The world of sustainability is a large and interconnected system, their are many different facets that all have to be working together for any real environmental changes to happen. Fittingly, the USGBC and the LEED rating system are not the only players when it comes to green building accreditation. The Building Performance Institute (BPI) focuses on a much narrower, but still very important issue, evaluating the energy use of America's existing homes. What the BPI does is identify certain issues that cause homes to be less energy efficient, such as air infiltration, poor insulation, or air gaps in the building's shell. It sets a series of standards for professionals to be able to identify these problems, perform comprehensive standardized energy evaluations, and perform retrofits to remedy those problems. A key part of BPI's philosophy is that the house must be viewed as an inter-related system, and that changing just one element, such as adding or removing insulation, changing HVAC systems, or puncturing the shell, all effect one another. Therefor, as homeowners do work on their houses attempting to fix problems they themselves have identified, they may not only be missing part of the problem, they may be compromising their homes entire energy performance without realizing it.
BPI has created standards for 8 different types of professionals. Within these eight, four give guidelines for different types of building energy analysts, these sets of standards will be examined in this article. The other four standards will be looked at in another article.
CMA: The following is a list of fairly technical professional standards, the casual reader may want to skip down to the bottom of the article. While the Green Building Examiner is attempting to give a thorough generalization of the what the BPI focuses on in their standards, he is not BPI certified, and recommends anybody seeking actual, specific information regarding these standards contact a BPI certified professional.
Commonalities between all types of certifications include health and safety; they require that OSHA guidelines are known and followed by the technician, require proper testing for carbon monoxide levels and combustive gas build up, as well as require the technician to be EPA certified to handle any hazardous materials, among many other safety concerns.
- Technical Standards for the Building Analyst Professional
These are the standards for a technician to perform a basic energy evaluations an a single family home.
Areas of Focus are:
General Focus - These standards set guidelines for airflow equations and heating and cooling load equations that determine how much air is needed to condition the home. It requires that these formulas be used in sizing ducts. It sets the standards for how a blower door test is to be performed, gives air sealing techniques, and sets standards for how to investigate attic ventilation, proper attic insulation, duct insulation, wall insulation, and other topics.
- Technical Standards for the Envelope Professional
These are the standards for technicians to follow to perform energy audits of the building envelope (this includes anything associated with seperating the inside of the building from the outside, and includes windows door and vents that puncture this seperating layer)
Areas of focus are:
General Focus - It requires a blower door test to see that building airflow is not less than ASHRAE minimum standards (ensuring that stale, contaminated, or otherwise dangerous air is not building up in the house) as well as setting standards for thermal envelope efficiency. It gives guidelines creating a standard methodology for air sealing and duct sealing. It requires that windows are examined and found to be operational and properly sealed
Health & Safety - In addition to the above stated requirements, this set of standards requires that all clothes dryers and bathroom exhaust fans vent directly to the outside and has duct material/insulation requirements that must be met before any other work is done.
- Technical Guidelines for the Multifamily Building Analyst Professional
This is a slightly more complex set of guidelines for more complex, larger, multi-family residences.
Areas of focus are:
Communication and Reporting - This standard requires that technicians evaluate energy cost reduction methods, requires documentation of proper disposal of hazardous materials in accordance with the EPA Clean Air Act and state regulations. It requires that a record of contacts for all the key building representatives be made before an audit, and that key decision makers be identified. It requires the technician to question the current building maintenance crew to find out where problem areas are, and also emphasizes that cultural factors that may affect the auditing process be taken into account
Analysis - It requires that energy modeling that meets ASHRAE and DOE standards be done on the entire building, requires that Energy Efficiency Measures be modeled to show their proposed effect, and requires that all this data be documented and used to make decisions before proceding with any work, it also requires that existing energy use, water use, and fuel use be evaluated and graphed over a one year period.
Diagnostics and Inspections - It gives requirements for sampling air quality, and allows for blueprint evaluations to find existing R-values and thermal bridges, but then requires that any findings are field verified. It also requires checking for moisture problems and ventilation issues
Mechanical Systems - It requires building analyst to create a schedule of existing equipment and requires examinations of all elevator motors and controls, duct insulation, equipment set points, as well as requireing him/her to look into possible imporvements or replacement of parts, it suggests the technician consider fuel switching, and also requires him/her to identify all air intakes and to look for problems there.
Electrical - BPI encourages the analyst to look at using energy efficient lighting and energy efficient appliances, it requires the analyst to look at existing meters and examine peak usage times to try to find ways to lower demand.
- Technical Guidelines for the Manufactured Housing Professional
Sets the standards for creating a method for manufactured or "pre-fab" housing to be evaluated in regards to energy and many other issues.
Areas of Focus:
Health and Safety - This standard includes all the above-stated issues as well as issues regarding electrical safety, checking for aluminum wire, and proper insulations of light fixtures in the ceiling.
Duct Systems - It requires checking for duct leaks, checking room to room air pressure differences, and gives requirements for duct sealing, among many other issues.
Belly - It sets dstandards for interior insulation levels and ratings, as well as giving guidelines for the patching of holes.
Wall Insulation - It requires the technician to inspect the wall cavity, gives guidelines for the insulation need and type, as well as guidelines for siding/paneling replacement.
Roof Insulation - It requires the technician to inspect the ceiling cavity by drilling a hole, looking at surfaces, and ensuring that exhaust fans are ducted to the outside, as well as weatherproofing seals around roof access, and many other issues.
Infiltration - This standard requires a blower door test be performed before and after any work is done, as well as giving guidelines for intalling insulation.
Mechanical Systems - It requires inspections, testing for spillage, testing for carbon monoxide, checking for water heater closet isolation, requires checking for non-sealed combustion heating systems, testing of sealed combustion heating systems, and many other issues.
Windows and Doors - It requires that openings be inspected for proper fit, integrity, and operation
Plumbing - It requires that professionals inspect for general leaks, drainage system leaks, sewage leaks, check for moisture problems, examinig ground vapor barriers, and any penetrations to the living space, and requires proper mitigations of these problems if they exist.
In essence, what BPI training does is prepare technicians to perform the "hands-on" work of evaluating America's homes. This involves going into the home and examining, among many other things, all openings in the building envelope, sealing gaps created by structural shrinkage or homeowner renovations, checking that insullation is properly installed, and making sure that proper heating and cooling systems are being used. BPI standards are not limited, however, to energy efficiency issues, they examine Carbon Monoxide, asbestos, mold, electrical wiring issues, and always require OSHA guidelines to be followed. For the most part the BPI is not creating new standards for home energy use, it is just creating a certification system that will verify that existing ASHRAE and EPA standards are being met. Finally it has a strong emphasis on documentation, requiring that technicians be certified, but also requiring that as-built drawings be made of the condition of the house after work is done, and that the energy performance of the home during its lifetime is documented.
Finally, BPI claims to be creating a new breed of "green collar jobs" This would be a new "blue collar job" that is created in response to environmental issues. Ideally, green collar jobs are jobs that are accessible to a large number of people, as they don't require too much additional training, and also, are jobs that cannot be "exported" becasue they require the technician to go to the house and perform work on-site. Look for future articles about BPI training in the Peoria area and reports on the creation of Green Jobs.
For all this information and more, visit the BPI website.
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