Expanding the Weatherization Workforce: Training Needs and Strategies

1. Training and Equipping an Expanded Weatherization Workforce 2006 NASCSP Mid-Winter Training Conference Washington, DC February 3, 2006

3. How do we train them? • What do they need to know? • What equipment do they need?

4. How Do We Train Them? • Conferences • Training centers • On-site training • Online training

5. Conferences • Pro • Peer-to-peer exchange • Meet the experts • Many topics • New ideas • Current issues • Con • Travel cost • Production loss • Many may not be able to attend • Time constraints limit depth/detail • Hands-on opportunities are limited

6. Training Centers • Pro • Comprehensive, standardized training on selected topics • Furnace labs & equipment set-up allow more hands-on training • Required attendance • Environment lends itself to certification if desired • Con • Time & expense building &/or setting up facility • Travel cost • Production loss

7. On-Site Training • Pro • Local housing stock & tools • More hands-on action • Training site can count towards production • Less travel required • Con • Huge trainer effort, burnout worries • Training site can be less than ideal • A lot of scheduling & prep work required • May try to tackle too much • Class size very limited • Possibility of bad weather

8. Online Training • Pro • Aside from bandwidth, there is no limitation on class size • No travel required • Content and instruction are consistent across country • Con • No hands-on component

9. How Do We Train Them? • 10 Weatherization training centers listed on WAPTAC: • Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development, Ohio • CASE Training and Energy Services Center, West Virginia • Indiana Community Action Association Training Center, Indiana • PG&E Stockton Training Center, California • Weatherization Training Center, Pennsylvania • Montana Weatherization Training Center, Montana • Kansas Building Science Institute, Kansas • New River Center for Energy Research & Training, Virginia • Association for Energy Affordability, New York • Southwest Building Science Training Center, Arizona

10. Other Training Centers • NYSWDA Training Center, Syracuse, NY • Mobile Home Training Center, Lynchburg, VA • Community and Economic Development Association (CEDA), Chicago, IL • Linn State Technical College, Linn, MO • The Learning Center at Sun Power, Denver, CO • Building Performance Center, Opportunity Council, Bellingham, WA • The creation of a few more training centers were being considered even before talk of ramp up • While not having official training centers, many states use local agencies to host standardized weatherization training courses throughout the year

11. Training Centers • How much can existing training centers realistically increase capacity? • How many new training centers are needed? • Who establishes new training centers? • Existing training centers establish new satellite offices? • State uses T&TA funds to create new training centers? • Private, for-profit companies create new training centers?

12. Training Center Ramp Up • Increasing production from 150,000 to 1,000,000 per year represents a multiplier of 6.7 • 16 existing training centers x 6.7 = 107 • Start-up costs • (107 – 16) x $180,000/center = $16,380,000 • Ongoing operating costs • 107 x $290,000/center = $26,390,000/year

13. Training Centers • How large should a typical new training center be? • How many trainers does a training center need? • Where are new training centers most needed? • How long does it take to establish a new training center? • How much does it cost? • Facilities? • New construction, conversion of existing building, existing vocational tech facility? • What equipment and layout are best?

14. Other Training Resources • Private companies and non-profit organizations that provide weatherization training: • R.J. Karg Associates, Topsham, ME • Saturn Resources Management, Helena, MT • Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, Burlington, VT • Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation, Madison, WI • A small network of independent trainers offer varying forms of on-site training • State technical monitors • Peer-to-peer trainers • Circuit rider • Local weatherization agency association trainers

15. On-Site Training • What is the existing capacity of this delivery mechanism? • How many people new to Weatherization could the existing on-site training capacity get trained in 6 to 9 months? • How many traveling trainers could be added from the existing training network? • How much would this increase training capacity?

16. On-Site Training • Where can we find new trainers capable of providing comprehensive, hands-on, on-site training? • How many do we need to hire? • How long will it take to train the trainers? • What do they need to be trained on? • What vehicles and equipment will traveling trainers need? • Fully outfitted crew truck or trailer and tow vehicle? • Multiple manometers and combustion analyzers so more than one student can push buttons and see screens at a time? • Training props

17. On-Site Training Ramp Up • “Non-training-center” portion of the training infrastructure must also increase almost 7 fold • This crude estimation likely under-predicts need: • Existing training infrastructure is struggling to meet current need in some areas • Many new trainees will be starting from scratch instead of being on the job for several weeks or months

18. Online Weatherization Training • Online Weatherization training has many advantages: • No travel • No limitation on class size • Many trainees can quickly become familiar with the Weatherization Program and whole-house weatherization basics • Subsequent hands-on training can start at an advanced level • Saturn Resource Management has developed online courses for Weatherization providers, BPI certification, and HERS raters • Based on core competencies developed by Weatherization Trainers Consortium • Available at http://srmi.biz/bpt/ • A separate, pilot online training module on zonal pressure diagnostics will be also be available online later this month

19. Distance Learning • Pennsylvania’s Weatherization Training Center and others have offered distance learning on Weatherization and building science over the internet • Model could be used by other training centers and independent trainers to extend their reach and capacity

20. Hands-On Training • Online training and distance learning are only part of the answer • Hands-on training and on-the-job apprenticeship are vital components to effective Weatherization

21. What do they need to know? • Core competencies • Standardized curricula

22. Core Competencies • Specialized knowledge and skills are required at the local, state, and federal level to run an effective Weatherization Program • While there is a general understanding of the competencies required, these had not been articulated on a national scale • The Weatherization Trainers Consortium published a set of core competencies to increase awareness and raise expectations • The competencies that a weatherization worker should possess depend on their position • For example, an auditor needs to conduct diagnostic testing that may not be required of an installer

23. Core Competencies • The point of entry also dictates which core competencies are required • An entry-level installer requires a minimum set of competencies. • This installer must acquire additional skills to become a crew chief, and still more to become an auditor • A new auditor hired off the street must already possess auditor-level competencies as a condition of hire • These increasing levels of competency also provide a career or development path for agency and contractor personnel • The core competencies document and matrix is available on http://waptac.org/si.asp?id=1259

24. Core Competencies • Provided for the following topical areas: • Basic competencies • Safe work practices • Building evaluation • Measure installation • Final inspection • Consumer education • Monitoring • Program management • Training

25. Definitions • Competency means the possession of a minimum level of knowledge and proficiency required to collect appropriate information, make informed decisions, and physically take the needed actions to deliver the high-quality weatherization service in question. • Possess a working knowledge of means to: • Know how a particular topic impacts the weatherization process; • Have the relevant information committed to memory or be able to locate it in readily available sources; and • Use the knowledge to make informed decisions and guide weatherization work. • Demonstrate the ability to means to: • Physically conduct a test, procedure, or technique on an actual house, a prop, or in a training lab in the presence of someone qualified to assess the particular competency.

26. Energy Auditor Competencies • Prerequisites • Possess Safe Work Practices, Installer, and Crew Chief competencies. • Possess a working knowledge of building science principles. • Inspection and Measurement • Possess a working knowledge of: • Air and heat flow in buildings; • Factors that affect building heat loss; • Construction features and critical junction points of common housing types; • Insulation R-values; • Different insulation materials and installation techniques; • Various air-sealing techniques and appropriate materials;

27. Energy Auditor Competencies • Inspection and Measurement • Possess a working knowledge of: • Causes of and remedies for existing and potential moisture problems; • Causes of and remedies for other existing and potential indoor air quality problems; • Residential mechanical ventilation systems; • Minimum ventilation rates/building tightness limits based on the appropriate ASHRAE 62 standard; and • Electric base-load usage. • Demonstrate the ability to: • Measure the dimensions of floors, walls, ceilings, windows, and doors, and compute surface areas;

28. Energy Auditor Competencies • Inspection and Measurement • Demonstrate the ability to: • Compute the volume of conditioned space of a building; • Define the thermal envelope of a building; • Assess the effectiveness of existing insulation and the effective R-values; and • Analyze utility bills including breaking out base-load usage from heating and cooling usage. • Diagnostic Testing • Blower door • Possess a working knowledge of: • Principles of air movement and how they relate to building heat loss;

29. Energy Auditor Competencies • Diagnostic Testing • Blower door • Possess a working knowledge of: • Typical air leakage problems in common housing types; and • Minimum ventilation rates. • Demonstrate the ability to: • Set up a blower door; • Prepare a building for a blower door test; and • Take blower door reading and interpret results.

30. Energy Auditor Competencies • Diagnostic Testing • Zone pressure diagnostics • Possess a working knowledge of: • The air barrier of a building and the importance of aligning it with the thermal barrier; and • Primary and intermediate zones of a house. • Demonstrate the ability to: • Conduct zone pressure diagnostics and interpret results; and • Determine the location and effectiveness of the air barrier of a house. • Duct testing • Possess a working knowledge of: • Problems associated with different types of duct leakage.

31. Energy Auditor Competencies • Diagnostic Testing • Duct testing • Demonstrate the ability to: • Determine dominant duct leakage; and • Conduct pressure tests. Potential tests include: • Pressure pan • Duct Blaster • Delta-Q • Seal duct leaks with appropriate materials and good workmanship. • Measure room pressure imbalances in houses with forced-air systems.

32. Energy Auditor Competencies • Diagnostic Testing • Steam and hot water distribution system testing • Possess a working knowledge of: • The components of typical steam and hot water distribution systems and the characteristics of their proper operation. • Demonstrate the ability to: • Test air vents, steam traps, thermostatic radiator valves, and hot water zone valves; and • Estimate the energy impacts of existing overheating problems. • Base-load systems • Demonstrate the ability to: • Meter electrical devices to determine their annual energy consumption.

33. Energy Auditor Competencies • Combustion Appliance Safety • Possess a working knowledge of: • CO action levels; • Common code requirements related to: • Vent system sizing, materials, clearances, and installation; • Safety shut-off devices; • Gas line sizing; and • Combustion air; • Causes of and remedies to common vent system problems.

34. Energy Auditor Competencies • Combustion Appliance Safety • Demonstrate the ability to: • Measure the CO level in ambient air; • Measure the CO level of vented and unvented combustion appliances; • Measure the CO levels of gas- or propane-fired cook stoves (oven and burners); • Understand the difference between as-measured and air-free CO readings;Detect natural gas, propane, and fuel oil leaks; • Conduct a worst-case draft test of a combustion appliance zone; • Measure the CAZ to assure sufficient volume for combustion air;

35. Energy Auditor Competencies • Combustion Appliance Safety • Demonstrate the ability to: • Clock a gas meter to determine the actual input of a gas-fired combustion appliance; • Conduct basic temperature-rise and static-pressure-drop tests on forced-air furnaces; • Measure the steady-state efficiency of a vented combustion appliance; and • Assess the potential inadequacy of supply and return plenum and duct sizes for forced-air systems.

36. Energy Auditor Competencies • Measure Selection • Possess a working knowledge of: • What materials are allowed to be installed based on 10 CFR 440 Appendix A; • The regulatory and policy requirements for selecting weatherization measures using DOE-approved energy audit software or priority lists; and • The interaction between typical weatherization measures (e.g., the impact of air-sealing and insulation measures on the potential savings of heating efficiency improvements). • Demonstrate the ability to: • Use a DOE-approved energy audit to input accurate building data and recommend appropriate, cost-effective weatherization measures;

37. Energy Auditor Competencies • Measure Selection • Demonstrate the ability to: • If required, use a DOE-approved priority list to select appropriate, cost-effective weatherization measures; • Prioritize air-sealing efforts;Estimate the heating and/or cooling load of a dwelling to ensure proper equipment sizing if the heating or cooling system is to be replaced; • Select the proper CFL to replace an incandescent lamp while maintaining or improving lighting levels; and • Meter an existing refrigerator or locate its DOE tested usage in a database to estimate annual energy consumption.

38. Energy Auditor Competencies • Work Scope Development • Demonstrate the ability to: • Accurately estimate the type and quantity of materials required to cost-effectively weatherize an eligible dwelling unit; and • Prepare clearly written work orders for work crews or contractors.

45. Vehicles & Equipment • Approximately 12,000 new crews must be outfitted • 12,000 crews x $88,300/crew = $1,059,600,000 • A 7-fold ramp-up may strain equipment manufacturers, distributors, and vendors causing: • Delays in purchasing new equipment • Delays in getting existing equipment repaired or calibrated • Trouble getting parts • May need to explore alternate vendors • Effective Weatherization requires heavy-duty, commercial-grade equipment • Maintaining $1 billion in vehicles and equipment is no small endeavor

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