Our free energy audit class is an INTRODUCTION class only.
It is not intended to be a full certification class by any means.
We tell everyone this at every class. Our class is to help
new people understand the basics of what they are getting
into. It is free and comes with no certificate of completion.
John, the point I was trying to make is that if you don’t know what or how CAZ testing is done then you probably should not be making recommendations for energy improvement’s
I know your class is free and only an intro. in this field but I see so many people that think energy audits are easy and their not. There’s more to it than scanning a house for air leakage. In some cases a thermal imager may not even pick up on air leaks without the use of a blower door
I’m actually looking forward to it.
Peter is absolutely correct!! Conducting a Home Energy Performance Audit per BPI standards is time consuming and challenging. If your going to do them, you need to get the proper training.
Kevin
I know that you may feel that your CAZ testing knowledge may
be the only way to do an energy audit and I grant you the right
to feel that way.
Even Resnet energy auditors do different levels of energy audits
based on the fact that some people do not want the full service
option or an energy star rating. I will grant them the right to
do that.
I doubt our free class is setting up people for doom. Relax.
I know of local power companies that send out energy auditors
that go by a set of local standards and weatherize by those
standards (which are not BPI or RESNET). I know it is easy
to say that YOUR level of certification or methods should be
the law of the land, but that is not the case in all areas. Sorry.
Not everyone wants to pay for the same level of energy audit.
That is their choice.
John, you are the one who gave this thread it’s title. All I’m saying is if you want to do energy audits to state and federal guidelines your going to need more training than a free webinar.
But hey, who am I to say anything, I actually listened to your hogwash about radiant barriers!!!
That is what I have said from the beginning. I agree.
But please understand… many many energy audits are being
done for people all over the country and there are no state
or federal guidelines in place. The vast majority of energy audits
being done in America fall into this category.
Even among RESNET energy auditors, it is perfectly legal to
do energy audits at different levels. This is just a fact of
life.
Our class helps those who need a first step. The steps they
take after that is up to them, not you. As long as they
do not break any laws, what is the problem?
Some states do not require or have in place any home
inspection laws, but home inspectors still do business there.
Can you understand this?
I agree with Peter. Too many unqualified people are out there calling themselves energy auditers. I recently watched an “energy auditer” run the blower door to 75 Pascals and never pre-checked the house for broken window,loose sheetrock, gas appliances, etc. There is no way this clown was trained to do anything. I listen to auditers telling me what a great energy saver an attic fan is (in an air conditioned house). Energy auditers to be effective have to have a solid understanding of building science. Many of them cannot spell building science! John I took part in one of your energy audits courses and it was mostly an advertisement for a window shade. I think it may be misleading to tell people this class is a great benefit to them. And John most weatherization is being carried out using government money which run under tremendous restrictions. There is not much money to be earned at this time in energy audits (at least in south Texas).
Our free class has about 30 min of info regarding the solar
radiant barrier product and over 3.5 hours of energy audit
teachings. You did not stay for the entire class.
I have hundreds of people tell me that this class has been a
great benefit for them as an introduction into energy audits.
No one is being mislead and the cost is free.
Again, people have to start some where and our class is
for beginners, as stated over and over again. How many
times can I say it? Should we stop having the class so you
can feel better? The class is FREE and is an introduction
only course. No certificate of completion is being issued.
You are wrong in thinking there is no one making money
doing energy audits and weatherization, except by your
methods. I talk to people all over America who are making
it work for them, on various levels.
Some Resnet inspectors have told me that they make
way more money doing non-gov’t approved energy
audits, than anything else. Just because you do
not make money doing it, does not mean others do not.
BTW… I have come behind MANY Resnet and BPI energy
auditors and found tons of energy defects with my IR
camera… by accident. How did I do that?
They have to come back and eat crow every time. Me
thinks that their methods may not be all that they say
it is, in some cases. Just the facts.
Resnet is basically HERS, HERS is what Energy Star uses as a standard vs the model IECC home. A score of 85 or lower can earn the home the Energy Star label and/or tax credits.
CAZ is the combustible appliance zone, and if you do not fully understand it you can literally make people very sick and in extreme circumstances could potentially kill people by making recommendations or altering the thermal barrier of a structure. Combustion is also used to “tune” combustible appliances to make them run more efficient. Just like an internal combustion engine can run lean or rich, so can your combustible appliances.
As Peter has stated, unless you have the means to sub the work, I personally do not recommend energy auditing (BPI or Resnet type of audit) as a viable service to add on to home inspection. Just like infrared (which is now required on HERS audits) if you can approach it as a separate business, then you are starting on the right path. For those of you that come from a strong construction background or were/are general contractors, HVAC contractors, insulation contractors and maybe even a door and window guy, then energy auditing can be used as a very powerful marketing tool.
Peter is also very correct in the fact that is not a cheap endeavor. Keep in mind Peter started out already with an infrared back ground, and had infrared training as well as a camera. He also got in to the industry when the use of a duct blaster was semi optional. It still is, to a point, but now a days it is pretty much a requirement. There is no way to get a duct leakage to the outdoors number without using a duct blaster and blower door together. Just recently we have current raters that now have to ditch their pressure pans and have to use a flow hood in place of those. That is another $2,000 vs $160.
There is money in energy auditing. I know of companies that are making a killing with it. But in each an every one of those cases they are not in it for the audit, but rather the retrofit/remodeling jobs it can create.
Just one other mind numbing factor to throw in to the mix. Currently BPI and Resnet are what we consider energy auditors. As someone else pointed out in this thread there is also LEED and the NAHB standard, for the rebuild process. The new LEED 3.0 program has so many certifications it is ridiculous, if you want to max out on those that is an eternity and lots of money. The bigger question is which way do you go? I honestly feel the NAHB standard will be the main one in the future for residential and LEED for commercial, but that is just my guess. And do not think for a moment just because you would be the auditor, that you do not need to know how it is going to be rebuilt (construction background).
On the flip side, when the point of sale laws start to become more common place there will be a place for a straight energy auditor (inspector). And blower doors are a great tool to use in conjunction with an infrared camera to help amplify heat/cold signatures, among other things.
JJ
Department of Energy’s PDF File Just Released - Regarding Residential Building Energy Retrofits
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/building_america/ns/doe_webinar_121709.pdf
It appears this thing is still trying to gell together and the final form is not
yet clear in some aspects.
Any thought?
Sat in on webinar. No concrete info. Lots of “we are planning to plan.” Not impressed or excited about what I heard at all.
Same here. I sat in on webinar too. Long way to go. IR classes and “low level energy audits” should help folks save on energy costs.
I’ve been doing HVAC a long time (27yrs)and run combustion analysys on all kinds of gas fired equipment. CAZ has never been a factor or concern during installation, new or replacement, residential or commercial. Never even heard of it till now, and I’ve never killed any one off. No need to be such an alarmist.
Thank you for common sense.
Have you ever completed a CAZ test in a sixty year old house that has no bathroom ventilation, no kitchen ventilation, ans uses gas to fuel the kitchen stove, hot water heater, boiler and dryer. Then you add 12’’ of insulation to the attic, install weatherstrips and new sweep on door, caulk or replace the windows.
How would you handle this situation if your pre test was 2010cfm@50
and Post was 1030cfm@50
Have you ever done this after the attic has been brought up to R-60, the windows have been repaired or replaced, the doors have been repaired or replaced, the chimney’s have been flashed in the basement and the attic, so basically the home has been completely air sealed?
Here is the questions most should be asking:
Who trained the trainer?
Where did you receive your home energy training?
What certifications do you have in relation to energy (not just infrared, but energy - there is a difference)?
What makes you “qualified” to teach an energy class?
Offering the class as FREE does not mean that it’s a legitimate class. I have taken both the RESNET (HESP) and BPI Certifications courses. When we are talking about performing an Energy “Audit,” that would have to include Blower Door, Infrared, and Combustion Safety Testing.
Sure, there are scaled down energy surveys, I have been doing them since 2003. However, if you are instructing people that it is not necessary to use a blower door during an Energy Audit, you are setting your students up for failure.
I’m not trying to discredit you, John. But, I do feel that you are grossly misinforming people. When I took my RESNET HESP class, the instructor, who was a certified RATER, spent a whole day on the Blower Door and the Duct Blaster. Why do you think that is?
The RESNET HESP (Home Energy Survey Professional) is a scaled down “Introductory” class for training people to conduct entry level (pre-cursor) energy surveys, yet they taught the importance of additional testing.
Kevin
John, his common sense comes from installing HVAC equipment where you should not have a caz problems. and if you understood what I was talking about in regard to CAZ testing after the air sealing in the home has been completed and how it effects the air quality while using the combustible appliances you would understand the complexity of doing an energy audit.
If you want to teach people how to use a thermal imager to look for heat loss, call it that, a heat loss survey, I’ve done plenty of them over the years. But if you want to conduct an energy audit you need to have the proper training and conduct the audit to what is currently the national standard.
You should know the difference as should the attendees of your webinar.
Can you understand that!!