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GREENandSAVE LLC is the first to offer a double Building Performance Institute (BPI) Certification and Envelope Specialist Certification training in Southeastern, PA. As a recognized leader in Home Efficiency CheckupsTM and Commercial Energy Audits, GREENandSAVE LLC is expanding its portfolio to bring their regional Home Efficiency Consultants and residential contractors up to speed in the Home Performance/Green Building Industry.
A Home Efficiency CheckUp (HEC) is the first real step to assess how much energy a home consumes and to identify low-cost saving measures homeowners can take to make to their home more energy efficient. Different from the BPI training, HEC looks at how we live in our homes and how our lifestyles affect our appliance use and utility demands. When recommendations from the HEC call for significant work that addresses the building tightness, such as reducing air leakage or making sure that the home air quality is not too contaminated by indoor air, a BPI professional may be called to access the situation for further action.
"By adding the BPI certification to our certification program, we are helping build the skills of home energy evaluation and providing the next step to a Home Efficiency CheckUp", says Catharine Swan, Executive Director of GREENandSAVE's Eco-Academy.
In this rapidly growing industry of energy efficiency, a BPI Certification coupled with a Home Efficiency CheckUp Certification will help residential auditors and contract companies stand out from the competition AND be eligible contractors for the Federal Home Star Rebate program.
The 5-day certification course will take place October 25th-29th at GREENandSAVE's headquarters in Devon, PA. The course will be tailored to insulation, HVAC, solar and general contractors who want to increase their building science I.Q., and help increase their company's profitability. The training is a BPI approved presentation and is also recommended for architects, building inspectors and home inspectors.
Participants will be trained to identify elements of a home that can lead to reduced energy efficiency, i.e. air infiltration, poor wall and window insulation, or air gaps in the building's shell. In addition, they will be trained to perform comprehensive standardized energy evaluations and retrofits to remedy these problems.
"The five-day course is sure to be intense", notes Hap Haven*, the BPI Certified Instructor who will be leading the course. It includes classroom, field and lab work. The classroom portion is a 400+ PowerPoint slide presentation and comes with a 114 page training manual. There will be pre-class reading and a quiz to "hit the ground running" on day one, and a written test on the last day of class. Each participant will take the field exam after successful completion of the written exam.
Since the Home Star program will only recognize contractors with Building Performance Institute (BPI) Certifications this course will be valuable to any professional looking to gain work through the rebate program.
The cost of the course is $1,385 and the registration deadline is October 7th, 2010. Seats are available on a first-come-first-served basis. Contact Catharine Swan, Executive Director for the Eco-Academy today to register for the class before all the seats are filled.
*About the Instructor:
As leader in energy education for thirty years, Mr. Haven has pioneered the "home systems approach" toward energy education, has trained more than 1,000 BPI contractors, helped found three nonprofit energy corporations and has designed educational materials that are being used across the country. Mr. Haven is a BPI certified Building Analyst, Envelope, and Heating Specialist, as well as a Flir Corporation certified home performance thermographer. He's been featured on Channel 6 - ABC News, Channel 29 - Fox News, Channel 21 - Bard Means Business, and 98.1 WOGL radio.
