Entrepreneur Rob Green has a thirst for knowledge and is always looking for something new to learn. With a background in design, his drive to acquire new skills has seen him develop a particular interest in the housing industry and building design, and he took up the opportunity to study for a qualification in retrofit at City College.
Funded by the government through its Skills Bootcamps programme, Rob completed the ten-week course for free and is now hoping to use his new knowledge of PAS2030 and PAS2035 regulations on a potential building project with some business associates.
Rob’s interest in construction, particularly in relation to energy efficiency, introduced him to the Passivhaus Institut which is a group of independent researchers behind the Passivhaus concept, which was set up in the 1990s to create a detailed standard of energy-efficient building design. Enamoured by the concept, Rob qualified as a Passivhaus consultant; however, as Passivhaus is focused on new-builds, Rob started looking into acquiring knowledge of retrofit to help him with a possible business idea to make current homes more energy efficient.
Rob explained: “Passivhaus led to a brief period of volunteering with the Plymouth Community Climate Centre and that experience has made me realise that we are some way off getting the average household to carry out retrofit work; but I feel there are other steps people can take to get them started.
“When I move into a house, the first thing I do is draft proof the property – there are a lot of remedial works that people can do right away to make their homes more energy efficient. What was particularly appealing about this specific course was the chance to acquire a drone licence and experience of using thermal imaging equipment.
“I’m hoping to start offering thermographic surveying services to local tradespeople to help identify where perhaps a quicker solution can be used to make a home more energy efficient – I feel there is a gap for this particular type of work that would have benefits for homeowners and will contribute towards hitting net-zero targets.
“The course at the College offers a very solid foundation of knowledge, particularly in relation to the PAS2030 and PAS2035 Government guidelines of retrofit which, for me, is invaluable. I’d be very interested in potentially completing the level 4 retrofit qualification which would enable me to become a retrofit assessor.
“The course is a very good introduction to retrofit and is well structured – the drone licence is an excellent bonus.”
Rob recently acquired the domain https://ukpassivhaus.com/ and will be launching his website shortly, where he intends to share information about the different routes into the Passivhaus industry.
