A total of £3.5million in funding was announced last week to help train hundreds of people in key green skills ahead of the launch of the Green Deal, delivering on the Deputy Prime Minister’s announcement in March last year to create 1,000 Green Deal apprenticeships. The Green Deal is the Government’s latest energy efficiency scheme aimed at renovating millions of draughty, energy-inefficient homes and office buildings across the UK. This scheme will begin later this year and will support an estimated 65,000 jobs by 2015.

A workforce skilled in assessing home energy efficiency and installing insulation are crucial for getting the Green Deal off the ground. So far, too few people have been trained to make our homes greener, threatening the initiative which promises to refurbish 14m draughty homes by 2020. The scheme is definitely threatened by a shortage of "green" building skills, according to a damning new industry report by the Green Deal Skills Alliance (GDSA), which is responsible for overseeing training and accreditation.

In all, 425 employers and training providers were surveyed, but only half of their installers had the basic skills required by the scheme. The survey also revealed that little more than half of the employers had heard of the scheme. The research will help the skills alliance draw up a programme of training, resulting in the award of a Green Deal quality mark.

DECC is putting forward £3m and one of the leading partners in the Alliance, CITB-ConstructionSkills, will provide a further £500,000 towards the training of insulation installers.

Brian Smithers, of Rexel, Uk, commented “Training will make or break the Green Deal. In a complex and sometimes confusing market, it’s crucial that the industry has the skills to help consumers make informed energy decisions. There is still a widespread lack of understanding of how green technologies can help people improve the energy efficiency of their homes and reduce bills. Rexel’s recent energy efficiency survey found that over a quarter of Brits would be motivated to save energy if they had access to financial subsidies, yet 90% hadn’t heard of schemes such as Carbon Trust Loans. Rexel’s energy efficient Sigma Home at the BRE is one example of how to help industry better understand what can easily be achieved with available technologies. Building professionals are then better equipped to advise consumers.”

CITB-ConstructionSkills CEO Mark Farrar said: “Today’s announcement represents a significant step towards preparing the construction industry for the Government’s flagship efficiency scheme. Training shortfalls have been identified as one of the main barriers to the success of the scheme. We have invested funds to tackle training shortages and unlock commercial opportunities for SMEs and we welcome DECC’s commitment to skills and training by doing the same thing. We are now calling on employers and the supply chain to also invest in sustainable skills training for their workforce, so they too can capitalise on the Green Deal.”

In addition, DECC is also funding a £10m competition to be launched in early May to support the incorporation of innovative technologies which can achieve significant energy savings in existing non-domestic buildings. Non-domestic buildings, such as schools, shops, offices, hotels, are associated with 18% of the UK’s total carbon emissions so reducing energy demand in this sector will help the country meet its climate targets.