A Retrofit Installer Technician is a residential energy efficiency professional who installs energy efficiency upgrades in single-family homes, and small multi-family housing (2-4 units). http://www.ableideas.net/April25.html

1. BUILDING SALES WITH
CERTIFICATION
Part Two: Retrofit Installer Technician April 25, 2012

2. Four-Part Webinar Series
Part One - Energy Auditor
Wednesday, April 18 - Archived
Part Two - Retrofit Installer Technician
Wednesday, April 25 at 12:00 pm PDT
Part Three - Crew Leader
Wednesday, May 2 at 12:00 pm PDT
Part Four - Quality Control Inspector
Wednesday, May 9 at 12:00 pm PDT
For more info or to register: www.ableideas.net/WebinarSeries.html

3. Continuing Education Units – CEU’s
www.AbleIdeas.net/CEU.html

4. SUSTAINABLE IDEAS

5. Retrofit Installer Technician
A Retrofit Installer Technician is a residential energy
efficiency professional who installs energy efficiency
upgrades in single-family homes, and small multi-family
housing (2-4 units).
The Energy Auditor produces building information as a
report and makes recommendations to the customer.
The Retrofit Installer Technician installs the customers
selection.

6. Benefits of Building Performance
This presentation will examine how growing a building
performance company can be aligned with nationally
recognized professional certifications as a business
model, and as a marketing program.
Homeowners able to recognize and trust quality energy
upgrades will tell their neighbors at the backyard
grill. Contractors able to adapt will hire more certified
crews and grow business.

7. Make a Strategic Plan
Today - It’s already over
Next Month – Will be here tomorrow
Next Year – It’s a good place to start

8. Build your business
like bears fish.

9. Go where the fish are!

10. Are you here wondering…

11. Who moved my salmon?

12. How do…
Home energy business owners
plan for strategic success looking
to the future of their industry?

13. How can…
Employers ensure they are hiring
people who can offer home energy
upgrades in a complete and
efficient manner?

14. How will…
Customers and homeowners know
they are getting a highly-qualified
person to work in their home?

15. Answer…
Certification!

16. Benefits of Certification:
• Competitive Edge
• Assurance of Quality
• Employee Value
• Quality of Work
• Reduce Call-Backs
• Improve Profitability
• Consistency
• Homeowner Trust

17. Important Point!
Certifications
put you
where the fish are!

18. Today’s Panelists
• Julie Hughes, U.S. Department of Energy
• Bruce DeMaine, Building Performance Institute
• Chris Jones, Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance
• Randy Bates, InOrOut Smart Energy

19. DOE Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals:
Using the New Home Energy Certifications to
Gain a Competitive Edge
Julie Hughes April 25, 2012
Sr. Policy Advisor
1 | WAP Training & Technical Assistance Tools and Resources eere.energy.gov

20. DOE Guidelines for Home Energy
Professionals Project
• Tools for private and public sector contractors
• Built off input from 2,000 home performance
industry members and 30+ years of DOE
Weatherization experience.
• Three components:
1. Guidelines for Quality Work
2. Guidelines for Effective Training
3. Guidelines for Professional Certifications
2 | WAP Training & Technical Assistance Tools and Resources eere.energy.gov
eere.energy.gov

21. Four New DOE Home Energy Certifications
Inspector
Auditor
Crew Leader
Installer
3 | WAP Training & Technical Assistance Tools and Resources eere.energy.gov
eere.energy.gov

22. Demonstrate, Differentiate, and Promote Yourself
• Frequently heard obstacle expressed by
program administrators and the public:
Inspector
Lack of access to Skilled Workers: Auditor
“Too few skilled workers and green Crew Leader
entrepreneurs to expand weatherization
and efficiency retrofit programs on a Installer
national scale.”
---Recovery Through Retrofit, Oct 2009
4 | WAP Training & Technical Assistance Tools and Resources eere.energy.gov
eere.energy.gov

23. Retrofit Installers Seriously Impact the Industry
• Largest proportion of the workforce in energy efficiency
• Unskilled workers jeopardize:
– Quality of the work; depth of the energy savings
– Company reputation and perceived integrity
– Safety (of worker and client)
– Ability to stay on-budget and deliver on-time
– Profit margin of the job
– Likelihood of future sales
• Skilled installers lead to: saved time, satisfied customers,
future sales, scalability of the business and industry
5 | WAP Training & Technical Assistance Tools and Resources eere.energy.gov
eere.energy.gov

24. Benefits of the Certification to You
• Use as a marketing tool – for yourself, your company
• Assuage customer doubt – build confidence, close deals
• Differentiate yourself from less-skilled workers
• Design your own career path
• Increase marketability to EE program administrators
• Use as a quick indicator when hiring new employees
6 | WAP Training & Technical Assistance Tools and Resources eere.energy.gov
eere.energy.gov

25. What Is a “Retrofit Installer”?
Job Description for “Retrofit Installer” (from JTA):
“A Retrofit Installer installs energy-efficiency measures to single-family or
2-4 unit-homes using a variety of building science best practices to improve
safety, comfort, durability, indoor air quality, and energy efficiency.”
JTA also defines the tasks performed on the job—and the
knowledge, skills and abilities required to complete them.
All 4 JTAs—including Retrofit Installer—can be found here:
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wip/certifications.html#jta
7 | WAP Training & Technical Assistance Tools and Resources eere.energy.gov
eere.energy.gov

26. Certifications Are Built on a Strong Foundation
Standard
Job Task Training Training 4 New
Work
Analyses (4) Curriculum programs Certifications
Specifications
Good accreditation aligns these four sections
Defines Defines Provides a Teaches the Exam verifies that
the work how the foundation to right way to the worker has
work is done teach the right do the work learned the right
correctly way to do the way to do the work
work
8 | WAP Training & Technical Assistance Tools and Resources eere.energy.gov
eere.energy.gov

27. Be a First Mover: Register Early
Pilot exams offered in June 2012
Applications accepted NOW.
Those who apply now and pass will be
certified months before others –
early adopters have market advantage.
For more information and to register:
http://www.bpi.org/tools_downloads_pilot.aspx
9 | WAP Training & Technical Assistance Tools and Resources eere.energy.gov
eere.energy.gov

28. Please Contact Us for More
Information or Questions
Julie Hughes
Senior Policy Advisor
P: 202.586.1603
E: Julie.Hughes@ee.doe.gov
10
10 | WAP Training & Technical Assistance Tools and Resources eere.energy.gov
eere.energy.gov

29. BUILDING PERFORMANCE INSTITUTE

30. Home Energy Professionals Certifications Pilot
www.BPI.org/Pilot

31. Home Energy Professionals Certifications Pilot

32. Prerequisites
Required prior to taking the certification exams:
 GED/high school diploma
 1,000 hours of relevant experience: including one of the following
 Crew lead in a weatherization
 Building science trade auditor under supervision
 Be an energy auditor
 Verifiable completion of 15 comprehensive whole house audits
 Collect 20 points from completion of activities below:
 Building Experience: max 10 pts, 5 pts = 1,000 hrs
 Completion of industry specific : max 10 pts, 5 pts = 40 hrs
 Industry certifications: max 10 pts, 5 pts per certification

33. What is BPI? Standards
Quality
Assurance
BPI Certification
Accreditation

34. Who BPI BPI Certified
Professionals
BPI Test Centers & Proctors
Works
With BPI
BPI
Utility
Programs,
State &
Accredited
Federal
Contractors
Government
(GSA )
Home Owners
Quality Assurance
Providers

35. BPI Governance Structure

36. Personnel Certification
(ensures competency)
 Related to an individual not a company
 Measures competence of the individual through
prerequisites, written and/or performance exams
 On-going certification maintenance requires CEUs and
subsequent exams
 Very little ability by Certification Body to monitor work
performed by the individual – most instances a complaint
must be filed by consumer against individual

37. Accredited Contractor
(reduces risk, benefits consumer)
 Related to a company not an individual
 Company commits through a contract with BPI to:
 Carry insurance, be licensed, no outstanding BBB complaints
 Employees certified in at least two BPI designations
 Perform work to specified safety criteria and standards
 Maintain complete documentation of every job performed
 Have customer survey and dispute resolution systems in place
 Work monitored through independent, third-party quality assurance
audits

38. BPI/DOE/NREL
Certifications
Update

39. BPI/DOE/NREL Certification Development
 BPI working with the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) and the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) to develop 4 new certifications
 Energy Auditor
 Retrofit Installer Technician
 Crew Leader
 Quality Control Inspector

40. Major Milestones
 March and April
 SMEs perform test item writing and field exam development
 May
 Applications due by May 1st for pilot exams taken in June
 June
 Pilot exams take place
 July– August
 Cut score panel convenes makes determination of minimum passing
scores
 Cut scores reviewed by Certification Scheme Committees
 Psychometric analysis of test responses
 Successful/Unsuccessful score reports sent to candidates
 September
 Exams become available to everyone

41. FAQs About the New Certifications
 Will the Energy Auditor (EA) certification replace the
Building Analyst (BA) certification?
 EA certification is not replacing the BA certification
 It will be the next step in the career ladder from BA
 The BA certification verifies that the worker has a foundation in
diagnostic and analytical building science
 The EA certification will be specifically tailored to the job task of
energy auditing. Verifies through prerequisites that the worker has
software modeling skills, previous work history in doing energy
audits, and can develop a scope of work to implement home
performance measures in the home

42. FAQs About the New Certifications
 What is the difference between BPI’s existing Residential
Building Envelope Whole House Air Leakage Control
Installer (RBE-WHAL-CI) certification and the new Retrofit
Installer certification?
 The RBE-WHAL-CI is an entry level certification
 Evaluates a candidate’s ability and fundamental level of skill in the
selection and installation of appropriate materials used to reduce air
leakage in a typical home
 The new Retrofit Installer Certification is geared toward experienced
technicians who have been in the field and can demonstrate a wider
range of skills than just air leakage control

43. FAQs About the New Certifications
 What is the value of the QC inspector certification?
 BPI sees two primary roles for the QC inspector
 The first is within contracting companies whereby QC
inspector on staff to verify the home performance job is
completed according to BPI standards
 The second role is as a true third party QC inspector,
performing quality control on behalf of a government or
utility energy efficiency incentive program or financial
lenders

44. FAQs About the New Certifications
 Will the four new certifications be required to maintain a
company's BPI accreditation?
 No changes to the accreditation program at this time.
 We are discussing various options, one of which is to cycle the new
certifications into BPI’s accreditation program over a 3-year period
 As an accredited company's employees' certifications come up for
renewal, they could choose to upgrade from the BA to the EA
certification, for example
 BPI is convening an Accreditation Management Board that will be
considering this topic, among others

45. FAQs About the New Certifications
 How can certification candidates prove their training and/or
work experience to meet prerequisite criteria?
 Letter from the training organization on company letterhead
 Documenting the name of the class taken, when the person attended
the class, and a brief summary of the class curriculum.
 The letter should be signed by a representative of the training
organization
 BPI accepts a letter on company letterhead from current and/or past
employers documenting work experience

46. FAQs About the New Certifications
 What if I am self employed how do I document work
experience to meet prerequisite criteria?
 An Employer Identification Number (EIN) or other documentation
showing how long your company has been in business
 Number of jobs completed over the last year, including customer
contact information and a brief description of each job, i.e. energy
audit, air sealing, insulation
 BPI will randomly contact customers to verify information given
 For those documenting energy audits completed, include
documentation showing us PO of blower door and pictures of
equipment, along with some completed examples of the reports
issued to the customer for the energy audit

47. FAQs About the New Certifications
 What are the requirements for Test Centers to administer
these new Home Energy Professional exams?
 Must be a BPI approved Test Center and a BPI approved proctor
 Proctors will be required to attend a training session specific to the
field exams they wish to provide services for
 BPI will be scheduling various training sessions across the country
 Proctors must attend and get signed off in order to proctor exams
during the pilot period
 BPI Test Centers may need to assembled new props for the pilot
exams. They will be given drawings and/or pictures of what the new
props should look like so they can be assemble prior to offering the
pilot exams.

48. FAQs About the New Certifications
 In some cases the trainer/proctors are not current
practitioners in the field. Will trainers and proctors have to
meet the same experience prerequisite criteria in order to
take these exams?
 Training will count toward prerequisites if the content is varied and in
combination with other activities
 Trainers and proctors will need to show through documentation that
the classes they provide and the exam sessions they proctor show
enough variability and include current technology as would be found
by practitioners in the field

49. Pilot Exam Applications
 For more information and applications to take the
pilot exams visit:
 http://www.bpi.org/pilot
 Questions
 Bruce DeMaine, BDemaine@bpi.org

50. GREATER CINCINNATI ENERGY ALLIANCE

51. Home Energy Professional
Certifications
Part 2: Installer Technician
April 25, 2012
Chris Jones, Operations Director
1

52. Public/Private Partnership
• Greater Cincinnati Foundation
• Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant
– Hamilton County, OH
– City of Cincinnati, OH
– Kenton County, KY
– Boone County, KY
– Campbell County, KY
– City of Covington, KY
– City of Florence, KY
• DOE Better Buildings Neighborhood Program
– 1 of 25 recipients nationwide
2

53. Residential Program Design
Home Performance with Energy Star Program
• Customer Engagement
– Energy Alliance marketing
– Contractor marketing
• Request assessment through web portal
– $50 energy assessment ($400 value)
• Assessment report delivered to homeowner
• Customer invests in home energy upgrade
– 35% retrofit cash incentive
– 6.99% unsecured, 10-year loan, up to $20,000
• Quality assurance
• Payment to contractor
3

54. Workforce Development
• $500,000 investment in a Building
Performance Training Center at Cincinnati
State Technical & Community College
– Tuition Assistance Program (TAP); 50% discount
– 6 required certifications (BPI-BA, BPI-EP, BPI-I&AS,
IGSPHA Installer, IGSPHA Driller & NATE)
– Additional courses (Technical, sales/marketing, etc.)
– Quality Assurance Inspections
4

55. What is being done now?
• Installer Technicians:
– BPI-Insulation & Air Seal certification
– In-field consulting during the Upgrade
– Formal feedback from the QA Inspections after
the Upgrade is completed
5

56. What’s Next?
• Continue to educate and train the Installer
Technician in the local area (less than 2 years
experience)
• Communicate the DOE National Certification
program to the contractors and the benefits of
having national certification (being on “short list”)
• Determine how to participate in the Pilot Phase as a
local Program and Training/ Testing facility
(Cincinnati State)
6

57. Contact Info
Chris Jones
Operations Director
Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance
200 W. 4th St., Suite 600
Cincinnati, OH 45202
W: 513.621.GCEA (4232)
www.greatercea.org
facebook.com/greatercea
twitter.com/greatercea
cjones@greatercea.org

58. INOROUT SMART ENERGY

59. United States Department of Energy/
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Home Energy Professional Certification
Part One - Energy Auditor

60. Homeowners and
contractors are confused
with the multiple
certifications available
today.
Between B.P.I., RESNET
L.E.E.D. and the myriad of
other certifications in the
market today, homeowners
and contractors find it
difficult to know which
certification to trust. Some
of these certifications may
only generally apply to new
homes or towards specific
types of local state or
federal retrofit programs.
How do Home Energy
professionals differentiate
with nationally recognized
ANSI certification
programs?

61.  Raising consumer confidence in our
industry is one of our biggest struggles.
 The growth of our industry depends on
quality work.
 Our number one marketing tool is
reputation in this value driven economy.

62. CURRENTLY NEW PROCESS
 Variety of certifications  Nationally accredited certification
 Minimum requirements for high-
 Multiple opinions about how to
quality work and the conditions
do the job necessary to achieve the desired
outcomes of a given energy
upgrade
 Basic training requirements with  Training providers are able to
access the JTAs and KSAs to
limited work scope requirements
develop curricula and course
content. These documents are also
fundamental to the development
of certification examinations.

63.  Clearly defined standards provide tools for
homeowners to scrutinize proposed work and
estimates
 Educated homeowners raise the value of quality
work

64.  Our Industry has tremendous growth
opportunities and there are many
opportunities to define the best practices in
these areas of growth.
 Stand on the front edge of the energy
efficiency wave with proven practices

65. WHEN:
 New Hires have prior definable experience and skills
 Current employees are able to develop themselves and
others
 We have a recruiting criteria for growth in other regions
GROWTH GETS A LITTLE EASIER

67. Next Webinar
Building Sales with Certification
Part Three – Crew Leader
Wednesday, May 2 at 12:00 pm PDT - $10 - Register
A Crew Leader is a residential energy efficiency
professional who is responsible for supervising the
retrofitting activities specified in a scope of work.

68. Upcoming Webinars
Part Two - Retrofit Installer Technician
Wednesday, April 25 - Archived
Part Three - Crew Leader
Wednesday, May 2 at 12:00 pm PDT
Part Four - Quality Control Inspector
Wednesday, May 9 at 12:00 pm PDT

69. Contact Us
Stephen Michael Self
Post Office Box 20896
Boulder, Colorado 80308
Green@AbleIdeas.net
www.AbleIdeas.net