Energy Vanguard is pleased to announce that it has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a 2012 ENERGY STAR Leadership in Housing Award. This award recognizes the important contribution Energy Vanguard has made to energy-efficient home…
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…
The number of people at the 2012 RESNET Conference was about the same as last year. It's the first time in a few years that it hasn't grown over the previous year's attendance. Does that mean anything? I think so.…
A few months back, I received the following email about payment to design the HVAC system for a new ENERGY STAR home. The author of the email is a home energy rater, and my client. The “HVAC guy” is the…
Jeffrey Sauls, Energy Vanguard's new Building Science Associate, passed the RESNET Quality Assurance Designee (QAD) test today. All RESNET Quality Assurance Designees and HERS Trainers must pass this test as one step in the certification process. Once he has had…
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…
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…
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…
Today is the last day of the HERS rater class I'm teaching in Toronto. To date, there's just been a handful of people pushing home energy ratings in Canada and sadly, they lost one of the most passionate advocates this…
Home builders and HERS raters in the US have been up in arms about the new changes with Version 3 of the ENERGY STAR new homes program. Guess what? Canada thinks we're wimps. Here's why: Home builders and HERS raters…