Construction workers in Clare looking to take advantage of the wave of green and clean-tech opportunities coming on-stream have been buoyed by the announcement of new FÁS courses.Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms. Mary Coughlan, T.D., today announced details of the green courses, which focus on Sustainable Energy, Gas safety and installation, Insulation technologies, Building Energy Rating and Micro-Electricity Generation, among others. Minister of State and Clare T.D., Tony Killeen said the new training courses would provide a significant lift to the local construction sector by helping those who have lost jobs to upgrade their skills and take advantage of employment opportunities in the green and clean-tech sectors. He said, “The renewables sector, in particular, is a significant growth area within the construction sector. Work opportunities exist in areas including the installation of energy efficient and renewable technologies, together with compliance and energy rating work.”
Minister Killeen welcomed the programme’s inclusion of Sustainable Energy courses, such as the installation of Solar Thermal, Heat-pump Bio-mass boiler systems. “The aim of these course will be to develop the necessary skills, knowledge and competence of plumbers, electricians, fitters and other suitably qualified construction workers to design, install and commission domestic solar hot water heating, bio-mass and heat-pump systems in a safe and competent manner”, he commented. The Clare T.D. also noted the inclusion of a training course relating to the Building Energy Rating (BER) system. “This course provides the necessary skills, knowledge and competencies to suitably qualified participants to produce BER Assessor labels and advisory reports for new and existing dwellings in accordance with current standards and regulations”, he stated.
Other courses featured in the new FÁS training programme:
Gas safety and installation courses:
- ‘G.I.S. Gas Installer – Safety’ to upgrade the skills and knowledge of persons in gas safety features so as to enable them to work safely on domestic installations and non-domestic gas pipe work.
- G.I.D. Gas Installer Domestic’ to provide the necessary skills and knowledge to install, maintain and service domestic gas installations and equipment in accordance with current standards and regulations.
Smart/Intelligent Building Systems:
- This course provides qualified electricians or suitably qualified applicants with the skills, knowledge and competence to install, configure and test an intelligent building control system using KNX/EIB technology.
Insulation technologies and techniques:
- This course provides general construction trades persons with skills and knowledge in the areas of insulation materials, techniques and technologies, and provides plasterers with external wall rendering techniques for existing and new buildings.
The following additional courses due to come on stream later this year:
Micro-Electricity Generation Wind Turbine and Photovoltaic Courses:
- These courses are being developed in close co-operation with Sustainable Energy Ireland and will enable Installers to safely install appropriate micro-generation equipment up to 11Kw 3 phase or 6Kw single phase in size, in line with the current requirements as defined by E.S.B. networks.
Passive House Building:
- This course will be aimed at construction workers and will provide the skills and knowledge to understand and use the technology associated with the passive house construction method/standard.
