This proposal details a training program for people with disabilities in sustainable building skills to address both under-employment of disabled people and skills gaps in low-carbon construction. The program would develop and deliver 8 training courses to at least 110 trainees per year over 3 years, covering areas like construction, design, and facilities management. It aims to research the potential for disabled people to fill zero-carbon skills gaps and estimates high net benefits of over £400,000 per successful participant by reducing disability support costs. The goals are to improve employment opportunities for disabled people in growing sustainable construction sectors and provide additional capacity for meeting zero-carbon building targets.

1. TRAINING FOR THE DISABLED
IN SKILLS FOR SUSTAINABLE
BUILDINGS & INNOVATIVE
CONSTRUCTION METHODS
DECEMBER 2009
Prepared by: Richard Boyd,
Director, Disability Essex
with the support of
Steve Charter,
Director, SC2 Sustainability Consultancy
Alistair Collin
(Head of Future Skills)
Bryan Horne
(Head of Commercial Development) Construction Skills

2. Executive Summary
This proposal details a work programme to put into place training in the field of
sustainable and low carbon buildings to re-engage people in employment and training who have a
disability or who have suffered from stress-related conditions, alcoholism and other conditions with
strong associations with employment in the construction sector.
The project will put in place a specific training programme, with 8 courses in related fields, which will
be the first of its kind in the UK, tackling both zero carbon skills shortages and the under-employment
of people with disabilities.
The programme will also undertake research to fill knowledge gaps regarding levels of disability and
inactivity in the construction and built environment sector, with a focus on re-engaging this under-
used human resource to be better able to fill the significant emerging knowledge and skills gaps in
the sector around zero carbon homes and buildings.
The programme is therefore well timed to provide additional capacity to the construction and built
environment sector at a time when it is becoming increasingly aware of these major skills and
knowledge gaps, which threaten the successful delivery of zero carbon homes and buildings.
The programme is also well placed to reduce the high costs of system which is
currently maintaining high levels of under-employment of people with disabilities. For each success
through participation in this programme an average net benefit to the Exchequer of over £400,000 is
estimated per participant.
The outputs of the 3 year programme will include:
• Development and delivery of 8 training courses;
• A minimum of 110 trainees per year (330 total) completing courses to raise
their employability and / or lead them into formal training / education;
• Research that will provide a clear picture of the potential to fill a proportion
of zero carbon skills and knowledge gaps from people with disabilities,
including cost-benefit analysis for local and national economies arising from
this approach;
• lessons learnt from the project to allow for and encourage the take-up and
roll-out of this approach in other regions of the UK.

3. Overview of Proposal
This proposal seeks to address two specific and significant issues:
• The significant under-employment of people with disabilities;
• The significant need for skills and knowledge in the construction and built
environment sector to create low energy sustainable buildings, both through
refurbishment and new build (waste, water, healthy buildings, etc).
This proposal outlines 2 specific areas of work related to these issues:
1. retraining people with disabilities to provide them with the opportunity to gain
employment in the field of low carbon sustainable buildings;
2. research to understand the full potential and extent for both re-training of
people with disabilities and the associated employment opportunities for
people with disabilities in the field of low carbon sustainable buildings.
The proposal details training courses that will be delivered which focus on the
emerging and future demand for sustainable, low energy building expertise. These courses will be
delivered at the Centre for Disability Studies, Rochford, Essex – this building is one of the UK's best
examples of a low energy sustainable building.
The training focuses on skills and employment needs in relation to low energy
sustainable buildings – for construction, design, housing, building services, property and facilities
management sectors, so that those with disabilities are well equipped to seek employment or
additional training within areas of employment that are growing, and which will be sustained for many
years. These areas offer progression routes for skills and career development. They are areas where
various bodies have identified significant skills gaps (Homes & Communities Agency; Construction
Skills; Summit Skills; UK Green Building Council; NHBC/Zero Carbon Hub; etc).

4. Background and Introduction - Climate Change and
Sustainability Drivers
Constantly improving data on climate change continues to build consensus behind the recognition of
its fundamental significance to our way of life, economy and environment, and the increasing urgency
with which we need to act. This consensus emphasises that the costs of climate change will be
significantly less if we respond positively and quickly. The Stern review (2006), IPCC reports and the
run-up to COP15 have caused a significant acceleration in the policy agenda in response to climate
change. As buildings and construction activity are responsible for around half of the UK climate
change impacts, there is a strong focus in the national, regional and local climate
change policy agenda on new and existing buildings.
Examples of the drivers arising from this agenda are:
• Concensus over the need for at least 80% reduction CO2 emissions by
2050 – implying 80+% reduction in built environment emissions:
• 27% of emissions come from existing homes;
• 18% come from existing non-domestic buildings;
• Long term cost reduction and fuel poverty benefits arising from
significantly greater housing energy efficiency;
• Significant increases in energy performance and sustainability standards for
new homes, commercial and public buildings;
• All new homes to be Zero Carbon by 2016, with all new social housing to be
Zero Carbon by 2013;
• All new public & commercial buildings to be Zero Carbon by 2019;
Zero Carbon Schools by 2016;
• Higher standards required earlier for social housing and public sector
contracts.
• Policy developments that will require the efficiency of existing homes and
buildings to be addressed;
• UK Carbon Reduction Commitments: all organisations with electricity bills
over around £500k will be required to make specific reductions in carbon
emissions from April 2010;
• The requirements for EPCs (Energy Performance Certificates for homes)
and DECs (Display Energy Certificates for public & commercial buildings).
These drivers create a need to achieve challenging reductions in carbon emissions
and wider sustainability impacts in the property and construction sectors, across
both new build activity and in existing buildings.

5. In particular action is demanded that will significantly improve the energy
performance of the existing housing stock (e.g. domestic energy use will need to
be reduced by at least 80%) because the UK's 26 million homes are responsible
for around 27% of UK carbon dioxide emissions.
Whether the focus is on the existing stock or new build, research shows that:
a) very few buildings in the UK currently achieve high levels of performance in
energy efficiency;
b) very few people in the UK are competent in designing, building or managing
buildings which achieve very high levels of efficiency.
The scale of the task involved in tackling 26 million homes and the non-domestic
sector in the UK and the vast up-skilling and knowledge development task required
in the sector are only now starting to be fully appreciated (e.g. Construction Skills
will launch a 3 year national campaign on these issues in 2010).
As an example of the scale of employment and training required in the sector in
the
East of England, it is estimated that around 150,000 employed in the building
sector in the East of England will be in trades or professions which are likely to
need some training in sustainable building issues by 2015.

6. Disability and potential employment / benefits cost
implications
General data on people with disabilities indicate significant inequalities compared
to the mainstream when considering employment, training and unemployment:
• Nearly 25% of disabled people, currently unemployed, were in employment
12 months ago. Almost 40% of these had not received any ‘on the job’
training compared to 33% for the mainstream population.
• The annual rate of disabled people making a transition from benefits back
into employment is 4%, compared to 25% for the mainstream.
• Over 33% of disabled people currently not in work would like to work. When
re-employed, 60% of disabled people rate their personal skills higher than
those required of the job they have achieved.
(Above statistics extracted from Labour Force Survey1998-2007)
The percentage of the construction industry workforce who are ‘disabled’, or who
have left employment due to disability, is difficult to define with accuracy, as the
legal requirement to record actual levels, or define a target level of disabled
individuals in an organisation's strategy is no longer effected or applied. However,
data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) on the construction sector enables the
following indications to be derived:
On average just under 1.5% (10 year average) of the construction workforce
become economically inactive each year i.e. not unemployed - reflected at a
regional level then around 3,400 people across East of England would be
circumstances for those leaving work in the sector.

7. A Practical Response to Climate Change and Disability
Issues in the Construction and Built Environment
Sector
A practical response to these issues is to provide training associated with genuine
employment opportunities. Such training must:
• value the prior learning and experience of the trainee from their years of
work in the industry;
• be of interest to the trainees, building on their existing knowledge and skills,
but introducing them to new areas of knowledge;
• be clearly associated with meaningful and valuable work opportunities, that
show long term potential for sustained employment and / or career
development;
• enable the trainees to sustain respect in the community of sub-contractors
and trades, or mangers and professions with which they feel associated.
Training in the field of sustainable buildings can provide all of these characteristics.
Training Delivery
Taking account of the issues outlined above it is proposed that a 3 year pilot
project is established with Disability Essex delivering courses that will deliver
marketable skills and knowledge to people with disabilities. These courses will take
account of demand for a variety of skills levels and fields of knowledge in a range
of key areas:
• New build and the existing stock;
• Higher skills and lower skills;
• Skills in different trades and professions: construction, building design,
building services, etc.
It is projected that ultimately the East of England, Disability Essex can deliver at
least 400 (EofE) clients per year to achieve Level 2/3 and Level 4/5 qualifications
that will enable them to re-enter the industry with new eco-skills. Initially Disability
Essex will deliver at least 110 training clients for Essex. Additional research work is
needed to assess the potential beyond these estimates, as well as to assess the
potential at lower and higher qualification levels, including the potential for APEL
(Accreditation of Prior and Experiential Learning) based on the years of experience

8. within the potential client pool, which could allow a significant number to pursue
training at higher skills levels.
Bearing in mind all of the above, the courses detailed on the following page will be
delivered from the Centre for Disability Studies.
A wide range of other potentially relevant courses are known to be available or in
development, therefore work would be undertaken to assess the 'best fit' between
emerging demand for skills and knowledge in these areas and the most common
range of disability characteristics amongst potential trainees, so that course
provision can be extended over time.
The Research Programme
It is proposed that a 3 year project is established to deliver:
• training to people with disabilities that will give them skills that are in
demand in the employment market-place in the construction and built
environment sector;
• training that will enable learners to progress to training towards higher
qualifications;
• research into the best fit between industry needs and people with disabilities
seeking employment in the construction and built environment sector, taking
into account a) training provided and b) success in achieving employment;
• stakeholder engagement e.g. with key employers such as housing
associations, local authorities, private sector employers;
• research into additional courses that are already available and courses
requiring development and accreditation.
Funding is therefore sought for programme development, delivery, coordination
and management, as well as for curriculum development activity.
Programme Partners
The project will be led by Disability Essex. Project partners will include
Construction Skills (Future Skills department), Castle Point & Rochford Adult
Community College with Southend College, AECB (The Sustainable Building
Association).
Supporters of the project will include Disability Essex's network of around 140
disability clubs across Essex, plus DE partners such as Interact (Chelmsford) and
Theatre Resource Centre (Ongar)

9. •
Proposed Work Programme
The following proposed work programme will fill information gaps and complete
key tasks set out in this document - a final work programme will be agreed with
lead funding partners.
Initial Course Programme (£20,000+ p.a.)
Development of programme funding, management and delivery plans, including
identifying key funding streams related to categories of participants and / or
courses.
Course delivery and funding programme put in place and implemented, including
agreements with training providers, training funders, etc.
Research (£10,000 budget)
• Further research and / or survey of priority areas of knowledge and training
need with
i) employers,
ii) expert industry bodies (Construction Skills; Summit Skills; UK Green
Building Council; AECB);
• Assessment of best opportunities and training suited for disabled clients /
client groups, including:
o Skills levels;
o professional or trade areas these would fit;
o Opportunities for training specialist disabled trainers, both for the
general workforce and for disabled workers / returners to work;
o Overview of relevant training courses and providers.
• Finance, funding and management plan for delivery of additional courses.
• Broad assessment of the socio-economic value of programmes.
• Dissemination and knowledge sharing with other regions in latter stages of
the project.
It is envisaged that a total budget in the range of £20,000+ p.a. for training
(£60,000 total) and £10,000 for research would be needed to undertake the above
work programme. This budget is for programme management and delivery and
excludes any course funding allocated against specific courses and / or
participants.
Project Management will be undertaken by Disability Essex.

10. About Disability Essex
Disability Essex (the Essex Disabled People's Association Ltd, Charity No:
1102596 ) was formed in 1949, pioneering the concepts of local support, selfhelp
groups and clubs – with DE being a hub for the 140 clubs across Essex.
Over the years, DE have developed and adapted to meet the changing needs and
aspirations of disabled people, reflected today in the access audits and the training
for other organisations provided by DE.
Through in-depth research and wide-ranging consultations, DE has identified the
urgent need for new facilities in order to meet the increasing demand for specialist
disability services.
The new ‘Centre for Disability Studies’ will be a pioneering sustainable building
which will form the charity’s operational headquarters and professionally accredited
training centre.
The design and construction of the building have been chosen with sustainability in
mind, both to minimise our impact on the environment and maximise longevity for
the thousands of people who will use it.
For further information or to support this proposal, please contact:
Richard Boyd,
Director,
Disability Essex,
Centre for Disability Studies,
34 Rocheway,
Rochford,
Essex
SS4 1DQ
email: Richard.Boyd@disabilityessex.org
Telephone: 0844 412 1771

11. Appendix: Background Data re Disability, Accident and Injury in the
Construction Sector in the East of England
Data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) indicates that on average just under
1.5% (10 year average) of the construction workforce become economically
inactive each year (not unemployed). If this was reflected at a regional level - the
base sizes are too small to run the data at a regional level - then we might expect
around 3,400 people across East of England to be leaving the industry.
The data similarly shows that a little over 0.5% (10 year average) of the current
workforce were classified as sick, injured or disabled one year ago. Again, if this
was reflected at a regional level then we might expect around 1,250 people across
East of England requiring some form of re-skilling or assistance in getting back into
work. The base size are too small in both cases to do any meaningful analysis
around the age of individuals.
The LFS also shows that 12% of the UK construction workforce has a disability as
defined within the DDA. This rises slightly to 13% for manual workers. Data for
East of England (statistically robust) show the figures as 14% and 16%, so above
the national average. The data for East of England would equate to approximately
32,560 and 22,620 respectively. In terms of the impact of injuries and ill-health on
the performance of the industry data from the 2007/08 LFS and Self-reported
Work-related Illness (SWI) surveys indicate that the combined estimate of the
number of days lost (full-day equivalent) due to workplace injury and work-related
ill health attributed to the current or most recent job in the construction industry
was 2.8 million, equating to an average annual loss of an estimated 1.2 days per
worker. This was similar (not statistically significantly different) to the rate for all
industries (1.2 days per worker) and to the corresponding rates in 2006/07 (1.3
days per worker), 2005/06 (1.7 days per worker) and 2004/05 (1.5 days per
worker), but was statistically significantly lower than the rate in 2003/04 (1.9 days
per worker).
Workplace injuries and work-related illness accounted for an estimated 1.0 and 1.7
million working days lost (full-day equivalent) respectively in 2007/08, with
corresponding rates of 0.45 and 0.77 days per worker.
The injury rate was statistically significantly higher than the associated all industry
rate of 0.24 days, but of a similar order (not statistically significantly different) to the
respective rates of 0.43, 0.52, 0.40 and 0.50 days per workers in 2006/07,
2005/06, 2004/05 and 2003/04. However the ill health rate was of a similar order
(not statistically significantly different) to the associated all industry rate of 0.96
days and to those of 0.84, 1.2 and 1.1 days per worker in 2006/07, 2005/06 and
2004/05 respectively, but was statistically significantly lower than that of 1.4 days
per worker in 2003/04.

12. The estimated average annual rate of certified absence from work-related ill health
or injury in construction (2005-2007) was 0.23 certified days lost per employee.
This is similar to the rate for all industries.
Lee Bryer
Research & Development Manager,
ConstructionSkills,
Bircham Newton,
Norfolk