Online HERS Rater Certification Training Course
YOUR #1 ONLINE HERS RATER
 TRAINING RESOURCE
  • HOME
  • HERS PRACTICE EXAMS
    • FREE HERS RATER EXAM QUESTIONS
  • NEWBIES
    • WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
    • HOW DO I DO...?
    • HOW TO CHOOSE A HERS RATER TRAINING CENTER
    • STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
  • STUDY GUIDES
    • HERS RATER WRITTEN EXAM >
      • Section 1 Building Science Fundamentals >
        • 1a. Basic Terms & Definitions >
          • 1. Airflow in Buildings
          • 2. Equipment Efficiencies
          • 3. Power and Energy
          • 4. Effective Leakage Area
          • 5. Area Weighted R-Value
          • 6. Baseload / Seasonal Energy Use
          • 7. Driving Forces (Including Natural and Mechanical)
          • 8. Behavior of Radiation
          • 9. Thermal Resistance / Transmittance: R and U Values
          • 10. Latent / Sensible Heat
          • 11. Total Equivalent Length
          • 12. Dehumidification / Humidification
          • 13. Convert Pressure Units
          • 14. Thermal Bridges
          • 15. Pressure Boundary
          • 16. Stack Effect
          • 17. Exfiltration and Infiltration
          • 18. Natural / Mechanical Ventilation
          • 19. Net Free Area
          • 20. Input & Output Capacity
          • 21. Peak Electrical Demand
          • 22. Permeability and Perm Rating
          • 23. Standby Loss
          • 24. IAQ (indoor air quality): Moisture, CO, Dust
        • 1b. Principals of Energy, Air & Moisture Thermodynamics >
          • 1. Thermodynamics: Conduction, Convection, Radiation, ΔT
          • 2. Factors That Affect Insulation Performance
          • 3. House Pressurization/Depressurization by Various Forces
          • 4. Heat Gain / Loss
          • 5. Power and Energy
          • 6. Moisture Transport Mechanisms
          • 7. Identify Areas of Highest Relative Humidity
          • 8. Principles of Combustion
        • 1c. Combustion Safety >
          • 1. Combustion Analysis
          • 2. Carbon Monoxide (CO) Testing
          • 3. Combustion Appliance Venting, Draft, Combustion Air & Sizing
          • 4. Understand Combustion Safety Issues
      • Section 2 Buildings and Their Systems >
        • 2a. Building Components >
          • 1. Identify basic duct configurations and components
          • 2. Identify Basic Hydronic Distribution Configurations and Components
          • 3. Identify Basic Structural Components of Residential Construction
          • 4. Thermal Boundaries and Insulation Applications
          • 5. Basic Electrical Components and Safety Considerations
          • 6. Basic Fuel Delivery Systems and Safety Considerations
          • 7. Basic bulk water management components (drainage plumbing gutters sumps etc)
          • 8. Vapor barriers/retarders
          • 9. Radiant Barrier Principles and Installations
          • 10. Understand Fenestration Types and Efficiencies
          • 11. Understand Issues Involved With Basements, Crawlspaces, Slabs, Attics, Attached Garages, Interstitial Cavities, and Bypasses
          • 12. Understand Issues Involved With Ventilation Equipment
          • Understand Basic Heating / Cooling Equipment Components Controls and Operation
          • Understand Basic DHW Equipment Components Controls and Operation
          • Identify Common Mechanical Safety Controls
          • Identify Insulation Types and R-Values
          • Understand Various Mechanical Ventilation Equipment and Strategies: Spot, ERV, HRV
        • Conservation Strategies >
          • Appropriate Insulation Applications and Installation Based On Existing Conditions
          • Opportunity for ENERGY STAR Lighting and Appliances
          • Identify Duct Sealing Opportunities and Applications
          • Understand Importance of Air Leakage Control and Remediation Procedures
          • Blower Door-Guided Air Sealing Techniques
          • Water Conservation Devices and Strategies
          • Domestic Hot Water (DHW) Conservation Strategies
          • Heating & Cooling Efficiency Applications
          • Proper Use of Modeling to Determine Heating and Cooling Equipment Sizing and Appropriate Energy
          • Understand the Use of Utility History Analysis in Conservation Strategies
          • Appropriate Applications For Sealed Crawlspaces Basements and Attics
          • Identify / Understand High Density Cellulose
          • Appropriate Applications for Fenestration Upgrades Including Modification or Replacement
        • Comprehensive Building Assessment Process >
          • Determine Areas of Customer Complaints / Concerns in Interview
          • Understand / Recognize Need For Conducting Appropriate Diagnostic Procedures
          • Interaction Between Mechanical Systems, Envelope Systems and Occupant Behavior
        • Design Considerations >
          • Appropriate Insulation Applications Based On Existing Conditions
          • Understand Fire Codes as Necessary to Apply Home Performance in a Code-Approved Manner
          • Understand / Recognize Building Locations Where Opportunities for Retrofit Materials
          • Understand Climate Specific Concerns
          • Understand Indoor Environment Considerations for the Environmentally Sensitive
          • Understand Impact of Building Orientation, Landscape Drainage, and Grading
          • Opportunity Potential Renewable Energy Applications: Geothermal, Photovoltaic, Wind
          • Understand Impact of Shading on Heating / Cooling Loads
          • Awareness for Solar Gain Reduction / Solar Gain Opportunities
          • Understand Need for Modeling Various Options For Efficiency Upgrades
      • Measurement & Verification of Building Performance >
        • Measurement & Verification of Building Performance >
          • Air Leakage Test Results
          • Understand Building Shell / Envelope Leakage
          • Apply Fundamental Construction Mathematics and Unit Conversions
          • Calculate Building Tightness Levels (Minimum Ventilation Requirements)
          • Calculate Heating Degree Days and Cooling Degree Days
          • Identify Proper Appliance and Combustion Appliance Venting
          • Ventilation calculations and strategies
          • Proper methods for identifying / testing fuel leaks
          • Blower door setup, accurate measurement and interpretation of results
          • Combustion Appliance Zone (CAZ): depressurization, spillage, draft, Carbon Monoxide (ambient and flue)
          • Carbon Monoxide (CO) evaluation: ambient
          • Proper applications and use of temperature measuring devices
          • Pressure pan and room to room pressure diagnostics
          • Recognize contributing factors to comfort problems
          • Inspect for areas containing moisture or bulk water in undesirable locations
          • Understand and inspect for basic electric safety (e.g. frayed wires, open boxes, etc)
      • RESNET HERS RATER National Standards & Project Specifications >
        • Understand applicability content and intent of BPI National Standards – Do no harm, make buildings more healthy, comfortable, durable and energy efficient
        • Recognize need for a professional local/state/national codes evaluation
        • Be able to specify appropriate materials and processes needed for building performance projects
      • Analyzing Buildings Systems >
        • Recognize need for air sealing measures and their impact on other building systems
      • Conduct and Communications >
        • Conservation strategies
        • Conservation strategies
    • HERS RATER FIELD EXAM >
      • How To Put The House Under Worst Case & CAZ
      • What's What? Pa, CFM, CFM50, CAZ, Draft, Room Pressure
      • What To Know In The Attic
      • What To Know In The House
    • BLOWER DOOR TEST >
      • Manometer Setup
    • RESNET STANDARDS >
      • RESNET Standards Decoded
  • ESSENTIALS
    • HELP, I HATE MATH!
    • AUDITOR TO CREW COMMUNICATION
    • COMMON AUDITOR / CREW MISTAKES
    • RUN LIKE HELL
    • CONTACT
  • AFTER THE EXAM
    • GROW YOUR HOME PERFORMANCE BUSINESS
    • START A HOME PERFORMANCE BUSINESS
    • FREE ENERGY AUDITOR MINI COURSE
    • RESOURCES
  • NEWSLETTER

FREE HERS RATER PRACTICE EXAM

Picture

PUT YOUR HOME PERFORMANCE BUSINESS ON ROCKET FUEL

Picture

COMMUNICATING TO YOUR CREW

Let's face it, we all want to have a successful home performance or energy auditing company.  From an auditors point of view the better you can do your audits (which includes communication to the crew), the more sought out you will become and the more money you can demand for your services.  If you are running a home performance crew, the faster your team can complete the job with zero call backs, high customer satisfaction and excellent quality, the faster you will get promoted to a project manager and the more money you can make.  For small business owners, the better you can train your auditors and crew to work together, the less headaches you will have and better more time you can focus on bringing in more business.  For anyone in this industry, clear communication to your crew is essential.  I want to give you some tips I've picked up over the years to help grow my business, put more equity in my business, get me out of the attics, and essentially reproduce myself.

Essential Audit Details

Want a higher pay per audit?  Want to be well known in your region for performing awesome audits by both homeowners and home performance contractors?  Here is what you should be doing.

  1. Drawing an attic map.  Draw a layout of the house, with rooms and all for each floor.  Label where all the supply and return registers are located in each room.  Then while up in the attic identify the following: flex duct size, how the flex comes off the plenums, where each ductwork goes, air barriers, fireplaces, kneewalls, splices, Y's, reducers, soffits, AHUs, plenums, junction boxes, locations of proposed jump ducts and new registers and ductwork and skylights.  Your crew will love you, your contractors will be impressed and homeowners will think you really have your stuff together.
  2. Take too many pictures, I have never complained to an auditor that they took too many photos.  The more the better.  I like general photos of inside soffits, all four sides of the house, general crawl space shots, general attic shots, and general AHU shots as well as the close ups.  Want to label them with the problems you found or recommended solutions?  Even better.
  3. Measure the flex ductwork if you are recommending replacing it.  Your crew is not going to magically know what sizes to buy and install.  Take the time and find out the correct sizes.
  4. Make sure there is room.  This applies when recommending increasing the size of a return, adding a jump duct or

Essentials for a Successful Crew

  1. Having all the proper tools.  Does this seem basic?  It is but having your tools and equipment well organized and readily available is essential to your success. 
  2. Knowing exactly where the problems are to be fixed.  A crews job is not to identify problem areas in a house, that is what an energy auditor does.  The energy auditor should identify ALL the problems to be fixed during their audit.  This means the energy auditor will spend a good deal of time creating work orders or working with the crew lead to crew work orders after the audit and before the install.  This is probably the most neglected area energy auditors are guilty of.  To help increase communication to the crew an energy auditor should draw a diagram of the attic, labeling the location of any soffits or air barrier issues, duct layout and duct connections and sizes.  Good reinforcement is to spray paint the roof truss where any issues are so the crew can easily spot areas they need to work on.  Then the final reinforcement should be to have the auditor take photos of all problem areas in the attic and the corresponding areas in the house. This way the crew knows exactly what parts of the house to go to.
  3. Knowing how to fix them.

Next Section

ENERGY AUDITOR NEWSLETTER

Get the only Energy Auditor Marketing Newsletter with monthly strategies and tactics to grow your home performance business.
Copyright 2015 Building Science Training Center LLC
Terms and Conditions