ESTA VIEWPOINT
For further information on ESTA visit www.estaenergy.org.uk
New year, new opportunities 2021 is heralding a new era for ESTA as it broadens its remit to increase training services and looks to attract expert energy professionals to a new group. Mervyn Pilley explains
H
appy New Year. 2020 was supposed to be the first year of the 2020s. A decade that in turn was supposed to be key for focusing on saving
the planet. Unfortunately, 2020 was not the year we expected. In some ways what transpired focused the mind of every one of the importance of the climate emergency and its much longer effects when compared with the pandemic and its relatively shorter impact. However, 2021 marks a new era for ESTA as we join the Energy and Utilities Alliance and grow our influence in the sector. COP26 is now happening in November. Some may have been concerned by the recent report that Alok Sharma. Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is too busy doing his day job to carry out an effective role as chair of COP. It has also been the case that a joined-up plan for Government action in advance of the COP has been very slow in coming with the Energy White paper making an appearance only as this column was being written. In the absence of COP in 2020 I was hugely impressed by the excellent Mock COP26 coordinated by the educational charity, Students Organising for Sustainability. This crowd-funded event brought together many young people from around the world. Their input throughout the event coupled with their post-event policy announcement was truly inspiring and we really must not ignore the voices of young people. In many ways their approach is refreshing in an age when politicians around the world seem to be getting more and more cynical and polarised politically. Our last virtual conference of 2020 focused about making energy efficiency a priority. I was pleased to confirm the launch of this new ESTA-driven campaign and at the same time announce further initiatives to make this happen. We have created the Commercial Energy Efficiency Alliance, a group of Trade Associations and Professional bodies looking to share knowledge and innovation. This alliance will cover all areas of commercial buildings
‘The launch of several new qualifications will happen in 2021’ including retrofit which up to now seems to have solely been targeted at people’s homes. It is disappointing that PAS 2038 development work has been delayed by BSI until September 2021 as retrofitting commercial buildings has not had the push behind it as it deserves. However, I was pleased to be able to confirm at the event the launch of a new category of ESTA membership for individuals. The ESTA Experts Group is for all highly qualified and experienced professionals who are not in any way competing with our ESTA Consultants group nor working for any company that could be an ESTA member. Competitively priced at £100 plus VAT per year the group should also attract those allied professionals in the commercial buildings and energy space that have an active interest in energy efficiency. In addition to accessing the ESTA membership and some of the member benefits, there will be plenty of opportunities for group discussion and debate. I hope to welcome many EiBI readers to the group in due course. Our new Energy Efficiency in Buildings group jointly run with the Building Engineering Services Association – BESA will be meeting for the first time this month. I am also discussing
Mervyn Pilley is executive director of ESTA (Energy Services and Technology Association)
similar joint groups with other likeminded organisations to speed up the dissemination of energy efficiency solutions for the UK commercial sector. I am also excited to announce the launch of ESTA Certification, a new training, qualifications and CPD certification service for any training company providing training in the energy sector anywhere in the world. The launch of several new qualifications and certifications will be happening in the first few months of 2021. If your company is offering training and would like to have a sensibly priced, recognised certification model for successful students/delegates please email me at mervyn@estaenergy.org.uk. It has been frustrating that so many energy related certifications have emanated from the US and this has allowed a situation to arise where restrictions of all kinds have been placed on the availability of qualifications in the UK. We are also launching several new training products in various areas hoping to take advantage of new 2021-2022 training budgets. We will of course continue to offer CMVP and EnCO training at discounted rates for ESTA members (free in the case of EnCO). As I mentioned in my last column of 2020, we are focusing our efforts on becoming an effective global association. I was pleased to get several enquiries about membership in December from international companies. Energy efficiency is needed worldwide and ESTA will continue to seek out opportunities for ESTA members looking for overseas opportunities at the same time as helping International companies tap into the UK market. Helping ESTA members to get work will remain my absolute priority in 2021. Having launched last year our energy efficiency behaviour change programme – the Energy Conscious Organisation - we are keen to build up our global network of consultants and practitioners together with energy-conscious organisations. There are plenty of sponsorship and discounted training opportunities available and if any readers are interested please get in touch with me.
16 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | JANUARY 2021
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