The course will include approximately 32 hours of lecture and 8 hours of field work. The course will be covered in the following order to build on a base of knowledge and then culminate in the actual field work of testing for energy inefficiencies and determining solutions to correct.
Energy Usage on a National Level (1.5 hours): Importing amounts and costs by region, how to reduce energy use through efficiency and retrofits, how to compute Energy Calculations, HDD (Heating Degrees by Day), Life Cycle Cost, SIR (Savings to Investment), BCR (Benefit Cost Ratio) will be discussed.
Principles of Energy (1.5 hours): Calculation of BTU’s (British Thermal Units), Pascal and pressure differentials, Types of heat flow, i.e. conduction, convection and radiation will be discussed.
Energy and the Building Shell (1.5 hours): What are thermal boundary, thermal conductivity and thermal bridging? How does heat flow through a building by transmission and air leakage? Also, how to figure R-Value and U-factor in determining thermal resistance will be covered in this session.
Air Leakage (2.5 hours): Air leakage controls such as saving energy, increasing comfort and avoiding moisture migration will be discussed in this session. Understanding the stack effect caused by density differences between warm and cool air masses and understanding pressure and air flow will be topics covered in this section. How to operate the blower door equipment will be covered.
Insulation (2.5 hours): This section will cover how to conserve energy by slowing the heat transmission through the use of insulation. Types and density and thermal mace effect will be covered.
Water Heating (1.5 hours): The types of water heaters, combustion water heater safety, knowing how tankless water heaters work and retrofitting inefficient water heaters will be discussed.
Heating (1.5 hours): In this section you will learn heat loss rate, heating efficiency, carbon monoxide as a product of incomplete combustion and how heating systems work.
BPI Standards (2.5 hours): National Standards and protocol for trouble shooting problems for inefficiencies in energy, health and safety in the home will be discussed.
Blower door and duct blaster (3.5 hours): Equipment used in test-in and test-out procedures for efficiency, hands on use of the blower door and gauges to determine the efficiency or inefficiency of a home or building.
Cooling (2.5 hours): The most effective strategies for improving cooling efficiency including the topics of humidity, heat gain, reflectivity, shading, circulation, SEER, window replacement and solar solutions will be discussed.
Windows and Doors (1.5 hours): U-factor (thermal transmittance), SHGC (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient) and the three strategies to improve the R-value of glass (multiple panes, gas fillings and special coatings will be discussed in this section. Lighting and Appliance (1.5 hours): Efficacy or the efficiency of lighting, the categories of light by function, the four types of lighting and ways of improving lighting efficiency will be discussed.
Health and Safety (2 hours): Understanding health and safety issues and how the following affect a safe vs. an unsafe environment; i.e. CO (carbon monoxide), asbestos, moisture, vapor diffusion, house ventilation and how Building Analysts can make recommendations will be discussed.
Field Work (8 hours): During this time the student will practice in a hands-on format the Performance Guide with the equipment. They will evaluate the exterior and interior of the home and will practice discovering areas of inefficiencies and will make recommendations for improvement.
Review (6 hours)
Passage rates are provided by BPI to Green Energy Audit Certification on a quarterly basis. Students may request the pass rates from the student counselors.
