RESNET will require all HERS raters to be certified in combustion safety and work scope development. All new raters trained in 2014 will need to demonstrate those skills before they can be certified. Raters who were already certified prior to…
"HERS ratings? HERS Index? What's this HERS thing I keep hearing about?" Whether you've heard about HERS, which stands for Home Energy Rating System, or not, if you work with homes, you owe it to yourself to find out what…
"HERS ratings? HERS Index? What's this HERS thing I keep hearing about?" Whether you've heard about HERS, which stands for Home Energy Rating System, or not, if you work with homes, you owe it to yourself to find out what…
No, this is not an April Fool's joke (as much as I do like writing them, even when it's not 1 April). We've abandoned our 8-day in-class HERS rater training format. Beginning with our next class, the in-class part will…
If you work in the fields of home building, home improvement, or HVAC and want to do the best work you can, you know that you've got to keep learning. Not only is there a tremendous amount to know, but…
Three questions have been nagging at Rick Chitwood over the past 5 or 6 years. First, why is the HVAC industry in California, where he lives and works, so pathetic? Second, why have California’s strict energy standards, which have been…
RESNET, in case you haven't heard, will require† all HERS raters to be certified in combustion safety and work scope development. Yep. All new raters trained in 2014 will need to demonstrate those skills before they can be certified. Raters…
Back in 2009, I attended a webinar given by Sam Rashkin, head of the ENERGY STAR new homes program at the time. (He has since left the EPA for the DOE.) He explained the changes coming in the program as…
The EarthCents program for new homes is a child of ENERGY STAR Version 3. The previous version of the ENERGY STAR new homes program was an entry level energy efficiency program; Version 3 is not. Early in the transition, I…
Great news, everyone! (If you read that in the voice of Professor Hubert Farnsworth, please don't let your imagination run away with you. This really is great news.) The HERS Index will part of the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code. Why…