Metro Mayor Dan Norris met workers who are retrofitting four homes on Philip Street in Bristol, as part of his second Jobs and Skills Summit.
The Metro Mayor chatted to the insulation workers about what attracted them to their roles, how they gained the skills they needed and quizzed them about their ideas on how to encourage others to take up green jobs.
As part of the Metro Mayor’s flagship Green Recovery fund the West of England Combined Authority is investing over £3 million in retrofitting.
Over 250,000 homes across the West of England would benefit from measures to improve the energy efficiency of their homes which is vital to cut carbon and people’s sky-high energy bills.
But more workers in this sector are urgently needed as at the current pace, it would take 557 years to install the required solid wall insulation to meet the region’s ambitious 2030 zero-carbon target.
The houses on Philip Street are having wood fibre exterior wall insulation installed by talented tradespeople from sustainable building firm Urbane Eco, a really effective way to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat people’s home and lower their energy bills too.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: “If we’re going to have a retrofit revolution we need to have the workers to transform our homes. From Georgian Bath townhouses, to Bristolian Victorian terraces and lias stone cottages, there are huge numbers of homes that need greening in across our amazing region. That’s a lot of jobs and we need as many people as possible to consider a green job career. That’s why I’m so keen to learn what attracted people into the trade and any barriers I can help address. Under my leadership, the West of England Combined Authority is investing in skills, backing 23,000 new green jobs and bringing funding to our amazing region.”
The Metro Mayor’s second Jobs and Skills Summit focused on raising the profile of green jobs across sectors, showcasing green career opportunities for local people and hearing from the region’s green workers helping the region transition to net zero.
On the summit day, the Metro Mayor also met students at Chew Valley School; South Gloucestershire companies developing new green technologies as well as trade unions working to green West of England workplaces.
