Housing Energy Adviser

What is a Housing Energy Adviser?

Housing Energy Advisers will provide information and support to householders to help them improve their energy efficiency, thereby reducing their fuel bills and carbon emissions.

As part of the Home Energy Savings (HES) programme to move the UK towards becoming a low carbon economy, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) have jointly published a consultation on 'Heat and Energy Saving Strategy'. This document sets out the Government's vision up to 2020 and beyond, and two of the main objectives look at ways to address this by:

• Helping more people to reduce their energy bills by using less energy
• Reducing the UK's emissions and increasing our use of renewable energy in line with the ultimate target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050

In order to achieve these objectives, two new roles have been created; Housing Energy Advisers and Community Energy Advisers.

The Housing Energy Adviser role more specifically will be to identify and promote how individual householders can reduce their energy usage through changes to their property (e.g. getting cavity wall insulation installed) and changes to their energy consumption behaviour (e.g. not leaving the TV on standby).

It is anticipated that government backed funding (possibly through the current CERT and CESP schemes - worth over £1bn) will be available to householders to pay for this energy advice offered by HEAs, which will mean that they will receive this support at a highly subsidised rate or may even get it for free. If this is the case, then demand for qualified Housing Energy Advisers is anticipated to be very high.

Only qualified Housing Energy Advisers will be able to undertake this work and access this funding. Call 01925 290000 to register your interest in this new Housing Energy Adviser training course.

Who is the HEA training course suitable for?

This course is ideal for qualified DEAs / HIs, as it compliments their existing skill-set. However, the course is also open to new entrants to the energy adviser industry who are looking for a change in career.

Subject to approval by the ABBE, it is likely that a fast-track HEA training course will be available for those who currently hold either the DipDEA or City & Guilds 6176 qualifications.

What will the Housing Energy Adviser training cover?

The requirement for the new HEA training / qualification and the specific work opportunities that will be available is under final consultation. However, YourHIPSearch plans to begin this training week commencing 7th September 2009 (subject to the qualification award being finalised and available from the ABBE). It is anticipated that the Housing Energy Adviser training course will include 3-5 days of classroom based training. A fast-track Housing Energy Adviser training course may also be made available for qualified Domestic Energy Assessors and Home Inspectors.

Training period: 3-5 days (plus distance learning and support)
Qualification: ABBE Housing Energy Adviser Level 3 Diploma
Location: UK wide