Institute for Sustainability FLASH Guides
What was the problem?
Every year, billions of pounds are spent on building refurbishment. There is huge scope for raising the green specification of homes and businesses in the process, and a huge opportunity for building contractors to grow their business by offering energy saving, low carbon and sustainable improvements.
The Institute for Sustainability’s FLASH (Facilitation, Learning and Sharing) initiative was set up to help businesses seize this commercial opportunity, all too often missed because of a lack of awareness, knowledge or training. To this end, the Institute sought our help in creating a series of Building Opportunities for Business Retrofit Guides, aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the building trade.
What did we do?
As specialists in the sustainability sector, we have both a thorough grounding in low carbon retrofit and a great deal of experience in making what can be an initially complex subject easy for everyone to understand.
Having already produced the highly successful Climate Change Tools suite of guides for the RIBA, we were the natural choice to create two key handbooks in the series, one on skills, training and accreditation, the other on marketing and communications. Indeed, the series editor Peter Rickaby described us as the experts in these fields in the UK.
Both guides were built on comprehensive research to ensure the most accurate, up-to-date information. Our skills guide deals with the range of training schemes and qualifications on offer, with practical checklists to help the reader identify the skills they need. It also provides help in navigating the wide array of different green certification labels applied to household appliances, fittings and fixtures.
Our marketing guide is perhaps even more crucial to the FLASH initiative’s overarching aim of highlighting the clear commercial incentives in sustainable refurbishment. It provides essential insight into how SMEs can better understand their customers and position themselves in the marketplace, and guidance on how they can then successfully promote the services they offer.
What difference did we make?
The guides SE2 produced are clear and compelling, delivering accessible information and practical guidance and, above all, highlighting the real-world business incentive at the heart of the FLASH programme.
Launched in September 2011, the Institute of Sustainability’s suite of guides was an immediate success, helped in part by the supporting presentations and interactive workshops we designed and delivered at a series of live events held in association with the Federation of Master Builders and the RIBA.
The Building Opportunities for Business Retrofit Guides are now available to all FLASH members via a dedicated internet portal http://bob.instituteforsustainability.org.uk/