The European AEC Sector now faces impending challenges over the next decade concerning escalating climate targets. To reach these targets, it vital that the green economy deliver a better-skilled workforce and develops new competencies and methods of working. Training in the domain of digital construction technologies and processes, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), are now seen as essential upskilling vehicles that must be embraced if the sector is to transition towards a greener agenda. To assist in meeting these training needs a selection of partners from the BIM EPA will partake in the Horizon 2020 ARISE project, aiming to contribute to this agenda by stimulating and inspiring the demand for sustainable energy skills. This will be achieved by monetising skills development and learning exchanges within a digital system based on skills recognition. The project will develop a suite of modules underpinned by micro-credentials that will enable the learner to acquire the skills and accreditation/recognition needed to meet the job requirements while also providing vocational mobility. This material will be hosted on an on-demand mobile-friendly training portal and will have procedures inbuilt in its architecture to measure progress and validate the achievement. This achievement will come in the form of a cryptocurrency titled CERTcoin. It is hoped that this innovative approach will support the transition of the construction sector by providing its workforce with digital and sustainable energy skills that will secure a greener future.

The construction industry consumes up to 50% of mineral resources excavated from nature, generates about 33% of CO2 present in the atmosphere, and is responsible for 40% of total global energy through construction and operation of buildings. There is a realisation that SME’s perceived lack of innovation is causing a genuine concern in the AEC industry as they do not have the skills or tools required to help address these concerns. To assist in overcoming these barriers, a number of funding initiatives have been put in place through Horizon 2020 with a focus on BIM, due to it having the potential to rapidly produce energy outputs that enable design teams to analyse and compare the most costeffective energy-efficient options. One of these initiatives, the BIMcert project, aims to educate all areas of the supply chain in the use of BIM, to achieve better energy efficiency during the design, construction and ongoing maintenance of an asset. The goal is to develop more efficient and suitable training programme materials that integrate sustainability and renewable concepts with practical application by integration with technology. This paper explores the final phase of testing and the launch of the platform. It discusses how the developed training material assists in improving sustainability in the built environment by training its practitioners in an efficient and greener manner of design and construct through the BIM process. The paper also defines recommendations to target the broader skills gap agenda.

The global buildings sector is now responsible for 40% of final energy consumption as well as accounting for 33% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.This has far resulted in a growing urgency to address energy and emissions from buildings and construction, to meet restrictive 2020 targets as specified by the European Union (EU).To achieve these targets several funding initiatives have been put in place through Horizon 2020 with a focus on BIM, due to it having the potential to rapidly produce energy outputs that enable design teams to analyse and compare the most cost-effective, energy-efficient options.However, despite the recorded benefits that BIM can bring to the design, there is still a lack of understanding of how it can be used on site by the supply chain to impact energy savings directly.In order to address this industry-wide concern a Multi-International consortium bid, won and then launched the Horizon 2020 Energy BIMcert project in March 2018 with the goal to educate all areas of the supply chain in the use of BIM, to achieve better energy efficiency during the design, construction and ongoing maintenance of an asset.An online platform was launched in 2019, which delivers blended training that combines theory, practice, and eLearning to enable workers to train more effectively.This paper will present the project and discuss some of its major results.

The global buildings sector is now responsible for 40% of final energy consumption and is accounting for 33% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. This has resulted in a growing urgency to address energy and emissions from buildings and construction, to meet restrictive 2020 targets as specified by the European Union (EU). To achieve these targets a number of funding initiatives have been put in place through Horizon 2020 with a focus on BIM, due to it having the potential to rapidly produce energy outputs that enable design teams to analyse and compare the most cost-effective, energy-efficient options. However, despite the recorded benefits that BIM can bring to the design, there is still a lack of understanding of how it can be used on site by the supply chain to impact energy savings directly. In order to address this industry-wide concern a Multi-International consortium, bid, won and then launched the Horizon 2020 Energy BIMcert project in March 2018 with the goal to educate all areas of the supply chain in the use of BIM, so as to achieve better energy efficiency during the design, construction and ongoing maintenance of an asset. An online platform will be launched in September 2019, which will deliver blended training that combines theory, practice and eLearning that will enable workers to train more effectively. This paper will explore the initial stages of this project and will focus on how the findings from a survey and series of workshops conducted within the member states of the Energy BIMcert consortium have helped establish the training needs of the industry. These findings were cross-referenced with a state-of-the-art literature review on BIM pedagogy, which has resulted in the formation of the curriculum and learning outcomes for a number of BIM focused training units. Further to this, the paper will discuss how the delivery of the blended training and associated materials will affect current energy saving targets.