Energy Audits, I'm in the process of starting a new company..

…and I would like to know the best schools in Canada or the US for training.
I need to send myself along with 2 employees for training, any advice would be appreciated!

Mario,

If you are wanting to offer customers gov’t rebates for upgrades done in Canada under he EcoEnergy program, you must be a liscenced service organization for Natural Resources Canada. They are currently not accepting any applications (and will not be in the near future). There is no school to go to, NRCan does all the training. I would suggest for now maybe approaching a current service organization and maybe you can train and do audits under their liscence.

In the U.S. you can try Home Tune Up.com (on the easy to do side), BPI.org and RESNET.us (both, a little bit more intense and costly).

Also depends what you’re looking to do/accomplish/needs. Existing homes, Energy Star Homes, checklist type inspections.

Mic

Thanks guys!

Thanks to Mark for the time he took from a busy day to call me for additional information!

Thanks Mark

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Hey there mario, hope your new year was great. HERES SOME INFO ON THIS COMPANY FROM LONDON THAT IS DOING THIS TRAINING. ITS A 40 HR COURSE. BUYWISE INSPECTION SERVICES. 568 OXFORD ST EAST, LONDON ONT. 1-519-657-1966. TOTAL COST IS AROUND $720.00. VERY INTERSETED MY SELF ,BUT DOING A LITTLE MORE RESEARCH FIRST BEFORE SIGNING UP . HOPE THIS HELPS BRO, TALK TO YOU LATER.:):cool::roll::eek:

Thanks Tony!!

Mario,
I looked into this a little while back. What a Friggin’ pain in the rear!
As previously stated NRCan is not offering to license any more people at this time. I contacted quite a few comapnies and 2 (both from BC) got back to me. One would train me in BC for a week, administer the exam and follow up on my 10 first inspections.
They provide the blower door and the training- all told about $6k, which includes the blower door.
BUT- Here’s the Kicker: You end up being licensed UNDER them and doing inspections for them. They charge the client $300 for the first visit and $150 for the 2nd. (The client gets a $150 rebate from Mr. Harper)
They pay you- wait for it… $80.00 for the first inspection and $75.00 for the follow up one.

I said-
“So let me see if I understand this properly: You want me to fly to BC, PAY YOU for the training and then give up over 1/2 of the fee to you too- and at the end of it, I’m just working for you???” Reply: yes
“Can I still be a private contractor then?” Reply: No, you are under our license. If you stop working for us, then you can no longer offer the rebates to clients.
“The why the hell would I pay all that money to you, just to make you even more money? Tell me people don’t really fall for this scam do they? I will be writing to my local MP and telling him about this monopoly you folks seem to have” Reply: Have a nice day sir. and he hung up- Jerk!
I hung up and felt very PISS’D

Here are 2 links to companies that would do the training. One is in Richmond hill, the same shiite as the first.
The second one is the BC company.

http://energywisesolutions.ca/becoming-an-advisor

http://www.homeperformance.com/building-insight-technologies-inc-home-performance

If this one in London is prepared to offer the training and I end up with an exclusive license under NRCan- I will be ecstatic to take the training!!
D

This probably will happen when gravity fails!!!

RESNET training providers Looks like there is one in Maine.

I’m wondering if any iNACHI inspectors are RESNET certified energy raters?
and is the training worth the cost to both the training organization, and the provider organizations you need to coordinate with?
Seems like a lot of money, with an unknown demand out there…:neutral:

As you probably already know, Steven, this thread was started by a Canuck. Really check out the demand in your area!!

The drive/demand in Canada for “certified energy auditors” is being abnormally driven by federal and, in some cases, additional provincial tax free grants for home owners to help subsidize/pay for energy conservation retrofits of their homes. But…firstly you must have an audit done by a “certified” auditor before your home qualifies for the free $$$$$. So you can see why the great demand here…free government $$$$$$ for upgrading your home to save even more $$$$$…and along with free health care (well, sorta):

CANADA!!! WHAT A COUNTRY!!!

IMHO, this has spawned a huge number of poorly qualified “certified” auditors with 2-3 days training and 5-7 reviewed trial audits (reviewed mostly by persons who never worked in the energy retrofit field!!). So in a week or so you have a professional “certified” energy auditor. BTW, my wife works seasonally as a fine dining chef… she says she can’t properly train a new dishwasher in less than a week or so!!!

The Federal gov’t (NRCan) does not choose the energy auditors, they hire the Service Organizations. It is up to the service organization to see that the candidates have the appropriate experience. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. I agree that the training requirements are just not enough. Now it entails a 5 day course, and 7 reviewed audits(2 being supervised). I had 10+ yrs experience in construction when I took my course to be an energy auditor. I found the course was more geared to teaching me how to use the computer program and writing the report than anything. The building science content was just not there. I find the majority of my clients during an energy audit get more from my expertise and knowledge in a discussion than they ever will from a report. I have seen many energy reports from other auditors that just don’t make sense. I have seen recos that were flat out wrong and/or unnessecary.In short, I guess what I’m trying to say is that NRCan has to step up to the plate and toss some of these “looks good on paper” kind of people when it comes to energy audits. Is that gonna happen anytime soon? Don’t hold your breath.

A little birdie told me last week, that some field monitoring of auditors’ work will finally begin in the new year!! Maybe some changes will occur…training will improve and some re-training will have to carried out.

regards

Keep in mind you will need to write a 2 hr online exam with 75 to pass, if you don’t pass, you don’t audit!

Your service organization is supposed to do QC (quality Control) visits during your audits. These QC visits are then graded and then reported to NRCan. The organization I belong to ferform 1 visit per month and 4 cold call follow up questionares per month. Another way you can be monitored is by doing an audit on an NRCan employee’s home(mystery shopper), typically set up by your Service organization.

From what I gather, the local NGO that conducts audits here gives you the one chance to pass. If you don’t get it the first time, look for something else to do. In one case, a long serving HI with a degree in architecture did not pass; he only got 48!

Ah! The foxes watching the foxes!!!

That’s probably why NRCan is about to do some of its own QC. From what I hear, there’s a new head to that section of NRCan. Maybe he’s got more interest in the program than the former person.

Let’s hope so! It appears to me that the few that take it seriously are being crunched by the ones that are abusing the goals. Maybe they will see how some of the companies are developing a momopoly with it and put an end to their greediness.:frowning: