The Better Buildings Consultant Certification Scheme was officially unveiled at Elmhurst’s National Conference on Tuesday 27th February. This innovative program offers a unique platform for Elmhurst members who possess a broad range of accreditations and competency to showcase their expertise in different areas of energy assessment, retrofitting, and other related fields.

The initiative answers a need from building owners, social landlords, facilities managers, and homeowners to make it easier to identify qualified professionals with skills, knowledge, and experience across multiple areas.

Liz Male, founder and owner of Liz Male Consulting, who works with Elmhurst and other clients in the Built Environment, introduced the scheme to 400 energy and retrofit professionals in her talk at Elmhurst’s National Conference, drawing comparisons with the world of finance:

“Consider the scenario where you find yourself in a financial bind. You might seek out a Pensions specialist for your retirement plans, or perhaps an Investment specialist if you’re dealing with stocks and shares. For homeowners looking to leverage the equity in their property, an Equity Release specialist might be the go-to. There are lots of different financial professionals out there, specialists in their own discipline. Alternatively, you could instead opt for an Independent Financial Adviser who encompasses all these specialisms and perhaps more.

Because they are multi disciplined and they have all these different skills, they can bring a new and holistic perspective to your needs. That’s the analogy! and the same applies to buildings and what Elmhurst is aiming to deliver with its new certification scheme”.

Stuart Fairlie, managing director at Elmhurst comments: “As a nation, we’ve never been so acutely aware of the need to make our homes and buildings more energy efficient. But to deliver this we need a fully competent and growing workforce who are equipped with the training and accreditation necessary to help us reach net zero standards, reduce demand on the grid and improve the resilience of our built environment.

“A Better Buildings Consultant simply gives commercial and private customers added assurance that their chosen energy efficiency professional has a holistic understanding of all these issues and the right competencies and technical experience to cover a broader range of requirements.”

The Better Buildings Consultant Certification Scheme is open to all Elmhurst members who have an accreditation in energy assessment and a competency or accreditation in a second professional discipline, such as:

• Retrofit assessment and coordination
• Overheating risk assessments
• Psi-value calculation
• U-value calculation
• Legionella risk assessment.
• Airtightness
• Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS)
• Ventilation
• Thermography

To achieve the status of Better Buildings Consultant, applicants will need to pass a competency test. Once qualified, they will be listed as a Better Buildings Consultant with Elmhurst.