Advanced Energy’s First Rater Camp A Success

RALEIGH, N.C. (November 25, 2009)—Advanced Energy hosted the first Carolina Rater Camp November 3 - 5 in Raleigh, bringing together home energy raters, weatherization contractors, inspectors and other energy professionals in the area. The effort provided networking and training opportunities to strengthen efficiency-focused building programs such as ENERGY STAR® for New Homes in North Carolina. 

Advanced Energy’s Jonathan Coulter trains participants on how to evaluate an ENERGY STAR home

“Home energy raters play a crucial role in our state’s energy-efficiency infrastructure,” said Jonathan Coulter, building scientist and quality assurance designee for Advanced Energy. “Raters help connect builders to programs like ENERGY STAR, as well as verify standards and enforce guidelines. It’s important to have a network of well-trained energy professionals who can keep our homes healthy, safe and energy efficient.”

Keynote speaker John Tooley addressed the challenges and opportunities facing the housing market today. Tooley, Advanced Energy’s senior building scientist and one of the nation’s leaders in building science technologies, has been influential in developing best practices for the industry nationwide.

“What I learned at the camp will make significant contributions to my business,” said Cass Arble, Level 1 Thermographer and Certified HERS rater of Brightcut Building Solutions LLC. “The connections and informal discussions with other raters was a major benefit, providing immediate best practice information and linking me to resources for future information.”

As partners in this effort, representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and ICF International gave a presentation outlining the fundamentals of the ENERGY STAR program including the role of raters and the resources available to them. The presentation also gave attendees an outline of the upcoming 2011 ENERGY STAR guidelines and included a question and answer session.

In addition to presentations, workshops included both classroom and field training. Participants gained hands-on experience in ENERGY STAR homes provided by Drees Homes in Cary, N.C. 

Advanced Energy’s Jonathan Coulter trains participants on how to evaluate an ENERGY STAR home

The sessions covered a variety of technical topics such as duct blaster and blower door use, advanced pressure diagnostics, thermal bypass checklists and load calculation. Guest presenter Brian Christensen spoke about the REM/Rate Energy Modeling Software used to rate ENERGY STAR homes. Christensen is a staff engineer for Architectural Energy Corporation, the company that developed the software.

Tim Arn, a home energy specialist for Home Spec of NC Inc., said he learned more at the two-day camp than at a five-day rater class he attended, and that the camp was a great educational bargain.

“The opportunity to interact as a small group and ask questions was exactly what I needed to become more confident in building diagnostics,” Arn said. “I hope to attend more camps in the future so I can continue to increase my competency in this growing and exciting field.”

Advanced Energy would like to thank the following sponsors for making this camp possible: Duke Energy, Progress Energy, ElectriCities, North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives, Architectural Energy Corporation, Southern Energy Management and Drees Homes. 

For more information about home energy raters or the ENERGY STAR homes program, visit the ENERGY STAR Web site.

About Advanced Energy
Advanced Energy is a Raleigh, N.C.-based nonprofit serving as a North Carolina and national resource that focuses on industrial process technologies, motors and drives testing, transportation and applied building science. Its facility houses state-of-the-art laboratories for testing and applied research in all of these evolving disciplines. Advanced Energy creates economic, environmental and societal benefits through innovative and market-based approaches to energy issues. For more information, visit www.advancedenergy.org.