Scotland needs 20,000 extra construction workers for green 'retrofit' revolution, report warns

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scotland needs to add more than 20,000 skilled workers to the construction sector to retrofit all our homes and buildings for the green revolution, a new expert report has said.The Just Transition Commission, which advises Scottish ministers, warned there needs to be a whole “system change” - from training and skills through to procurement - to meet eco goals.The independent expert group insisted this will be a mammoth challenge where “neither business as usual nor piecemeal efforts” will work.Crucially, it said to attract the workers of the future, the industry must do more to address pay, security and safety issues and turn the precarious trade into a “fair work” sector.The Commission has published a new report on the sector today, shared exclusively with the Record, following briefings earlier this week on how our transport and farming systems can shift to net zero.The UK’s built environment and construction industry currently accounts for around 40 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.

Our homes alone make up 13 per cent of emissions, chiefly due to oil and gas boilers.Before green alternatives like heat pumps are installed, experts say homes and buildings should first be made as energy efficient as possible.The JTC said the bulk of this work - such as insulating cavity walls and lofts and solid wall insulation for the poorest homes - needs to happen between now and 2030.Post-2030, it’s then expected demand for these skills will remain high for new build, eco-friendly homes.That will mean boosting Scotland’s construction workforce by the equivalent of 22,500 full-time workers - a nine per cent increase on current levels.Currently, it warned, there is “very little activity in Net Zero retrofit and very little