April 16, 2007

Skilled Labour

Training needed in new energy technologies

GTA labour force requires more training: report

PETER KENTER

correspondent

TORONTO

A new report praises the efforts of the construction industry to reduce energy consumption, but questions whether Toronto’s labour force has the necessary skills to fully embrace energy-efficient construction techniques and maintain energy-efficient buildings after they’re built.

The report, Skills for Energy Efficient Construction, was prepared by The Clean Air Partnership (CAP) and the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) with the Toronto Training Board.

“Conservation and energy efficiency are becoming the industry norm,” says CUI’s Brent Gilmour, one of the report’s researchers.

“Many developers are taking a stance on energy efficiency principles, not just on new construction but also on retrofit.

“We wanted to get a better understanding of whether the GTA labour market had the right skills to make [energy efficiency happen].”

The report notes that new practices and technologies designed to reduce energy consumption require new skill sets and increased training geared to architects, engineers, developers, contractors and others.

The report suggests that some energy-efficient buildings may fail to perform as expected because of inadequate skills among construction trades and the failure of operators to fully understand how energy-efficient systems operate.

In some cases, design firms have complained that efforts to realize energy-efficient designs are limited by the skill levels of construction trades.

The good news is that the gap between what skilled trades know and what they need to know isn’t overwhelming, says the report. Some energy-efficient technologies — the installation of low-flow plumbing systems, for example — require no new training, while others can be successfully mastered after a few days of intensive training.

“The joint union-employer training centres and the community colleges are really the central bodies for providing this type of training,” says CAP’s Jennifer Penney, another of the report’s researchers.

"Tradespeople need to have hands-on training."

Jennifer Penney

Clean Air Partnership

Community colleges, however, are limited in what they can offer because they’re dependent on applicant demand and the skills of college trainers.

“Apprenticeship programs do not have energy efficiency as a focus, though there are exceptions to this,” says Penney. “There are instructors at George Brown College, for example, who are trained in LEED. Seneca College teaches full-time students how to operate and manage energy-efficient buildings.

“There are also a number of emerging technologies that we saw — involving solar and photovoltaic and geo-thermal systems, for example — that require skills that existing trades can pick up as additions to their skills base.”

The report also stipulates there are groups like the Canadian Solar Industries Association and the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition developing certification programs, separate from the existing training institutions.

“These skills may emerge as specializations apart from existing trades, if the existing trades don’t incorporate energy efficiency more quickly,” says Penney.

Among the report’s recommendations is the establishment of a web site by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) to provide one-stop shopping for courses involving energy efficiency.

“We also want to see a concerted effort to integrate energy efficiency into apprenticeship and trades training,” says Penney.

“Groups who should be involved with this include MCTU, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Employment Ontario, energy efficiency offices at all levels of government, construction associations, the Social Housing Services Corporation, training advisory committees and energy service companies.

“Tradespeople need to have hands-on training.”

The report was funded by the Ontario Power Authority, the City of Toronto, the Toronto Training Board, Social Housing Services Corporation, and the Ontario Centres of Excellence

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