Op-ed: Skills Agenda – Towards a job-rich recovery with sustainable buildings

By Elisabeth Hoffmann, Senior Policy Adviser at VELUX, EuroACE Member.

In its Renovation Wave, the European Commission outlined its vision of at least doubling the annual energy renovation rate of buildings by 2030. But for this vision to become a reality, we need the right framework conditions, and one aspect has the potential to water down the Renovation Wave if not tackled: skills.

If we want to significantly boost energy renovation rates and use greener technologies, we have to train, re-skill and up-skill workers in line with the Green Deal objectives, and attract new talents to avoid a shortage of qualified workers.

The European Skills Agenda and the Pact for Skills are good starting points. We call on Member States to come forward with ambitious national roadmaps for training the construction workforce in 2021, to unleash the full potential of creating new local jobs: an average of 18 jobs can be created per million euro invested in energy renovation.