Online Energy Auditor Certification Training Course
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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
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          • 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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How To Become An Energy Auditor

9/29/2015

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​​Energy Auditor Training

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To become a home energy auditor does not require a huge initial investment, but it is more than going through the motions of taking a week long class and passing the exams. The Building Performance Institute, or BPI for short, is a non-profit organization that has created and set the standards for energy auditors of existing homes. BPI uses approved test centers to train and administer the exams for potential BPI certified energy auditors. There are some non-accredited energy auditor training classes out there, mainly doing online training, but you should make sure the training class is geared towards the BPI exam, and not just becoming an energy auditor. This is because the term “residential energy auditor” is loosely defined, especially by those who are not energy auditors. They may define an energy audit as a clip board audit looking at lighting, windows and doors, shading and if the homeowner is lucky, a look at the insulation depth right by the attic hatch. This is done not only by companies selling windows, solar energy, HVAC, radiant barrier or a specific product but also is promoted by these “energy auditor” training companies that are not geared towards the BPI exam whose creators have never done a real energy audit but saw an opportunity in a hot market.

The best way to get a full energy auditor training is on the job and then just take the exams without the week long training. If that’s not possible in your situation you can take a week long energy auditor training course through an approved test center. The week long energy audit training classes do have the advantage of forcing you to cover aspects the residential energy audits that you may not see in the field every day and broaden your knowledge base. The disadvantages of taking the week long energy audit training class is the time burden and the lack of depth or knowledge the instructors have. There are some good training centers out there, but you have to look for them. The national energy audit classes, taught by instructors who are not living and breathing home performance is a little shallow in knowledge.

​The BPI Building Analyst exam consists of a 100 questions written exam and a field exam where you go through an actual energy audit with a proctor grading you. To become a certified BPI Building Analyst you will need to pass with a 70% or better a written exam and an 85% or better on the field exam. The field exam IS OPEN BOOK. You are allowed to bring in any material you would like, including your BPI Standards, field sheet cheat sheets and formulas to aid you. However, you are only allowed TWO HOURS to complete the field exam. The BPI Building Analyst written and field exam is broken down into six sections:
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  1. Building Science Fundamentals
  2. Buildings & Their Systems
  3. Measurement and Verification of Building Performance 
  4. BPI National Standards & Project Specifications 
  5. Analyzing Buildings Systems
  6. Conduct and Communications


The heaviest tested section in the BPI written exam is the “BPI National Standards & Project Specifications.” The heaviest section in the field exam is the “Measurement and Verification of Building Performance.” BPI has a few golden rules such as “do not harm” which emphasizes combustion safety protocols and BPI Standards and the “home as a system” approach which emphasizes every part of the home is interdependent on the other and we as energy auditors need to be aware of our impacts and that we need to educate the homeowner also. Each the cornerstones plays out and appears again and again not only throughout the BPI course material and on the exam but after the exam and when you are performing your home energy audits, selling and installing the work.

​The energy auditor training course is very useful for anyone wanting to start offering energy audits or home performance work. Even seasoned home inspectors, insulation and HVAC contractors and general contractors will benefit because we were building homes wrong for so long that it just became the norm. Even insulation contractors who do not know what they are looking for will blow right over misaligned batts or bridged soffits… I’ve seen it!

The field exam can be difficult because you have to think out loud and is akin to acting in a play... it's staged, you need to almost memorize lines until it become natural, and you have an audience that may or may not be forgiving of slip-ups. Lots of practice and mock field exams on several houses is the best way to prepare for the field test.

What To Expect On The BPI Field Exam

The field proctor is not allowed to offer any guidance during the exam. You will have to talk through a good portion of the exam, telling the field proctor what you would do, but not actually perform it. Many field proctors will not have you go in the attic for liability reasons, but you will need to tell them what you would look for during an attic inspection. The field exam, unlike the written exam is open book. Here is a list of some essential material to aid your field exam.
  1. BPI Standards
  2. Create your own energy audit field sheets complete with formulas, CAZ limits, and other limits to room pressures, BAS threshold, draft formula, etc. This will take time and energy on your part, but I highly suggest it. Put in the hard work required to make these field sheets but in doing so you will walk through the energy audit in your own mind.
  3. Pictures of the manometer set up for each test you perform. This will vary slightly depending if you have a Minneapolis, Retrotec or Therma Star blower door.

How To Save Money Getting Your BPI Building Analyst Certification

You can save money and time because not all BPI test centers require you take the week long class in order to take the exam. So if you have performed energy audits for your current company, or do a good home study, or use this website for a free online BPI training, you can potentially take the exam without the training class and waive the training class fee. You will still have to pay the BPI written and field exam fees, but you will have saved yourself a lot of time and about $1,000. Is it possible to self-study to become an energy auditor? Absolutely, and that’s why this website was created. If you have a construction background it will be even easier for you.

If you want to start your energy audit training or get a more in depth view of the material covered to become an energy auditor visit our home page for a video overview.
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    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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