Training Courses on Heating with Renewable Energies (Solar, Heat pump, Biomass) for Installers

Duration: 2005 – 2006 ● Client: European Commission (IEE) ● WIP Role: Market uptake ● www.earth-net.info

The objective of the EARTH project was to promote solar water heating (SWH), ground-source heat pumps (GSHP), and biomass as heat and energy sources in Europe. This was achieved by the implementation of training courses on the installation of these energy technologies in participating countries.

The courses aimed at qualifying installers of the sanitary and heat sector and thus to alleviate major barriers for these heating systems: the lack of qualified installers and poorly installed or malfunctioning systems. Consumer and investor confidence in both the technologies and in the abilities of installers are increased through the courses developed and implemented in the framework of the EARTH project.

In the framework of the EARTH project, the consortium partner WIP was responsible for the development of the biomass training course syllabus, defining a general set of knowledge, skills and abilities typically required of practitioners who install and maintain biomass heating systems. Furthermore, WIP implement a training course for installers of biomass heating systems in Germany together with the Guild of Sanitary and Heating in Munich, Germany.

The EARTH project was supported by the Intelligent Energy for Europe Programme of the European Commission (Contract No. EIE/04/034).