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    • 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
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  • BLOG

What Is the X-Factor In Hiring In Home Performance

2/26/2014

1 Comment

 
An article published in the NY Times, titled, "How To Get A Job At Google" got me thinking about one of the most innovative companies in the 21st century. Google, the people who want to "organize the world's information", was named one of the best places to work in 2012 and 2013 not only because of the free food 24-7, but also because of their culture and the Googlers who work there. It is a place that many in the tech world aspire to work at one time or another. In the article, Thomas Friedman writes about Google's hiring process and how they place more emphasis on the intangibles, more than test scores. How its more important to adapt to the group dynamics than it is to be always right, and it's true (you can read the article here).  I have lost a lot of money and time over bad employees.  Employees who seemed like a great fit when I first hiring them.  I remember listening to one potential sales person brag about their 60% close rate at their last company and after doing some homeowner I find out they were promising 50% energy savings from radiant barrier alone.

Owning and operating a small home performance company has thrown me in the fire regarding hiring, managing and firing employees. Personalities vary greatly from the hard working attic crawler to the ego-centric sales person and each have to be managed differently.  What makes a good employee in the home performance field?  What is that X-factor an employer would likely pay a premium to keep? Let's start with our techs who have one of the hardest labor jobs out there.  


How can you tell the ones who are just trying to support their family, from the ones who want to start their own company, to the ones with excellent customer service, to the ones who are excellent workers and can improvise and finish jobs on time and with great results.  In my experience, the interview process, the beginning training and the work culture can't make great employees but they definitely can make your life a whole lot easier.  Here is what I do.


  1. Interview - I like asking scenario questions like tell me of a time when... and fill in things that are on your wish list for customer service, technical expertise and loyalty. For example, I would say, "Tell me of a time when really wowed a customer where if you saw them today, they would be happy to see you and give you a big bear hug," or "tell me of a time where you had to improvise on a job," or "tell me of a time when you had a long day, work was tough but you kept pulling through and had a positive attitude."  Watch out for fluff answers, it may be cute but in my experience anyone who was not prepared or was just talking out of their ass is going to cost you more money than they make for you down the road.  be sure to indicate what you are looking for in your job posting as well.
  2. Training - Create what if scenarios. I have taken my 10 most common errors the crew and I have made and put them into this training program.  Each of the errors gets displayed by either a photo or just a what-if scenario to the tech and I give a list of multiple choice questions for them to pick the correct answer.  The choices are always what has happened in past experiences. Some common ones are not aligning jump ducts in the ceiling for aesthetics, how to enlargen and place a new return flex off a package unit on the roof (crew and auditors), how to measure a return plenum, customer service when arriving and leaving, inside duct sealing, and others.  When someone is just starting for you, that is when they are most receptive to your work standards and company culture.  That is the time to mold them, not 4 months later when bad habits have already formed.  Their effort and interest give me a good idea how much of an X-factor they have.
  3. Work culture - Every company's culture is different, some contractors are more laid back than others. In our field of unseen perfectionism though, I'd venture to say that it's a given that most of us are pretty anal about our jobs but it's the personalities that we bring to work that shape our culture.  I like a work hard, play hard culture, and I enjoy what I do. Time in the attic is a time to catch up on what's new and shoot the shit. I take the crew out to eat twice a year as a thanks and give a Christmas bonus to the ones who have been with me for more than a year.  If your crew lead is in the attic swearing and yelling, your crew is going to see that and assume that that is the norm and acceptable. Be watchful and guard your company's culture as you would your online reputation.

These are the things that I do to help boost everyone on my team's X-factor.  Natural talent is good to have, but like Google, it is the intangible things that separate you from the competition.





1 Comment

    David Byrnes

    Owns and operates Green ID, a residential home energy auditing and contracting company in Phoenix, AZ. He is a BPI Proctor and has trained over 40 energy auditors.

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