UPGREAT – Training Tool for Efficient Schools
Upskilling construction professionals in Greece and Cyprus for deep energy efficiency renovations of school buildings.
Project info
Cyprus, Germany, Greece
10/21 - 12/23
Civil society
299,426.60 €
Contact info
Vasileios Ntouros
- CYPRUS ENERGY AGENCY (CEA)
- Da-Di-Werk Gebäudemanagement
- HELLENIC PASSIVE HOUSE INSTITUTE
Background
The building sector is responsible for more than one third of the total greenhouse gas emissions and for 40 percent of energy consumption in the EU. To reduce emissions in the sector and meet EU climate targets, deep renovation of buildings is required. School buildings are of particular importance in this regard, as they are places of high social interest which have the potential to convey messages – for example about the impacts of energy-efficient buildings – to society. In Greece and Cyprus, a lack of training, awareness and consultancy among building professionals and municipal administrations has been hampering progress in this area.
Project
The project team develops training programmes for different target groups: local authorities, students of technical universities and vocational schools, young engineers, technical staff of local authorities, members of the civil society engaged with deep renovation efforts in their communities, and networks and associations of construction professionals and suppliers. The project team offers courses (four in Greece and three in Cyprus), focusing on school case studies, covering all target groups according to the needs of each country, making sure that each is sensitive to the site’s particularities and adapting the courses accordingly. The trainings are complemented by practical examples and on-site visits, so that participants gain a thorough understanding of retrofitting processes as well as of potential communication problems between design teams and construction teams. Thus, the project team provides the necessary skills to meet the demand for deep renovations that is continuously increasing as buildings age and climate goals’ deadlines approach. The trainings allow everybody involved in schools’ renovation processes to keep up with new developments in energy-efficient renovation and thus contribute to the sustainable transformation of Greece’s and Cyprus’s building sectors and to the overall EU climate targets.
