April 14, 2007 Toronto Star
Building Industry Key to Cutting Energy Needs
Theresa Boyle
Canada's construction industry could help reduce energy consumption through better training of tradespeople and building operators, a roundtable breakfast sponsored by the Canadian Urban Institute, heard last week.
"Available energy efficiency training... is piecemeal and uncoordinated," Jennifer Penney, a senior researcher with the Clean Air Partnership, told an audience of about 50 people at Metro Hall.
"We think a much more coordinated approach is needed. It's poorly integrated into apprenticeship programs," she said.
Penney presented the findings of a draft report, entitled Skills for Energy Efficient Construction, an initiative of the Clean Air Partnership, Canadian Urban Institute and Toronto Training Board.
The report, which was authored by Penney, notes that the building sector consumes close to one-third of energy used in Canada and that nearly half of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada come from the built environment.
If Canadians are to significantly reduce energy consumption, the construction sector can provide an important opportunity to reduce our energy needs, the gathering was told.
The 50-page report states that a broad array of new construction practices and technologies have been developed to reduce energy consumption and other environmental impacts on buildings. And new training programs on energy efficiency and green building design have also emerged.
Nevertheless, it has been difficult to disperse that information and to get tradespeople to undertake additional training, it continues.
"Workers don't have extra personal time to devote to that," explained Shane McCarthy, training director with Local 787 of the Refrigeration Workers of Ontario, suggesting that such training be offered during work hours.
The meeting heard that some "green" developers are reluctant to share information about their practices and technology.
Bill Humber, chair of the Centre for the Built Environment at Seneca College, said the industry needs to address the issue of sharing intellectual property.
"We need to deal with that issue of proprietary knowledge. Really, I think we need to move more toward a common ground," he said.
Penney said it was a challenge to find information on the availability of training programs as they are not offered in any uniform way in the industry. Courses are offered by some union training centres, community colleges and trade associations, she noted.
"We believe that the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities should put some money into creating a clearinghouse website, which provides information in a single place on available training," she said.
The report states that a key motivator for training will be greater demand for energy efficient buildings, systems and products.
One way to fuel the demand is though regulation, said John Cartwright, president of the Toronto and York Labour Council.
"We need a stronger Building Code," said Cartwright, calling on the province to include more energy efficiency requirements in the construction of new buildings.
John Godden, principal of Alpha-Tec Consulting and Construction, suggested that building permits be fast-tracked for "green" builders, using tradespeople trained in energy efficiency.
