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CITB-ConstructionSkills NI accompanies Minister on fact finding mission to Germany

Housing Minister Nelson McCausland has visited several housing projects in Stuttgart, Germany.

The fact finding mission visited several housing sites which have been refurbished and new build projects in the Stuttgart region of Germany.

The Minister was accompanied on his visit by representatives of CITB -ConstructionSkills NI, Construction Employers Federation, Federation of Master Builders Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

The Minister said: “This fact-finding visit has proved very educational, with our delegation seeing firsthand a range of sustainable construction methods, renewable energy and environmental standards that have worked successfully in Stuttgart. Germany, like ourselves in Northern Ireland, has a large number of older concrete houses which were badly insulated. I recently launched a ‘no fines’ pilot in Antrim and I was keen to learn from other countries which have successfully tackled a similar situation.

“The Stuttgart experience was developed through a strong partnership approach between local authorities and the construction industry to improve conditions for householders. During my visit I have seen a range of housing developments, learning about some of the cost-effective and innovative methods that they implemented to help eradicate this problem.”

He continued: “I want to thank our German hosts KOMZET and the CITB–ConstructionSkillsNI for arranging this important fact finding mission. I will certainly utilise some of the expertise that we have learned whilst we have been here.

“This trip has also been highly beneficial regarding best practice and I hope that we can maximise these new relationships to help our own efforts to tackle no fine houses, not only in Northern Ireland but across the United Kingdom.”










Barry Neilson, Chief Executive, CITB–ConstructionSkillsNI said, “We recently sent 30 local construction workers to Germany through our ‘Building Skills for Sustainable Construction’ project to learn about energy efficient construction methods in the hope that on their return they can transfer this know-how to the local industry to help Northern Ireland meet its energy targets. We are delighted that through discussions with our participants the Minister has recognised that key learnings about German construction methods from this project could ultimately influence how NI housing stock is retrofitted. We were happy to organise and arrange the Ministers Stuttgart visit and hope it will lead to more effective and potentially more cost-effective solutions being applied to local retrofit projects, ultimately improving the quality of life for many households in Northern Ireland.”

John Armstrong, Managing Director, Construction Employers Federation (CEF) said: “We want to see everyone in Northern Ireland living in good quality, energy efficient housing that provides families with healthy, comfortable homes and minimises their fuel bills. There is a lot of work required to achieve this vision but this visit has been a useful step on that journey. We must learn from the successes achieved in Stuttgart. CEF looks forward to working in partnership with the Minister to develop a model that improves the housing stock across Northern Ireland.”

Maire Nawaz, Federation of Master Builders Northern Ireland Director said “Germany is considered the leader in sustainable construction, building houses which are on average 20% more energy efficient than their counterparts in the rest of Europe. The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) is delighted to accompany the Minister on this trip to Germany to learn from the experts in this area. The visit has helped identify retro-fit solutions to improve the energy efficiency of Northern Ireland’s existing housing stock. It is also important that our construction companies have the sustainable skills required to deliver energy efficient and affordable new homes that the province so desperately needs.”

Pictured L-R Gerhard Lutz, professor of Structural Engineering, Physics and Biology,Minister, Gerry Flynn, NI Housing Executive, Maire Nawaz, NI Director for the Federation of Master Builders, Barry Neilson, chief executive of CITB-ConstructionSkills NI