CONSTRUCTION is going green and site managers up and down the country are swapping their steel toe-capped carbon footprints for something more eco-friendly.

From 2016 all new homes must be zero carbon. They must be self-sufficient in energy generation and twice as economical to run as the most advanced eco-home of today. The challenge of building sustainably is opening up careers in new fields such as energy assessment, innovation and environmental management.

The professions that cover the built environment - architecture, engineering, quantity surveying and construction management - are looking for graduates with new skillsets to provide answers to global warming.

On a mission to replace traditional bricks and mortar with high-performance building materials and cutting-edge eco-technology is Paul Sandison (pictured), the strategic procurement manager for John Laing Partnership, a social and affordable housing developer. “Instead of being a buyer of construction materials I have more of an advisory role.

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I look in detail at product energy ratings and what systems are available to help us to meet the code level 3 reduced carbon standard. The quick wins are solar panels, thermal hot water heating, high levels of insulation and triple glazing,” he says. (A zero-carbon home would be rated code level 6 on the Government's new sustainability rating.)

Going green is a lot more than a well insulated house that is cheaper to run. Sandison says that the building itself has to be sustainable. “I have to make sure the products we use are recyclable and have a high content of recycled material.”

To cut down on construction site waste - about 15 per cent of all building materials end up as offcuts - developers are embracing prefabrication. Wall panels complete with doors and windows and fully plumbed bathroom pods can be made in a factory and delivered to site.

Martin Playford, the managing director of RPA Architects, says that the green agenda has spawned a new profession - the building environment consultant. Building materials such as insulation are so high tech, he says, that architects need experts to advise on the science of building design, finding ways, for example, to keep homes cool in summer using materials that reflect heat. He says: “We work with consultants who have developed expertise from eco-homes assessment.”

Just how integrated green construction has become can be seen from the regeneration body English Partnerships' countrywide zero-carbon housing project, Carbon Challenge. Jayne Lomas, the senior regeneration manager for English Partnerships, says: “People are coming to Carbon Challenge from all backgrounds and professions. I'm an architect with a special interest in modern methods of construction and working with me is an ecologist whose job is to increase the range of plant and animal species across all new developments and to enhance habitat and design rainwater harvesting and flood attenuation schemes. We are looking for graduates with good all-round experience of the environment and conservation issues.” English Partnerships recruits about 20 graduates a year, many with postgraduate degrees in environmental engineering.

Opportunities are opening up too in the field of eco-assessment - ensuring that buildings meet the tough new standards for energy efficiency. NHBC, a home warranty provider, has recently recruited 20 code assessors, mostly graduates with qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Building or Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, to check on the green credentials of new buildings under the Government's code level system. The system's phased introduction means that from next year all social housing must be built to code level 3. Neil Cooper, the group head of building control at NHBC, says: “We are preparing to sponsor construction management graduates as assessors and we have our own in-house NVQ level 4 in building inspection.”

Sustainable Homes, a training and consultancy company, has won a contract to train green concierges, or eco-assessors, for the London Development Agency. Over the coming year it will train 300 assessors who will be able to advise and install eco-technology in people's homes.

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