The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Practitioner Skills Programme is a demand-oriented, dual-structured short course for energy performance certificates for buildings, to qualify young electricians for income-generating employment.
This is a programme of the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI), championed by SANEDI’s general manager, Barry Bredenkamp, in partnership with the Institute of Energy Professionals Africa (IEPA). The programme is supported by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), Energy Water Sector Education and Training Authority (EWSETA), GIZ Skills Development for a Green Economy ll (SD4GE II) programme, a German technical cooperation programme implemented on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).
The EPC Regulation, published in December 2019, requires the mandatory display of EPCs by December 2022. The timely launch of the EPC Practitioner Skills Programme was highlighted by Teslim Yusuf, SANEDI project manager for data and knowledge management and smart grids, who commented: “As one of the implementing agencies of the DMRE, we are mandated to implement the regulations on the mandatory display and submission of energy performance certificates for buildings – the EPC Practitioner Skills Programme enables such implementation. Through this skills programme, fifty unemployed electricians will be upskilled with relevant and useful competencies and knowledge, thereby also helping to address the high unemployment rate of youth in South Africa as well.”
The unemployed electricians will embark on a journey together with their lecturers and workplace mentors to develop competencies in the EPC regulation and related standards. In partnership with the respondent colleges, Ekurhuleni East TVET College (EEC) and College of Cape Town (CCT), the programme will include online and in-person training with a practical and work experience component to complete their assignment to fulfil the qualification’s requirements.
The EPC regulation requires buildings that fall into the category’s dominant occupancy for offices, places of instruction (i.e., schools, universities, etc.), theatrical and indoor sports, and entertainment and public assembly. Public buildings owned, operated or occupied by an organ of state with a net floor area of over 1000 square metres must comply. Privately owned buildings that are not owned, operated or occupied by an organ of state, and with a net floor area of over 2000 square metres, also fall under the requirements of the regulation.
Non-compliance is in contravention of the National Energy Act of South Africa and may result in accounting officers in the case of public buildings, and building owners for private buildings, facing penalties of up to R5 million, and may be accompanied by a jail sentence. This requirement is by no means new. The South African national standard SANS1544:2014 for energy performance certificates for buildings has been in circulation for eight years already.
The EPC Practitioners Skills Programme is a pilot programme that should contribute greatly to providing opportunities for the youth to enter the market of assisting accounting officers of public buildings, and building owners in the private sector, to gather the necessary EPC technical information and documentation requirements for building assessment and inspection. EPC practitioners are not qualified to issue EPCs but can support the EPC inspection bodies accredited by the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) in achieving the government target for compliance.
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