A model of a house and its energy efficiency ratingThose organisations responsible for delivering sustainable buildings have particular responsibilities to limit the environmental impact of new buildings so that the construction industry meets its energy efficiency demands.

Gateway to Suscon, in the South East of England, has worked with the construction industry and has found that in existing construction practices the majority of training can be very isolated, with various disciplines (architects, contractors, engineers, surveyors, planners, etc) working and learning 'in silos'. For sustainable construction to really work there needs to be integration of efforts across disciplines in all construction projects beyond what currently exists. The last year of the programme has seen the development of a unique modular training curriculum, set out to support all levels of learning from entry and introductory level up to continuing professional development (CPD). The curriculum is coordinated to create potential progression routes while being very flexible.

Skills for Climate Change, based in Newham, London, is identifying skills gaps directly related to climate change and responses to it, amongst small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in built environment and construction services. The aim of the project is to identify the key green skills required in the construction and building services sectors and then develop learning tools that will slot into existing level 2 and level 3 qualifications. In order to ensure that local small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from regeneration projects, they need to have access to skills in the new techniques that are required for environmentally sustainable construction. Without these skills, they are unlikely to benefit from the many large-scale regeneration programmes in London.