Status: 04/27/2022 4:31 p.m
In order for Germany to achieve its climate goals, the trades are also in high demand. But where do the specialists who install and renovate come from? There is a lack of staff everywhere.
Peter Küpper is the owner of an installation company for plumbing and heating in Bonn. The 100 employees have a lot to do, the order books are full, and for two main reasons: subsidies for the environmentally friendly conversion of the heating systems – and now also the war in the Ukraine. “Customers are turning the wheel, they all want to get away from gas and oil,” says Küpper.
Pellet heating, heat pumps, solar thermal
The big problem: There is a lack of skilled workers to process the orders promptly. And the problem is getting bigger. Because there is not only a lack of craftsmen and women, the demands are growing. Modern air conditioning technology is increasingly in demand – with the aim of saving energy.
For three years, Küpper has been looking for a master electrician to set up his own electrical department for the installation of heat pumps. An electrician does not usually deal primarily with heating systems and vice versa the heating technician with electrical systems. But now everything is growing together with the energy transition, it is electrically heated.
The need for advice is also increasing. The company employs two students from the TH Aachen, they study renewable energies. Appointments for building energy advice can be booked with them, but not before October. Nothing is free before then.
“We have orders up to the roof”
Thomas Rademacher is President of the Federal Guild Association of Carpenters and Carpenters and also has his own business with 15 employees. The company is located where there are numerous single-family houses from the 1970s or 1980s that are gradually showing their age. They need new doors, new windows, and of course – the order of the day – no more energy can get outside.
The person who installs this today must also be up to date in terms of building physics; that’s almost a science in its own right, says Rademacher. And the avoidance of thermal bridges, driving rain and airtightness are just a few of the topics. Accordingly, his company is constantly looking for new specialists, and as a district master craftsman, he receives calls for help every day from companies that are also looking.
Building sector causes a lot of emissions
Nationwide, there is a renovation backlog for 19.2 million buildings, warn trade associations together with IG Metall. They complain that there is a lack of 190,000 skilled workers for the conversion and expansion of climate-friendly technology. As a result, politicians will not achieve their goal of being climate neutral by 2045. Because there is a lot of energy-saving potential in building energy, or to put it the other way around: this is where a lot of greenhouse gases are produced.
According to the Federal Environment Agency, buildings account for 35 percent of final energy consumption and around 30 percent of CO2 emissions. Above all, the thermal energy should come from modern energy sources and modern air conditioning technology as quickly as possible.
Jobs with an image problem?
But who should install it if there are no skilled workers? The central trade associations and IG Metall have published a joint declaration entitled “Successful climate change requires high-performance trades” in which they make it clear that the climate targets in the building sector have been clearly missed. The list of demands made by the signatories is long: This includes an immediate program with specific goals, for example the decarbonization of the heating network.
However, the focus is on a “training and qualification offensive”. In concrete terms, this is what IG Metall demands in particular. This includes, among other things: Equivalence of professional and academic education and, for example, an advancement BAföG, support on the way to training to become a master craftsman, better equipment at vocational schools, etc.
Both Peter Küpper and Thomas Rademacher are also annoyed by failed educational policies. There is a lack of social acceptance of the trade, and politics is also to blame for that. If everyone is supposed to study, there will simply be a lack of craftsmen and women. You should have done more for the image. And it’s also not true, according to Küpper, that the chances of advancement are so much worse. Its three locations are managed by former trainees. The salary of a master craftsman can also keep up well with that of some academic professions. And without crafts, there would be no energy transition.