Online Energy Auditor Certification Training Course
  • HOME
  • PRACTICE EXAMS
    • BPI PRACTICE EXAMS
    • FREE BPI EXAM QUESTIONS
    • HERS PRACTICE EXAMS
  • NEWBIES
    • WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
    • HOW DO I DO...?
    • HOW TO CHOOSE A BPI TRAINING CENTER
    • STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
  • STUDY GUIDES
    • BPI WRITTEN EXAM >
      • Section 1 Building Science Fundamentals >
        • 1a. Basic Terms & Definitions >
          • 1. Airflow in Buildings
          • 2. Equipment Efficiencies
          • 3. Power and Energy
          • 4. Effective Leakage Area
          • 5. Area Weighted R-Value
          • 6. Baseload / Seasonal Energy Use
          • 7. Driving Forces (Including Natural and Mechanical)
          • 8. Behavior of Radiation
          • 9. Thermal Resistance / Transmittance: R and U Values
          • 10. Latent / Sensible Heat
          • 11. Total Equivalent Length
          • 12. Dehumidification / Humidification
          • 13. Convert Pressure Units
          • 14. Thermal Bridges
          • 15. Pressure Boundary
          • 16. Stack Effect
          • 17. Exfiltration and Infiltration
          • 18. Natural / Mechanical Ventilation
          • 19. Net Free Area
          • 20. Input & Output Capacity
          • 21. Peak Electrical Demand
          • 22. Permeability and Perm Rating
          • 23. Standby Loss
          • 24. IAQ (indoor air quality): Moisture, CO, Dust
        • 1b. Principals of Energy, Air & Moisture Thermodynamics >
          • 1. Thermodynamics: Conduction, Convection, Radiation, ΔT
          • 2. Factors That Affect Insulation Performance
          • 3. BPI certification online with BPI practice exams and study guides.
          • 4. Heat Gain / Loss
          • 5. Power and Energy
          • 6. Moisture Transport Mechanisms
          • 7. Identify Areas of Highest Relative Humidity
          • 8. Principles of Combustion
        • 1c. Combustion Safety >
          • 1. Combustion Analysis
          • 2. Carbon Monoxide (CO) Testing
          • 3. Combustion Appliance Venting, Draft, Combustion Air & Sizing
          • 4. Understand Combustion Safety Issues
      • Section 2 Buildings and Their Systems >
        • 2a. Building Components >
          • 1. Identify basic duct configurations and components
          • 2. Identify Basic Hydronic Distribution Configurations and Components
          • 3. Identify Basic Structural Components of Residential Construction
          • 4. Thermal Boundaries and Insulation Applications
          • 5. Basic Electrical Components and Safety Considerations
          • 6. Basic Fuel Delivery Systems and Safety Considerations
          • 7. Basic bulk water management components (drainage plumbing gutters sumps etc)
          • 8. Vapor barriers/retarders
          • 9. Radiant Barrier Principles and Installations
          • 10. Understand Fenestration Types and Efficiencies
          • 11. Understand Issues Involved With Basements, Crawlspaces, Slabs, Attics, Attached Garages, Interstitial Cavities, and Bypasses
          • 12. Understand Issues Involved With Ventilation Equipment
          • 13. Understand Basic Heating / Cooling Equipment Components Controls and Operation
          • 14. Understand Basic DHW Equipment Components Controls and Operation
          • 15. Identify Common Mechanical Safety Controls
          • 16. Identify Insulation Types and R-Values
          • 17. Understand Various Mechanical Ventilation Equipment and Strategies: Spot, ERV, HRV
        • 2b. Conservation Strategies >
          • 1. Appropriate Insulation Applications and Installation Based On Existing Conditions
          • 2. Opportunity for ENERGY STAR Lighting and Appliances
          • 3. Identify Duct Sealing Opportunities and Applications
          • 4. Understand Importance of Air Leakage Control and Remediation Procedures
          • 5. Blower Door-Guided Air Sealing Techniques
          • 6. Water Conservation Devices and Strategies
          • 7. Domestic Hot Water (DHW) Conservation Strategies
          • 8. Heating & Cooling Efficiency Applications
          • 9. Proper Use of Modeling to Determine Heating and Cooling Equipment Sizing and Appropriate Energy
          • 10. Understand the Use of Utility History Analysis in Conservation Strategies
          • 11. Appropriate Applications For Sealed Crawlspaces Basements and Attics
          • 12. Identify / Understand High Density Cellulose
          • 13. Appropriate Applications for Fenestration Upgrades Including Modification or Replacement
        • 2c. Comprehensive Building Assessment Process >
          • 1. Determine Areas of Customer Complaints / Concerns in Interview
          • 2. Understand / Recognize Need For Conducting Appropriate Diagnostic Procedures
          • 3. Interaction Between Mechanical Systems, Envelope Systems and Occupant Behavior
        • 2d. Design Considerations >
          • 1. Appropriate Insulation Applications Based On Existing Conditions
          • 2. Understand Fire Codes as Necessary to Apply Home Performance in a Code-Approved Manner
          • 3. Understand / Recognize Building Locations Where Opportunities for Retrofit Materials
          • 4. Understand Climate Specific Concerns
          • 5. Understand Indoor Environment Considerations for the Environmentally Sensitive
          • 6. Understand Impact of Building Orientation, Landscape Drainage, and Grading
          • 7. Opportunity Potential Renewable Energy Applications: Geothermal, Photovoltaic, Wind
          • 8. Understand Impact of Shading on Heating / Cooling Loads
          • 9. Awareness for Solar Gain Reduction / Solar Gain Opportunities
          • 10. Understand Need for Modeling Various Options For Efficiency Upgrades
      • Section 3 Measurement & Verification of Building Performance >
        • Section 3a Measurement & Verification of Building Performance >
          • 1. Air Leakage Test Results
          • 2. Understand Building Shell / Envelope Leakage
          • 3. Apply Fundamental Construction Mathematics and Unit Conversions
          • 4. Calculate Building Tightness Levels (Minimum Ventilation Requirements)
          • 5. Calculate Heating Degree Days and Cooling Degree Days
          • 6. Identify Proper Appliance and Combustion Appliance Venting
          • 7. Ventilation calculations and strategies
          • 8. Proper methods for identifying / testing fuel leaks
          • 9. Blower door setup, accurate measurement and interpretation of results
          • 10. Combustion Appliance Zone (CAZ): depressurization, spillage, draft, Carbon Monoxide (ambient and flue)
          • 11. Carbon Monoxide (CO) evaluation: ambient
          • 12. Proper applications and use of temperature measuring devices
          • 13. Pressure pan and room to room pressure diagnostics
          • 14. Recognize contributing factors to comfort problems
          • 15. Inspect for areas containing moisture or bulk water in undesirable locations
          • 16. Understand and inspect for basic electric safety (e.g. frayed wires, open boxes, etc)
      • Section 4 BPI National Standards & Project Specifications >
        • 1. Understand applicability content and intent of BPI National Standards – Do no harm, make buildings more healthy, comfortable, durable and energy efficient
        • 2. Recognize need for a professional local/state/national codes evaluation
        • 3. Be able to specify appropriate materials and processes needed for building performance projects
      • Section 5 Analyzing Buildings Systems >
        • 1. Recognize need for air sealing measures and their impact on other building systems
        • 2. Recognize need for mechanical equipment improvements
        • 3. Understand blower door use for identifying critical air sealing areas
        • 4. Apply blower door test results and Building Tightness Limit (minimum ventilation requirements) in development of improvement strategies
        • 5. Using combustion analysis and safety testing results to develop appropriate recommendations
        • 6. Determine appropriate method for assessing wall insulation levels
        • 7. Equipment control strategies for maximizing occupant comfort and minimizing energy consumption
      • Section 6 Conduct and Communications >
        • 6a. Conservation strategies
        • 6b. Personal Safety & Work Practices >
          • 1. Locations in which to identify indoor air quality issues
          • 2. Material Safety Data Sheets
          • 3. Isolation procedures for household pollutants
          • 4. Practice building science within your limits of professional competency
          • 5. Precautions when working around chemical biological and other potential hazards
          • 6. Understand role and responsibilities of the building analyst professional
    • BPI FIELD EXAM >
      • How To Put The House Under Worst Case & CAZ
      • What's What? Pa, CFM, CFM50, CAZ, Draft, Room Pressure
      • What To Know In The Attic
      • What To Know In The House
    • BLOWER DOOR TEST >
      • Manometer Setup
    • BPI BUILDING ANALYST STANDARDS >
      • BPI Standards Decoded
  • ESSENTIALS
    • HELP, I HATE MATH!
    • AUDITOR TO CREW COMMUNICATION
    • COMMON AUDITOR / CREW MISTAKES
    • RUN LIKE HELL
    • CONTACT
  • AFTER THE EXAM
    • START A HOME PERFORMANCE BUSINESS
    • FREE ENERGY AUDITOR MINI COURSE
    • RESOURCES
  • NEWSLETTER
  • BLOG

Passing the BPI Exam With Energy Auditor Training

FREE BPI PRACTICE EXAM

Picture

PUT YOUR HOME PERFORMANCE BUSINESS ON ROCKET FUEL

Picture

ENERGY AUDITOR NEWSLETTER

Get the only Energy Auditor Marketing Newsletter with monthly strategies and tactics to grow your home performance business.
Quick Links

1. BPI Written Exam
2. BPI Field Exam

The main topics of the BPI BA exam are listed out below.  Click on a link that interests you, or you need some brushing up on to learn more on each subject.

1. Building Science Fundamentals
1a. Basic terms and definitions
1b. Principals of energy, air & moisture
1c. Combustion science

2. Buildings and Their Systems
2a. Building components
2b. Conservation strategies
2c. Comprehensive building assessment process
2d. Design considerations

3. Measurement and Verification of Building Performance
3a. Applied diagnostics and troubleshooting

4. BPI National Standards and Project Specifications
4a. Comprehensive building assessment

5. Analyzing Buildings Systems
5a. Comprehensive building assessment
5b. Appliances and lighting

6. Conduct and communications
6a. Conservation strategies

BPI Written Exam - Section 2 Buildings and Their Systems

  1. 8. Heating & Cooling Efficiency Applications 

Up to 50 percent of your home's energy costs may be going directly to heating and cooling. To get the most out of a heating and cooling unit a couple things need to be in order that a regular HVAC contractor may not typically check for, which gives you the differentiation advantage.

  1. Sized correctly. Units that are over or under sized can cause major comfort issues along with high energy bills.  The thumb rule to sizing HVAC units does not work in home performance.  A Manual J load calculation should be done on the home to determine the correct size unit.  Manual J takes into account the windows, insulation, orientation and lots of other factors.  Manual D is used to ductwork sizing.  An experienced tech may have a good idea of the sizing requirements but some exploring is always necessary.  High efficiency, dual stage units that are not set properly can also increase a homeowners energy bill. 
  2. Static pressure measurements. Static pressure measures the airflow on the supply and return side. A high static reading is bad on both supply and return ducts. High supply static means that there are restrictions somewhere in the duct system that is causing the air to backflow against itself. Restrictions can be caused by stamped faced registers, undersized duct work, kinks, and from interior doors being closed. High return static means that not enough air is getting to the unit, lowering the capacity and starving the unit for air.  Adding an additional return, return plenum, upsizing the return and changing stamped faced grilles to bar type are all solutions to relieving a high return static pressure.
  3. Coiils need to be cleaned. Dirty coils can lower the efficiency of a unit by slowing down the transfer of heat into and out of the home.
  4. Ductwork sealing.  A 17 SEER unit will not operate like a 17 SEER unit with leaky ducts.  The ducts need to be sealed with mastic to the thickness of a nickle. 
  5. Filters should be the cheapest ones and regularly changed. If you are unsure if the filter has any impact, measure static with the filter in and with the filter removed.
  6. Insulation. A well insulated house is going to keep the conditioned air inside the home much better than a poorly insulated home, creating longer run times and short cycling the unit.

Next Section

2a. Building Components
  1. Identify basic duct configurations and components
  2. Identify basic hydronic distribution configurations and components
  3. Identify basic structural components of residential construction 
  4. Thermal boundaries and insulation applications 
  5. Basic electrical components and safety considerations 
  6. Basic fuel delivery systems and safety considerations
  7. Basic bulk water management components (drainage plumbing gutters sumps etc) 
  8. Vapor barriers/retarders 
  9. Radiant barrier principles and installations 
  10. Understand fenestration types and efficiencies 
  11. Understand issues involved with basements, crawlspaces, slabs, attics, attached garages, interstitial cavities, and bypasses 
  12. Understand issues involved with ventilation equipment 
  13. Understand basic heating / cooling equipment components controls and operation 
  14. Understand basic DHW equipment components controls and operation 
  15. Identify common mechanical safety controls 
  16. Identify insulation types and R-Values 
  17. Understand various mechanical ventilation equipment and strategies: spot, ERV, HRV 
2b. Conservation Strategies
  1. Appropriate insulation applications and installation based on existing conditions 
  2. Opportunity for ENERGY STAR lighting and appliances 
  3. Identify duct sealing opportunities and applications 
  4. Understand importance of air leakage control and remediation procedures 
  5. Blower door-guided air sealing techniques 
  6. Water conservation devices and strategies 
  7. Domestic Hot Water (DHW) conservation strategies 
  8. Heating & cooling efficiency applications 
  9. Proper use of modeling to determine heating and cooling equipment sizing and appropriate energy use
  10. Understand the use of utility history analysis in conservation strategies 
  11. Appropriate applications for sealed crawlspaces basements and attics 
  12. Identify/understand high density cellulose 
  13. Appropriate applications for fenestration upgrades including modification or replacement 
2c. Comprehensive Building Assessment Process
  1. Determine areas of customer complaints/concerns in interview
  2. Understand / recognize need for conducting appropriate diagnostic procedures including when to refer to a specialist for further investigation
  3. Interaction between mechanical systems, envelope systems and occupant behavior
2d. Design considerations
  1. Appropriate insulation applications based on existing conditions
  2. Understand fire codes as necessary to apply home performance in a code-approved manner.
  3. Understand/recognize building locations where opportunities for retrofit materials and processes are needed to correct problems and/or enhance performance
  4. Understand climate specific concerns
  5. Understand indoor environment considerations for the environmentally sensitive
  6. Understand impact of building orientation, landscape drainage, and grading
  7. Opportunity potential renewable energy applications: geothermal , photovoltaic, wind
  8. Understand impact of shading on heating / cooling loads
  9. Awareness for solar gain reduction in cooling climate/solar gain opportunities in heating climates
  10. Understand need for modeling various options for heating, cooling and DHW applications, as well as other efficiency upgrades
Copyright 2021 Building Science Training Center LLC
For Trainers - License BPI Course Material & Slides
Terms and Conditions