Sencon

BPI Training Vital Part of Home Star

While congressional wrangling has continued in the Senate over a now limited energy reform bill, one component has remained—Home Star, a stimulus program that will create rebates for homeowners seeking to make energy-saving improvements to their homes, will remain.

Of critical importance to the program is not only the energy it will save and amount of emissions it will reduce, but perhaps more importantly right now, the jobs it will create by putting construction workers—one of the hardest hit employment sectors in the current economy—back to work.

In the House version of the bill, which passed on its own as the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act in May with bipartisan support, Congress called for homeowners to be eligible for up to $8,000 in rebates and for the program to distribute nearly $6 million total over the next two years.

While the Senate version will likely differ in the details, the essence of the program—paying homeowners to make improvements that will save money over time while creating jobs now—will remain the same. Even as Home Star has been wrapped into a broader and more contentious energy reform bill, one in which debate still rages and a vote appears unlikely until after the Congressional recess is over in September, the provisions of Home Star remain intact and appear insulated from the more tumultuous debate. Both parties recognize the need to create a program that can truly generate jobs—and a lot of them—across the country.

For those professionals in the building industry, it is important to take the time until Home Star is passed to prepare to make the most out of the legislation for their own business, and that means getting BPI certified.

Improvements and rebates under Home Star will be approved under two paths: the Silver Star path, which is designed to create near-term incentives for work that will naturally improve efficiency, versus the Gold Star path, which promises to deliver the best results for homeowners by incorporating testing before and after work to ensure immediate measurable results. In order for contractors to participate in the Gold Star path, as the bill is written now, they will have to be BPI certified.

SENCON is the leading trainer of BPI certification in Hampton Roads and offers training at their Virginia Beach facility as well as through area community colleges and regional university off-campus locations. The next training class will be held next week from Aug. 9-13 and it’s not too late to register. The next scheduled training is set for Sept. 13-17.

Don’t miss out on this important opportunity to grow your building and improve your professional understanding of total home performance.

For more information on BPI training and the benefits it can deliver to you and your customers, visit SENCON’s training page at www.senconinfo.com or contact Jason Hawks at 757-498-0100 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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