A Home Energy Rater Class Is Just the Beginning
So, you're about to take a class to become a home energy rater or building analyst so you can go out and do energy audits. Maybe you've already taken a class and are out there trying to make a living…
education
9 Steps to Becoming a Successful Home Energy Pro
I've made my living solely as a home energy pro since 2004, and I was building a high performance home for two years before that. For six of the past eight years, I've been running my own business, and Energy…
Will the Independent Home Energy Auditor Become Extinct?
Independent home energy auditors have always been a rare breed. In the past decade, though, an army of them has gone through RESNET or BPI training programs and hit the streets in search of homes to analyze. At first, these…
Energy Auditor Training: Caveat Emptor
Let's take a look at this saying that some people take as truth: Those who can, do, and those who can't, teach. You know it's a lie, right? Not only does it show arrogance and complete misunderstanding of what teaching…
The Most Important Lesson I Learned in Grad School
I spent seven years in graduate school studying physics to get my PhD. You might think that the most valuable lesson I got from that experience would have been about the nature of physical reality. I was studying the positions…
Energy Vanguard to Teach First HERS Rater Class in Canada
At the end of this month, Energy Vanguard's president and certified HERS trainer, Allison Bailes, will be heading to Toronto, Ontario to teach what is probably the first ever Home Energy Rater training class in Canada. The class will comprise…
5 Tips for a Winning Home Performance Conference Proposal
I spent three days in Pittsburgh last week going through session proposals for the Affordable Comfort Conference. Every conference seems to have a different process for choosing which sessions to offer, and ACI (Affordable Comfort, Inc.) has a really interesting one.…
Home Energy Rater Training — Our First Year Review
Energy Vanguard has been a Home Energy Rater Training Provider for one year now. We received our accreditation from RESNET in July 2010, and we just finished up our fourth class. As always right after a class, I'm both exhausted…
16 Random Thoughts on the First Day of Building Science Summer Camp
Well, my first day of the 2011 Building Science Summer Camp, officially called the Fifteenth Annual Westford Symposium on Building Science, has come to an end. It's been a great day up here in Westford, Massachusetts, (right next to Chelmsford,…
Energy Vanguard President Invited to Join ACI Program Committee
Allison Bailes, Energy Vanguard's founder and president, has accepted an invitation to join the program committee for Affordable Comfort's national conference. The committee reviews proposals for presentations, develops new sessions, and helps with planning the overall content of the conference…