by Brianna Crandall — March 13, 2015—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Institute of Building Sciences just announced new Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines intended to help enhance and streamline commercial building workforce training and certification programs so qualified personnel can “lead the charge” in optimizing the operational performance of the nation’s offices, schools, hospitals, and other commercial buildings.
“As building technologies become more advanced, professionals need better training and certification options to increase the quality and scalability of our nation’s energy workforce,” said Kathleen Hogan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency. “Employers, building owners and program administrators can also use these established guidelines to identify qualified workers who are trained to deliver energy savings.”
Developed with feedback from industry experts, the Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines provide a national framework for certification agencies across the country to roll out consistent programs. Up until now there have been no national guidelines for energy efficiency-related professional credentials, posing a barrier to the quality, consistency and scalability of this workforce, explain the agencies.
The Energy Department and the Institute—a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that brings together representatives of government, the professions, industry, labor and consumer interests to identify and resolve building process and facility performance problems—partnered with industry trade associations, governing credential boards and energy efficiency advocates to develop the professional certification and certificate program guidelines for four key energy-related jobs: energy manager, building energy auditor, building operations professional, and building commissioning professional.
The Energy Department will recognize competency-based certification programs that successfully implement the new Guidelines and achieve third-party accreditation. Currently, the Institute and the DOE are working with industry stakeholders to strengthen outreach, education and adoption of the guidelines through the Commercial Workforce Credentialing Council (CWCC).
The Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines support the goal of doubling American energy productivity by 2030 while motivating corporate and public sector leaders across the country to certify professionals under a national framework. The Guidelines also support the Better Buildings Initiative goal of making commercial buildings 20 percent more energy efficient over the next 10 years.
