A new education facility has opened its doors to advance skills and knowledge across the UK heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) industry.
The new cutting-edge Zehnder Academy aims to usher in a new chapter of industry-wide training excellence and to address the increasing skills gap in the HVAC sector - tackling the large number of poor installs currently being seen across the country.
The new Academy contains a simulated indoor environment, in the form of a working apartment, with fully operational heating, cooling and ventilation units for testing and experimentation.
In addition, the Academy features a Posi-Joist ‘rig’ – designed with partner MiTek – for design, ducting and connector training. Also on display will be the latest examples of Zehnder’s innovative equipment for live demos and hands-on training in maintenance, servicing and commissioning, and a classroom-style learning space for lectures and visual learning. There will also be online training modules for extended theory.
Zehnder Group UK commercial director, Stuart Smith, says: “While the UK boasts some of the best specialist mechanical and electrical (M&E) contractors, without a national qualification, there are simply not enough who are ventilation qualified and can do the job. This is resulting in uncompetitive quotes, shortcuts being taken, and a worryingly high number of poor installations being seen - and so the cycle continues.
“We know that in the UK there are still untrained tradespeople installing and commissioning ventilation systems with little or no knowledge. Once installed, many of these MVHR systems are left unmaintained and/or not serviced, leading to further issues down the line. That’s not a criticism. It’s a sign of a bigger problem - a systemic skills gap that’s holding our industry back. This investment by Zehnder is an effort to upskill our workforce and tackle the issue.”