Case studies

Training technicians in the heating sector to meet EU policy objectives

Why?

Having an efficient and well-functioning heating equipment is important to save energy and reduce emissions at home. But this is not only about buying the right appliance; the heaters also need to be properly installed and serviced.

Heating systems installers and technicians are facing a fast-evolving technology landscape and increasingly demanding legal requirements, such as the EU Directive on the performance of buildings. Hence the importance of being rightly trained and having regular competence updates.

 

What?

Oil currently supplies approximately 1.6 million households with heat, representing around 30% of the Belgian market.

Central heating with oil was introduced in Belgian houses in the sixties. As soon as 1962, “Cedicol” was created as a technical knowledge centre on liquid fuels, enabling the oil heating industry to cooperate with the equipment manufacturing industry to inform and train installers. In 1978, Belgian authorities put in place legislation imposing regular inspections of oil heaters by ‘registered’ technicians in the wider framework of climate protection. In the 1990s, with the entry into force of legislation on the installation and control of heating oil storage, Cedicol extended its training offer and started to organise trainings for ‘registered’ oil tank technicians.

Today Cedicol is the reference technical centre for liquid fuels in Belgium and the leading training centre for installers of oil boilers and tanks. The training centre facilities in Brussels offer the latest models of oil boilers. Recently, renewable energy systems such as solar thermal and hybrid systems have also been added for training on the facility grounds. Moreover, the centre has been transformed into a ‘multi-energy’ training centre, offering training in heating inspections for both oil and gas boilers.

A quarterly technical magazine is published for oil technicians and a help desk offers support on technical and regulatory issues by phone, website and e-mail.

Belgium

Outcome

  • Each year, over 1,000 installers are trained at the Cedicol Training Centre. This is over 2/3 of all oil heating installers in Belgium.

  • The technical magazine ‘Chauffage Info’ is read by approximately 20,000 heating professionals.