A NEW £500,000 Green Skills Innovation Centre has been opened at Wiltshire College & University Centre’s Lackham campus to give plumbers, electricians and construction companies the sustainable expertise to meet the challenge of Climate Change.
The centre has been developed with the support of Wiltshire Council’s Shared Prosperity Fund and in partnership with Good Energy in Chippenham, which has helped design an Eco House showcasing cutting edge green technology.
The centre is divided into teaching bays, designed and installed by Quantum Training, to teach the installation and maintenance of renewable technologies, including solar PV, heat pumps, battery storage and smart home energy systems.
Construction students will spend time in the centre and the college will offer short courses to construction sector employers who need to develop the skills of their qualified plumbing and heating engineers, electricians and builders as demand grows.
The project has been backed by Minister for Industry Chris Macdonald, who said: “Our clean energy mission is set to create more than 15,000 jobs in the South West alone by 2030. This new facility will help to meet this demand, providing people in Wiltshire and the surrounding area with the training and skills needed to take advantage of the thousands of well-paid, good jobs being delivered by the clean energy transition.”
Chippenham MP Sarah Gibson cut the ribbon at the new centre with Principal & Chief Executive Iain Hatt, who told guests: “Opening this centre is driven by our belief that we must work with and influence the construction industry and help bring about a meaningful change in mindset.
“We are heartened that the number of housebuilders using green technology is growing all the time and as that number rises, the demand for a better trained workforce will increase alongside it.
“But building green new homes won’t meet the challenge of climate change alone, and as people become more aware of the need to conserve energy, demand for retro fitting older properties with green technology will rise. We must help the construction sector understand what is possible and inspire it to seize the initiative – as well as equip its workforce with the skills needed.”
The college has also transformed a 100-year-old former home at Lackham into the Eco House, with input from Good Energy, to act as a showcase for renewable technologies. “We’re benefitting from the enormous amount of research Good Energy has undertaken into this technology,” said Mr Hatt. “They have helped us to understand how it is installed, how it is developed and what the maintenance requirements are.
“Our partnership means they will be training their engineers in the centre and the Eco House, so it’s a win for all of us. We gain from their expertise as a leader in their field and they benefit from our training excellence.”
Carl Hogg, Managing Director of Services at Good Energy, said the company is delighted to support the college. He added: “If we want to cut carbon in millions of homes and businesses, we need a workforce with the confidence and expertise to install and maintain these solutions – and this partnership will empower engineers and installers with the training they need to help households cut carbon and take control of their energy.”
Mrs Gibson, an architect and champion of renewable technologies, said she was proud to see the Green Skills Innovation Centre in her constituency. “One of the things that I’m most concerned about as a rural MP is to make sure we fill that skills gap for young people, and that we’re providing them with the skills for the future that allows them strong employment with career progression,” she said.
“This kind of training really does push for them to have that introduction into such a career. It also puts us and the college on the map for the green transition we so desperately need.
“The Climate Change Committee has clearly said that the next part of reaching our carbon budgets is to make sure that the consumer is involved in the next stage – and that requires qualified engineers going into people’s homes and giving them good advice to make sure that they take up the technologies of the future.”
Mr Hatt told guests: “I’d like to thank all of our partners and stakeholders, particularly Wiltshire Council, Good Energy and Quantum Training, for their support in this venture and to the many staff at the college who have worked so hard to make this a reality. I’m very proud of what we have achieved.”
Photo credit: Anna Barclay
