On January 24th last, Royal Decree 45/2022, of January 18th, was published in the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE), establishing, among others, the professional qualification of Energy Auditing (pages 281-310), the preparation of which is one of the results of the Construye 2020+ project - led by Fundación Laboral de la Construcción - in which, coordinated by the National Institute of Qualifications (Incual), all the partners of this Horizon 2020 initiative have collaborated: Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja (IETCC-CSIC), Fundación Estatal para la Formación en el Empleo (Fundae), Centro de Investigación de Recursos y Consumos Energéticos (Circe) and Instituto de Robótica y Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (IRTIC), attached to the University of Valencia.

The Royal Decree establishes certain professional qualifications connected with strategic sectors and high employability, of the professional families Building and Civil Works, Electricity and Electronics, Energy and Water and Hotel and Catering and Tourism, which are included in the National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications (CNCP), and partially modifies certain professional qualifications of the professional families Agriculture and Energy and Water, included in the CNCP.

Professional qualifications make it possible to respond to relevant occupations and jobs, with value and recognition in the labour market.

From the standard to the competence framework

The origin for this qualification in Energy Auditing was born in 2016, the year in which Royal Decree 56/2016, of February 12th, was approved in Spain, transposing Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, of October 25th 2012, related to energy efficiency, with regard to energy audits, accreditation of service providers and energy auditors and promotion of energy supply efficiency. This standard created the need in the training field to develop a new professional qualification in energy auditing.

Among the partners of the Construye 2020+ project partnership, Incual participates, which is the technical support body of the General Council for Vocational Training (CGFP) responsible for defining, developing and updating the CNCP. Hence, for the development of this qualification, Incual has been the driving partner of the partnership, and its procedures have been used.

The development of the Energy Audit qualification, which belongs to the Energy and Water family, has followed a process that began in May 2019, with the completion of the feasibility report at Incual. In September 2020, a working group of experts in installations and energy efficiency was formed, guided by a 'coordinator' and supervised by Incual staff. After the drafting of the text and its internal validation, the CGFP decided to request, on April 29th 2020, the external validation of the Energy Audit qualification. During the autumn of 2020, its incorporation into the CNCP was approved, at which point the regulatory processing phase began, resulting in the final approval of RD 45/2022 of January 18th and its publication in the BOE (Official State Gazette) on January 24th.

Reference for future VET qualifications and certificates of professionalism

Qualifications are the reference for the elaboration of Vocational Training (VET) qualifications and certificates of professionalism that accredit them, and must include all those elements of professionalism that allow accredited persons to exercise that profession, by either of the two routes. Once published in the BOE they are valid and applicable throughout the national territory, but they do not constitute a regulation of professional practice or professional activity, as this corresponds to the different competent administrations according to the sector or area of development.

The Construye 2020+ project contemplated the design and development of the professional qualification of Energy Auditing, a national professional framework and the basis for designing a VET qualification or a certificate of professionalism. The milestone reached represents an important step forward for the construction sector, since it precisely complies with the provisions of Royal Decree 56/2016, in its article 8, which sets out the requirements for the exercise of the professional activity of energy auditor, in its section b):

• b) To have theoretical and practical knowledge of energy audits, understanding that persons who can accredit any of the following situations possess such knowledge:
  • 1.ª Having a vocational training qualification or a certificate of professionalism included in the CNCP whose scope of competence includes matters relating to energy audits.
  • 2.ª To have recognised professional competence acquired through work experience, in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 1224/2009, of July 17th, in the field of energy audits, in the terms set out in article 19 of the aforementioned Royal Decree.

Competence units and training modules

The general competence of the professional qualification of Energy auditing is: "To audit by a systematic procedure of inspection and analysis the use and consumption of energy and associated cost in a building or group of buildings, an industrial or commercial installation or operation, transport linked to the activity, or a private or public service, with the objective of identifying and reporting on energy flows and the potential for energy efficiency improvement".

It sets out four units of competence:

• UC2469_3: Coordinate the processes of an energy audit in a building or group of buildings, industrial or commercial facilities or operations, transport and private or public services.
• UC2470_3: Carry out data collection and measurements of energy consumption in a building or group of buildings, industrial or commercial installations or operations, transport and private or public services.
• UC2471_3: Carry out the analysis of the energy situation of the audited object.
• UC2472_3: Determine the proposals for action to improve energy efficiency, their feasibility and impact on the reduction of consumption and emissions of the organisation.

And the training modules that are embodied are the following:

• MF2469_3: Coordination of energy audit processes in a building or group of buildings, industrial or commercial facilities or operations, transport and private or public services (90 hours).
• MF2470_3: Data collection and measurement of energy consumption in a building or group of buildings, industrial or commercial installations or operations, transport and private or public services (120 hours).
• MF2471_3: Analysis of the energy situation of the audited object (90 hours).
• MF2472_3: Determination of action proposals to improve energy efficiency, their feasibility and impact on the reduction of consumption and emissions of the organisation (120 hours).

The occupations and jobs that can be accessed with this professional qualification are: energy audit managers, energy auditors, technicians in energy audits in mechanical installations, air conditioning and heating, technicians in energy audits in electricity and lighting installations, technicians in energy audits in buildings or technicians in energy audits in thermal installations.

The turn of the competent administrations

After the publication in the BOE, the professional qualification becomes a reference (as described in Organic Law 5/2002, of June 19th), for the elaboration of certificates of professionalism and Vocational Training (VET) diplomas, as well as for the accreditation of competences through work experience. From now on, it will be necessary to wait for the competent administrations to develop the procedures and publish the requirements and qualifications, courses or certificates.

When the Vocational Training Degrees, Specialisation Courses or Professional Certificates are published and implemented in the educational system, in the terms established in article 3 of Royal Decree 1128/2003, of September 5th, which regulates the CNCP, training centres will be able to include the qualification of Energy Auditing in their offer. For the time being, competence accreditation procedures can be started.

According to articles 4 and 8 of Royal Decree 56/2016, the requirements established for this new profession regulate how it should be carried out:

• Energy audits must be carried out by duly qualified energy auditors, as established in Chapter III of this Royal Decree.
• The energy audit of a company may be carried out by qualified technicians who belong to that company, provided that they have no direct relationship with the audited activities and belong to an internal control department of that company.

As soon as the person meets the established requirements, he/she may exercise this new profession.