Electrical contractors are more interested than ever in education/training about “Green/Sustainable Building Technology” based on the results of Electrical Contractor’s 2008 Profile of the Electrical Contractor. In this most recent industry-wide biennial study, 57% percent indicated an interest as compared to 28% in the study two years earlier.
According to respondents, specific areas of planned training in the 12 months following the research are “Green Building” (22%), “Energy Use Regulations” (17%) and LEED Certification (8%). In the 12 months prior to the survey, electrical contractors that actually took training in these three areas were 13%, 9% and 8% respectively. This indicates real growth in interest in these areas and this is something that product manufacturers and others - especially electrical distributors - should note.
Since electrical contractors currently spend 75% of all the dollars for their purchases of installed products with electrical distributors, it seems imperative that electrical distributors must be able to provide electrical contractors with this needed training and these products if distributors plan to hold and grow business with this essential market segment. (Electrical contractor sales currently constitute nearly half of all electrical distributor sales volume.)