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Plans for Heat Pumps to Replace Gas Boilers: What Does This Mean for Construction?

12th November 2021

With COP26 currently underway, the spotlight is very much on all of us to understand the impact of climate change and what we can do, as both individuals and businesses, to combat it.

Last month, as part of its Heat and Building Strategy, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announced a campaign that will encourage householders to switch to a low carbon heating system (Heat Pumps). The scheme aims to install 90,000 heat bumps over the course of three years. Households will be offered up to £5,000 towards the costs of upgrading their heating system from April 2022, which will ultimately help towards meeting the UK’s net zero carbon emissions target by 2050.

So, what does this mean for the construction industry?

First and foremost, this means that construction workers will have significant opportunities to carry out work of this magnitude, both within new build projects and in existing homes. £450 million has been allocated to this scheme and is therefore a lucrative opportunity for construction businesses.

What this also means, however, is that the construction industry must have the skills necessary to carry out these works, and that means a significant increase in green skills is needed for construction workers.

For SIMIAN, this announcement has come at the ideal time following the grand opening of our Green Skills Hub at our London Academy for Sustainable Construction (LASC), with speciality training in (you guessed it!) heat pump technology.

At its opening, Neil Bewick, Centre Manager at LASC said:

“Air source heat pump technology is a low carbon heating option for both new build construction and retrofit of existing social housing and private properties. We are keen to support the emergence of this energy efficient technology by providing skills training for installers not only in the borough of Waltham Forest but the wider London and southeast region. The future for construction is green and now is the time to get ahead of the game and gain these crucial skills that will soon be a necessity on construction projects.”

To learn more about our Green Skills Training, contact the SIMIAN team today.