UPGREAT – Training Tool for Efficient Schools

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.

Graphic Rendering of a school after deep energy renovation; Photo: © Hellenic Passive House Institute

The project team developed training programs for different target groups: local authorities, students at 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 offered a total of 18 training courses (6 in Cyprus, 12 in Greece) focusing on case studies in schools, 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 training courses were complemented by practical examples and on-site visits, so that participants gained a thorough understanding of retrofitting processes as well as of potential communication problems between design teams and construction teams. Thus, the project team provided the necessary skills to meet the demand for deep renovations that were continuously increasing as buildings age and climate goals’ deadlines approach. The trainings allowed 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.

• Training courses met with positive response: As part of the project, 36 comprehensive training courses were held to strengthen the skills of almost 1,400 specialists in energy-efficient building renovation. Five times as many courses were held with around ten times as many participants as initially planned. Over 90 per cent of them found the content helpful and felt sufficiently prepared to carry out energy-efficient renovation measures. The project thus contributed to energy efficiency, emission reduction and sustainability in the building sector. 
• Tailor-made qualification programme: Three training programmes tailored to different levels of the European Qualifications Framework were developed. They are aimed at learners at vocational training centres, technical colleges and universities. The programmes enable skilled workers to be specially qualified to implement energy efficiency measures. 
• Nineteen educational institutions, vocational trainers and training providers from Greece and Cyprus signed a memorandum of understanding to incorporate the Total Training Toolkit into their curricula (continuing education courses and e-learning programmes). This will further promote energy efficiency measures and sustainability in school buildings. 

More results can be found on UPGREAT-website.