewables by Part L.

“If it came to the point where every scheme was using renewable technology it would open up a lot of new areas for contractors who are up to speed.”