Default hero image

BRE Academy term report

BRE Academy, the lifelong learning arm of BRE, made huge strides forward in February.

Notably we have announced our expansion into China by partnering with green building consultancy NSD to take our BREEAM courses to all of the major Chinese cities.

Our expanded range of classroom courses includes some new Passivhaus (Passive House) courses at both entry and advanced levels, and the demand for BIM certification continues to rise as well as our BIM courses. (Our classroom courses can be found here).

The BSc (Hons) Construction Management (part time) at the University of Hertfordshire has had an amazing response, and we have been delighted by the number and quality of students already enrolled and ready to start in September.

BRE Academy is pushing forward an expanded, bespoke Leadership and Management portfolio under the direction of leadership expert Roger Woodgate.

The bookshop, which the Academy manages, is earning an increased reputation for the quality of its offering, and we are encouraging reviews on BRE publications – a review will earn the writer a free online course or BRE publication of their choice.

There are now 17 low cost web classes (recorded webinars) available via our website, BRE.ac. More exciting topics are lined up, including a planning for daylight and sunlight webinar – a topic that seems to be resonating with many at present (including within our own bookshop and classroom courses).

The BRE Academy Membership continues to increase in popularity, and members are currently being consulted on the value of their membership to see what more we can do to support them.

Internally, we’ve also had some new ‘starters’. As soon as they’ve settled in to BRE, we will introduce them on the (also new) BRE Academy blog. The first of a ‘Behind the Scenes’ series was our very own apprentice success story, Aaron Glazebrook.

Reward for our hard work came in the shape of two awards, The Hertfordshire Building and Construction Training and Skills Provider Award 2017; and the CIBSE Building Performance Training Award for the BREEAM Associate online training course.

Far from resting on past glories, the Academy is poised for further success. I have an incredible team, working at a rapid pace to make all of these things happen. February was amazing, but wait until you see March.

This week alone sees BRE Academy at Ecobuild. Situated on the campus, we’ll not only be on stand but also be hosting a series of fascinating talks, and lightening the atmosphere with a selfie booth (and the accompanying chance to win a Fitbit). It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work by colleagues at BRE as well as my Academy team. We look forward to welcoming visitors to stand D109.

It’s also International Women’s Day this Wednesday. The Academy has long been pushing efforts to bring new talent into the industry, and we are proud to ‘do our bit’ through the numerous programmes we run.

Whether the change be technology, encouraging fresh talent into the industry or helping construction meet better environmental and safety standards, we are keen to both lead and support positive change, and – hot off the press – have started a brand-new LinkedIn group, ‘Leading the change in Construction’. We hope you’ll join us there, becoming an even bigger part of the success story that I am confident we’ll be able to report for March.