Comments on: Home Energy Rater Training — Our First Year Review

By: Allison Bailes

Allison Bailes — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:55:17 +0000

Tripp:
Tripp: Thanks for your kind words. I appreciate it! And yes, everyone has to crawl through that hole at least once. It's a rite of passage for Blower Door testers.

By: Tripp

Tripp — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 00:45:39 +0000

Allison,

Allison,
Congrats on the anniversary!
After taking your 8 day HERS class and a Fire Hose 3 day BPI class taught by someone else, I can say I prefer your approach. You were able to go deeper and explain each aspect and how it pertains to the house, not just the test.
Being able to actually go into the field to multiple house all in different stages of construction or even older houses allows for the principles to be brought into the real world.
Thank you for your training and all that you do to promote healthy and comfortable house and the industry.
I love the "Hole of Shame" picture in the article. Admit it, we have all had to crawl through it at least once if not multiple times.

By: Allison Bailes

Allison Bailes — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 17:50:47 +0000
Scott:
Scott: Thanks! The 8 day model is difficult, and I do believe that our numbers have been lower because of it. As you so clearly point out, though, anyone who really wants to understand this stuff has to put in a lot of hours over a long time span. The brain takes time to assimilate all this information.

By: scott suddreth

scott suddreth — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 16:55:31 +0000
Allison,

Allison,
You are such a fresh breath for our industry. Your love of education and good building science spills over and we are all jealous. Keep up the great work.

i would prefer the 8 day model but i can't seem to get folks to miss that much work or pay what i need for that amount of time. Learning building science in college entailed 24 days of 2 hour classes over three months. This also included watching fellow students present varying projects that broadened our understanding. The 5 day fire hydrant water bottle approach is for the birds!

By: Allison Bailes

Allison Bailes — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 22:44:22 +0000
Tom:
Tom: Thanks! Those are good ideas and would help a lot. I also need to figure out how to get people to actually take that time out of their busy lives to do the pre-class work. Your idea of having everyone pass quizzes before they come to class is probably the way to handle that.

John: Thanks, John. I'm surprised you didn't mention wanting partial differential equations in the class. I'm sure we could find a way to indulge you, though, if you can make it down here.

Josh: We'd love to have you! You aren't the only one in Ohio who wants to come down here for our class.

By: Joshua Lloyd

Joshua Lloyd — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 22:13:06 +0000
Allison,

Allison,
When I decide to get my HERS rater certification, I hope I can pull the resources together to come and take your class. I love the hands on approach much more. Plus the idea that you utilize your physics background definitely turns it up a notch.

By: John Poole

John Poole — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 21:42:00 +0000
Allison,

Allison,
Congratulations on your one year anniversary, and your laudable objective not only to offer instruction, but to insist on a superior level of teaching. Makes me want even more to get down to GA and take your class!
Now, psychometric Simon Says sounds interesting...just glad its not psychometric Twister! That would probably be a bit...awkward! :-)
~John

By: Tom Metzguer

Tom Metzguer — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 20:09:43 +0000
Allison, I applaud your
Allison, I applaud your earnest efforts to get better and better, and your commitment to the honorable job of teacher.
Here is my main idea about improving the course - Pre-work: prior to attending the course, require reading of Krigger & Dorsi's Residential Energy (enforced by simple/brief chapter quizzes that must be completed before HERS class and/or discussed on day 1) and an online geometry primer (with a couple of basic house volume calculations). The former will give the "velcro" framework for new knowledge to stick to; the latter saves some time during class.

By: Allison Bailes

Allison Bailes — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:03:48 +0000
Christopher
Christopher: Thanks. Yeah, my experience with the 5 day class is that it's very rushed.

Sam: Yes, we have some of the materials available for our students and raters online, but we're planning to do a lot more in that area. Good point about the user manual!

By: Sam Young

Sam Young — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:57:23 +0000
Consider putting a library of
Consider putting a library of materials & tools on your website for those who complete the class. I understood the concepts after my first class, but going beyond a simple house ate my lunch for awhile--trying to match the house to the software. For example, knowing where to find the user manual would've helped.