At Home Performance Conference: IREC Talks Accreditation & Certification
IREC attended and participated in yet another rich and stimulating HPC Home Performance Conference in Nashville last month. With the biggest attendance in the 31-year history of this conference, every session we attended was standing room only, abuzz with engaging presentations, audience questions and innovative ideas coming from both veterans and newcomers to the residential energy efficiency sector.
Alongside staff from the National Renewable Energy Council (NREL), the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) and Advanced Energy, IREC presented on our ongoing involvement and support for the home energy professionals (HEP) project through training program accreditation and instructor certification. The session also outlined the forthcoming updates to the four HEP worker certifications and 2019 time frame for the transition to the new credentialing scheme.
It would be impossible to capture every gem from all of the conversations across the conference, but some of the highlights of the other presentations we attended centered on:
- ensuring persistent savings in multifamily energy retrofit projects through targeted building operator training;
- the water-energy nexus, reminding us that water and energy are inseparable, that it typically takes half a gallon of water to generate one kWh, and that the energy efficiency sector should be broadcasting not only how many therms of energy are saved on each project, but also how much water is saved as an ancillary result; and
- lessons learned from the State of Colorado’s successful pilot of a solar+WAP (Weatherization Assistance Program) initiative.
Thank you to the organizers, presenters, and 1,900 attendees for another fantastic conference. We look forward to seeing you all again in Philadelphia in 2018!
