As the energy transition accelerates, sectors such as construction must evolve. The craft skills centers are therefore turning to new training.
This could be the most efficient building in terms of energy savings in the Grand Duchy. In one of the halls of the Krakelshaff training center in Bettembourg, photovoltaic panels, heat pumps and even thermal insulation are brought together in the same building. But here, these technologies are there to serve as support for craftsmen and job seekers who come to train in energy efficiency.
Since 2016, the Craft Skills Centers have welcomed companies wishing to develop new skills among their employees (read framed). Divided into two branches, technical building engineering (GTB) and completion (PAR), this offer materialized in March 2021 with two buildings housing the Krakelshaff center. The halls, with an area of 5,000 square meters, are entirely dedicated to trades and the training of electricians, sanitary fitters, carpenters, painters and even tilers.
But the profession of craftsman is changing. The energy transition is underway and old fossil technologies are gradually giving way to renewable energies. If the road is still long, it is these workers who are in the front line to ensure this development. To support them, the GTB/PAR Competence Centers now offer new training courses related to energy efficiency. Decarbonization, electromobility, sustainable development… all these subjects will soon have their own dedicated competence centre.
“We already offer training, but we are going to expand the range, announces Marc Ant, managing director of the Skills Centre. We are also going to offer training to engineers and architects, with new media, and not just to technicians.” This new skills center should see the light of day by the summer. It will take the form of an economic interest group, which facilitates the economic development of the companies that make it up by pooling resources, whether material or human. In the meantime, the CDC will first survey professionals in the coming months about their training needs. “We are going to launch a broad analysis which will also allow us to motivate companies.”
“Take our responsibilities”
In this major project, the CDCs are supported by the Ministry of Energy. “If we want to win the fight against global warming and get out of Putin’s or despots’ dependence on fossil fuels, we have to take our responsibilities,” recalls Minister Claude Turmes. Responsibilities that include the training of craftsmen. Some, who have always worked on gas heaters, are now learning to install heat pumps. “The political message is that Luxembourg must be a pioneer in these technologies. The role of the ministry is to help fund this fairly unique skills center at European level.”
The CDC has also applied for subsidies from the Climate-Energy Fund both for the establishment of its new skills center dedicated to energy efficiency and for the development of a sectoral training plan and the realization training sessions. It is thus planned to train more than 1,000 people in 25 to 30 different activities over two to three years. These training courses, essentially practical, will be provided by professional trainers.
“We are going to recruit engineers in energy efficiency and we are going to get closer to other training organizations to work with them,” says Marc Ant. Several target audiences will be targeted, in particular workers and technicians from craft businesses, but also those from municipalities and public administrations. Training in wind turbines, building thermography, green energy or biomass will be offered. “The development of renewable energies, the insulation and the renovation of buildings require expert craftsmen, emphasizes Claude Turmes. The challenge of the energy transition can only be met together.”
Nearly 10,000 training sessions
Created in 2016 to respond to the labor shortage in the trades, the skills centers were originally focused on civil building engineering and completion. But, over the years, they have been able to develop to offer new training in health-safety-engine (first aid, use of nacelles, cranes, etc.) as well as in soft skills (behavioral skills such as empathy, self-confidence, interpersonal skills, etc. and management.
While a dedicated training center now exists in Bettembourg, the CDCs also work with organizations specializing in other areas such as security, real estate or tattooing. Over the past seven years, 9,643 training sessions have been organized for 44,000 people in 50 different professions.
Beyond energy efficiency, their offer continues to develop in other sectors, such as that of health-safety-engine, which will soon also benefit from its own center of competences, while annexes to Existing CDCs will be set up in the north of the country. An experimental photovoltaic park is also under study with specialized companies. It will allow research and testing of new technologies.