Bridging the green skills gap

Focusing on Earth Day

As the government continues to ‘flip-flop’ on its green goals, organisations are taking sustainability into their own hands and improving their teams, their surroundings, and their industries in a slow but steady trajectory.

More industries are looking toward arming themselves with green-skilled staff, matching the sustainability sector in its efforts to hit those Net Zero goals. What’s more is that these likeminded people want to create spaces that will benefit people who come after them – either in their roles, or in the areas that they inhabit.

How is the education sector becoming greener?

The education sector is one that is constantly looking to improve not only for the sake of its own existence, but also for teaching its pupils the value of sustainability.

Many academies and Trusts across the country are investigating and researching the possibility of making their schools more energy-efficient through government and alternative funding. The Low Carbon Skills Fund has recently opened its application portal for schools to register for support in improving their schools with projects such as installing PV solar panels or updating their heating systems from gas boilers to ESOS-grade heat pumps.

Industrial and commercial businesses focusing on their footprint

It is much more difficult to improve an industry that relies on expending large amounts of energy to be successful but industrial and commercial business owners are improving where they can.

We have seen prioritising of local businesses to ensure travel-based carbon emissions are kept at a minimum. Ensuring businesses like timber merchants, tradespeople like plumbers and roofers, and even surveyors and valuers are not travelling a long way helps to balance energy consumption across their organisation.

Similarly to the education industry, warehouse and workshops are in an enviable position of being able to install PV solar panels, rainwater harvesting systems, lighting upgrades, and more. Their large square footage lends itself to a host of green improvements – but it is not easy when you don’t know where to start!

Fortunately, groups and networks are regularly springing up such as WYCA, who support businesses in the area to adopt sustainable tasks like circular economy models, temperature adaptation, and regular training for employees and stakeholders.

Property and construction at the helm of sustainability

Even in our own industry we see changes and solutions to improve carbon footprints created by ourselves as well as the properties that we build, manage and update throughout the years.

The most recent mission is to construct buildings that serve its occupants through their lifespan, by keeping energy costs low and people happy. Concepts like biophilic design and footprint monitoring go towards improving the longevity of the building as well as the longevity of the occupants.

Installing building management systems (BMSs) and forward-thinking HVAC units are just some of the ways we are seeing our infrastructure change to combat an increasing reliance on energy.

The bigger picture

There is a lack of commitment to climate action from people in authority, so leaders in industries are moving towards more sustainable options that are business-savvy – it is one thing to improve the green credentials of a company, but it is more to also improve its performance through sustainable strategies and tactics.

Would you be put off working for a company that fails to offer a sustainable benefits package? Should we be holding the businesses we use and work for accountable? Whose job is it to make sure our professional lives reflect our personal lives that have organically turned eco-friendly over the years?

It is down to us all to support each other in making these incremental but significant changes. Otherwise, we will be in a much worse state than we currently are.