If you’re planning to become a home energy auditor, you need to be certified by RESNET. RESNET is the Residential Energy Services Network. It is a non-profit organization recognized by the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the mortgage industry, among others, that sets the US standards for measuring buildings’ energy performance. As such, it sets the standards by which energy auditors must be trained in order to assess a building according to its standards. When you have been certified by RESNET, you are deemed qualified to meet RESNET’s standards for energy assessment.
Gives You Credibility
A RESNET certification gives you credibility as a home energy auditor. You are recognized as having a certain level of competence. Many government incentives offered to homeowners require that their auditor be RESNET-certified, which means your options are severely limited without the certification. In short, to work as a home energy auditor, you need to be certified.
HESP Designation
RESNET offers certification for Home Energy Survey Professionals (HESP) and for Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Raters. The HESP designation certifies that the individual has passed the exam for home energy certification professionals, and can competently conduct a home energy survey. A second level of HESP, the Diagnostic HESP, requires the survey professional to have the skills and knowledge to use diagnostic equipment to perform building envelope leakage testing and duct leakage testing.
HERS Rating
To be certified as a HERS Rater, the individual must pass required examinations to be qualified to assess a building according to RESNET’s Home Energy Rating System, and provide a score on the index. The HERS rating index designates a standard energy efficiency score of 100 to an average home. The HERS rater conducts a home energy audit and assigns the home a score on the index – a lower score means the home is more energy efficient.
Many government-sponsored programs use the HERS rating system to assess the improvements in energy efficiency as a result of work done in a home. To prove that an improvement has been made, a HERS rating is taken prior to the work, and then again after the work has been completed. Rebates are issued to the homeowner based on a certain level of improvement having been attained. The homeowner must employ the services of a certified RESNET HERS Rater, so you see how it is in your best interest as a home energy auditor to be certified.
Get Certified Through Home Energy Team Institute
To obtain your RESNET certification, as a HESP or HERS Rater, you must obtain certification through an organization that is accredited by RESNET to provide certification. These are Home Energy Survey Providers and RESNET HERS Rating Providers, respectively. The Home Energy Team Institute is accredited by RESNET both as a Home Energy Survey Provider and a RESNET HERS Rating Provider, and offers a full range of RESNET certification courses. Training is comprehensive and provides everything you need to become certified. Browse the Home Energy Team Institute website for more information, or to register for your certification courses.