Daikin UK is working in partnership with colleges and training providers across Greater Manchester to help train the next generation of green heating installers.
Daikin UK in partnership with the Green Skills Academy will deliver the first ‘Train the Green Trainer’ programme for college tutors and staff at nine Greater Manchester colleges, including Hopwood College, Trafford College and Oldham College. The aim is to train 50 heating and plumbing tutors via the initiative by April 2024.
The five-day course will be made up of an LCL Awards Level 3 in the Installation and Maintenance of Air Source Heat Pump Systems, delivered by the General Services Administration (GSA), and a Daikin Monobloc Level 1 Installation, and Daikin Altherma 3 Level 2 Commissioning certification, delivered by Daikin.
Martin Passingham, Head of Product and Training at Daikin UK, said: “Demand for heat pump installations is currently being let down by the lack of availability of trained and certified installers. At Daikin, we have the capacity to train more than 10,000 installers on air source heat pumps through our accredited and product related courses through Daikin Training Academies and through our extensive network of Sustainable Home Centres – and we’re striving to train around 30% of all installers in the industry.
“However, greater training and support to bolster access to installers is needed. Our partnership with the Green Skills Academy will equip college staff and tutors with the tools needed to upskill a new generation of heat pumps installers and help fill the current installer gap.”
Daikin UK will also be working with college staff in Greater Manchester to install Daikin heat pumps at the colleges on completion of the five-day course.
Roosevelt Alexander, Director of the Green Skills Academy at the Growth Company, added: “Our Green Skills Academy was established in 2023 to play a key role in overcoming the biggest barrier we are facing across the UK to achieving net zero, by training the workforce to overcome the skills shortage.
“In Greater Manchester alone, we need an additional 3,000 heat pump installers by 2027 and this can only be achieved by ensuring that there is training support available for the trainers themselves to pass on to the next generation of the workforce.
“We are proud to play a key role in ensuring that this training is available to support the wider goals of the region and meet the UK-wide goal of decarbonising home heating by 2038. We look forward to welcoming the first cohort of tutors to the Academy this month and seeing the roll out of the Low Carbon Heating Apprenticeship across Greater Manchester.”
