TRAIN4SUSTAIN Competence Quality Standard

The construction sector is one of the main drivers of EU’s economy. Despite major efforts in harmonising and standardization of qualification and training procedures across the EU, the competence level of sustainability experts and the underlying training and education contents varies significantly between the Member States. The H2020 TRAIN4SUSTAIN project fostered a common understanding of sustainable competences across Europe developing a Competence Quality Standard (CQS), on which this CWA is based, in sustainable building for facilitating transnational recognition of learning outcomes and competence levels of existing qualifications and vocational trainings. The CQS is a tool to evaluate, scoring and report in a comparable and harmonised way the level of competence, skills and knowledge of white and blue collars in sustainable building. The CQS is a tool useful to stimulate demand for competent construction sector professionals through raising acceptance of sustainability qualifications on the EU construction market. To this end, comparability of qualifications and competences is key for increased transparency and penetration power in the market, avoiding confusion and uncertainty. The TRAIN4SUSTAIN CQS intends to be a tool to facilitate the request of qualified professionals and blue collars by public administrations and private clients and to valorise with a transparent common “reporting” system the competences acquired through training courses and experience on field. The TRAIN4SUSTAIN Competence Quality Standard is built on and expands the “European Qualification Scheme and professional profile description about professions related to NZEB design, maintenance and refurbishment” delivered by the Horizon 2020 project “Prof/Trac”.