Abstract:

The “Evaluation of the Energy Efficiency in the Building Sector” project is intended to support the development of innovative and competitive professional approaches in the field of energy efficiency in the building sector. As most of actors in the realization of buildings are SMEs, the training of entrepreneurs and managers is a major issue to meet the target of the Energy Performance of Buildings European Directive. The different national building thermal regulations are more and more innovative and demanding, but the professionals who are in charge of the realization of buildings are not well informed or trained. The new approaches in building design require new skills, new technologies and new practices. Even if some of these professionals are aware of the challenge concerning the energy efficiency and can be considered as leaders in this sector, the training is not always a priority for the majority of them because of economical constraints. A significant effort remains to be done concerning the attractiveness and the accessibility of continuing training modules in the building sector. This project is aimed at adapting and integrating innovative training courses to improve energy efficiency in buildings alleviating the lack of knowledge of entrepreneurs and managers of the building industry.

The project brings together continuous education providers, higher education institutions, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), chamber of crafts in the sector to assess future skills needs and promote business input into course design and delivery, as stated in the "New Skills for New Jobs" initiative and to adapt/develop special modules in the energy efficiency of buildings and its evaluation for upgrading knowledge in the sectors of construction, energy supply and water supply.

Through job analysis the necessary knowledge, skills and competences in thermal insulation and air-tightness, innovative and efficient systems for heating ventilation and cooling, thermal comfort, and the evaluation of the performance of all these technological solutions, were specified, developed and tested during this project. The pedagogical content from previous European projects was adapted, upgraded and implemented on an e-learning platform.

The expected impact is the improvement of the competitiveness of SMEs of the construction sector and the improvement of the employability of the professionals on a European scale. This objective can be met if the quality of their work meets the new standards in the different European countries concerning the energy efficiency. To comply such a new level of quality, one of the key points is the evaluation of the energy efficiency of the new solutions implemented to improve the performance of building envelope and systems: if the benefit of this solution is proved by calculation or measurement, the quality of the product is improved, impacting the business of a company and the qualification of the employees. The benefit is economical, with a higher competitiveness, and environmental with more comfortable buildings consuming less energy.

Keywords:

European project, energy efficiency, continuous education.