Topic of the Week: More Energy Audits Means More Jobs
As more federal and state legislation is approved to help constituents make their homes more energy efficient, a major component of many of the new programs is a requirement to have a home performance assessment, otherwise known as a home energy audit, performed on the home. It only makes sense when you consider that in order to make the best choice about what to do to improve your home’s efficiency, you have to know what is limiting that efficiency in the first place.
A home energy audit does just that. By examining the home as an entire system that must work in harmony for peak performance, a certified home energy auditor can pinpoint where exactly a house is leaking cold or warm air, and thus expend unnecessary energy to maintain the structure at comfortable levels. Many people often assume the majority of their heating or cooling is lost through old, leaky windows or are the result of poorly performing HVAC systems that require total replacement. But that isn’t necessarily the case.
Building Professional Institute (BPI) Standards emphasize the “house-as-a-system” approach to inspecting a home, meaning that all systems are interconnected with the HVAC equipment, including the overall envelope, the foundation, walls, roof, doors and windows. More often than not, marked improvements in a home’s efficiency can be achieved simply by duct sealing a home, adding insulation in attics and below floors or adding weathersealing around windows, doorways and receptacles. In fact, such minor upgrades—relatively inexpensive too when you consider the cost and installation of new windows or HVAC systems—can save homeowners up to 30 percent or more on their energy bills. To do this, though, you have to be able to pinpoint the problem areas, and the only one qualified to do this is a certified energy auditor.
SENCON is Hampton Roads’ largest trainer of home performance professionals, offering classes, mentoring and testing that lead to a
The course teaches basic principles of building science along with more detailed information on how the various systems of a home interact with each other in order to help students be able to assess energy efficiency, while monitoring conditions that have a direct impact on human health and safety. Students will learn to properly set up and use diagnostic equipment such as the blower door and combustion analyzer to ensure systems are functioning together correctly to maximize home performance, comfort, energy efficiency, safety and durability.
While prior home building and basic knowledge of accepted construction practices are not required, it is strongly suggest that participating students have some background in the building trades.
Again, the field for home performance auditors will be one to watch in the coming months and years as legislation, as well as the building industry and consumers demand greener, more efficient homes.
For more information on becoming a certified auditor, please visit our website at www.senconinfo.com or contact
Recent Blog Entries |
activites that will get the family or class building a better tomorrow.