Prep Course for the NRCan Energy Advisor Exam (House)

Overview

Are you looking to conduct Energy Audits in residential homes? The Greener Homes Initiative aims to provide up to 700,000 grants for homeowners to engage Energy Advisors to conduct assessments and advise on retrofit opportunities.

Taking CIET training and writing the Foundation and EA level exams is one of the faster ways to become a full-fledged NRCan-registered Energy Advisor involved in the initiative.

The CIET Energy Advisor (EA) Prep Course is aimed at providing participants with the knowledge and tools they need to successfully complete the EA exam and grasp the central elements of the daily duties of an EA. Duties include assessing the energy performance of residential homes and providing advice on potential energy savings during the design, construction, and renovation stages.

This four-day training provides participants with a detailed understanding of the processes and steps required to do the work of a registered EA. More specifically, participants gain in-depth knowledge of the information to be collected on existing or new homes, acquire working knowledge of HOT2000, master the EnerGuide Rating System, and understand how to create customized energy efficiency roadmaps for homeowners.

Although the primary goal of this training is to prepare participants for the EA exam, it is also aimed at preparing participants as effective and knowledgeable residential energy sector specialists.

Note: You must pay and schedule a time to write the exam directly on NRCan’s website. The exam is not administered during the preparation course.

After obtaining the energy advisor designation, new energy advisors affiliated with a licensed service organisation will be able to conduct energy evaluations in accordance with NRCan’s EnerGuide Version 15 guidelines, Part 9 on residential buildings, excluding MURBs because these require an additional professional certification.

If you have not yet passed the NRCan Foundation level exam, click here for more information on CIET’s Foundation level prep course

Looking to get into energy auditing for commercial or institutional buildings? The Certified Energy Auditor course and designation may be right for you.

Key Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Utilise the EnerGuide Rating System (version 15).
Provide logical, customer-focused energy efficiency upgrade options to homeowners.
Understand the requirements for home building envelope and mechanical systems.
Ensure the quality and accuracy of your files.
Understand what information on the home is collected and why.
Appropriately model files using NRCan’s HOT2000 energy modelling software.

Audience

Individuals who have successfully passed the NRCan Foundation level exam and want to become an energy advisor.
Service organization staff.
HVAC experts, electricians, and other technicians.
Individuals with an interest in energy efficiency and a desire to understand what makes a building comfortable and energy efficient.
Construction professionals.

Location

CIET Virtual Real-Time Classroom training

This training will be offered virtually through Microsoft Teams. Upon enrollment, you will receive the information you will need to enjoy a great training experience.

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Virtual Real-Time Classroom – CDT Time
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Schedule

CIET’s Pan-Canadian Virtual Course Schedule

		Other time zones
Event	Course Time (Central Time, SK MB)	Pacific (BC, YT)	Mountain (AB, NT)	Eastern (ON, QC)	Atlantic (NB, NS, PEI, Lab.)	Newfoundland (NF)
Course starts!	9:00 AM	7:00 AM	8:00 AM	10:00 AM	11;00 AM	11:30 AM
Training	9:00 AM - 10:30 AM	7:00 AM - 8:30 AM	8:00 AM - 9:30 AM	10:00 AM - 11:30 AM	11:00 AM - 12:30 PM	11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Morning Break	10:30 AM - 11:00 AM	8:30 AM - 9:00 AM	9:30 AM - 10:00 AM	11:30 AM - 12:00 PM	12:30 PM - 1:00 PM	1:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Training	11:00 AM - 12:30 PM	9:00 AM - 10:30 AM	10:00 AM - 11:30 AM	12:00 PM - 1:30 PM	1:00 PM - 2:30 PM	1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Lunch Break	12:30 PM - 1:00 PM	10:30 AM - 11:00 AM	11:30 AM - 12:00 PM	1:30 PM - 2:00 PM	2:30 PM - 3:00 PM	3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Training	1:00 PM - 2:30 PM	11:00 AM - 12:30 PM	12:00 PM - 1:30 PM	2:00 PM - 3:30 PM	3:00 PM - 4:30 PM	3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Afternoon Break	2:30 PM - 3:00 PM	12:30 PM - 1:00 PM	1:30 PM - 2:00 PM	3:30 PM - 4:00 PM	4:30 PM - 5:00 PM	5:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Training	3:00 PM - 4:30 PM	1:00 PM - 2:30 PM	2:00 PM - 3:30 PM	4:00 PM - 5:30 PM	5:00 PM - 6:30 PM	5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Course Ends/ Trainer Help Desk Opens!	4:30 PM	2:30 PM	3:30 PM	5:30 PM	6:30 PM	7:00 PM
Optional Help Desk (Q&As)	4:30 PM - 5:15 PM	2:30 PM - 3:15 PM	3:30 PM - 4:15 PM	5:30 PM - 6:15 PM	6:30 PM - 7:15 PM	7:00 PM - 7:45 PM

Agenda

EnerGuide Rating System

General knowledge about the EnerGuide Rating System, its communication tools and related services
EnerGuide rating and its related terminology and calculations
Basic service
Data collection
General requirements
Requirements for building envelope components
Requirements for mechanical systems
Renovation upgrade service
Construction blower door service
Construction upgrade service for new homes
Blower door tests
Air leakage identification procedure
Exhaust device depressurisation test

HOT2000 Modelling Version 11

HOT2000 software and modelling
General HOT2000 features
Create new house files using the House wizard
Model a house using the HOT2000 main interface
Submit HOT2000 house files and generate reports and labels

Administration and Delivery of the EnerGuide Rating System (Version 15)

Code of ethics, code of conduct, and conflict of interest guidelines
Roles and responsibilities of NRCan
Roles and responsibilities of service organizations
Roles and responsibilities of service organization managers
Roles and responsibilities of energy advisors
Roles and responsibilities of builders
Registration, designation, and requalification process for service organizations, service providers, and builders
Suspension and delinquency/deregistration

Quality Assurance of the EnerGuide Rating System

General quality assurance knowledge
Roles and responsibilities regarding quality assurance

Trainers

Ian Kilborn

Ian is a licensed professional engineer, Certified Energy Manager (CEM), and NRCan Registered Energy Advisor (REA). Ian is currently certified as a residential energy auditor and has performed over 200 energy audits on houses under past and current incentive programs. Ian’s work includes consulting in the areas of energy management, energy auditing, GHG assessment, and solar assessment.

Recent energy auditing projects include an area in a remote indigenous community, a multi-building assessment for a rural county, a long term care home, a 4000 m2 electronics manufacturing facility, several churches, and building envelop consulting for a deep-energy residential renovation.

Ian was a full-time professor at St Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario for nine years, developing curriculum and teaching in the Energy Systems Engineering Technology program. His areas of teaching included: solar systems design, building science, energy auditing, HVAC, building controls, thermodynamics, and technical writing.

Prior to joining St Lawrence, Ian was co-owner of Quantum Renewable Energy Inc, a Kingston based business that designs and installs renewable energy systems. He was responsible for system design, project management, and supervising construction crews.

Ian built his own ‘super insulated’ rural home in the 1990’s and continues to live there today with solar thermal, and heat pump systems.

LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/ian-kilborn-61a77833

Certification Process

How can I become an energy advisor?

You will find all information on Natural Resources Canada’s website. Notably, to register as an energy advisor to deliver services under EnerGuide Rating System v.15, energy advisor candidates must demonstrate proficiency by:

Passing the Foundation Level exam
Passing the Energy Advisor exam
Being affiliated with a service organization

What is the energy advisor exam process?

For more details on the exam process, you are invited to read the Candidate Exam Handbook by Natural Resources Canada.

Exam related information can be found at https://nrcan.ysasecure.com.

If you wish to register for the exams, you must first complete the Register section.
Then, you can purchase the exams in the Products section.
To find the locations where exams are administered, consult the Exam Centres section.

For each of the exams, you are invited to read the appropriate Exam Competency Profiles found in the ERS-EnerGuide Rating System v15/ERS v.15 Competencies section of the File Exchange website. To obtain login details, please contact us at nrcan.homes-maisons.rncan@canada.ca. In the Subject section, please write “EG”.

How can I become a licensed service organization?

You will find all information on Natural Resources Canada’s website. Notably, you must:

Be an individual or legal entity incorporated or registered in Canada
Show proof of liability insurance
Have a minimum of 2 years of experience and knowledge related to energy efficiency and building science in the residential housing sector
Employ key personnel in the organization such as service organization managers, quality assurance specialists or energy advisors who have successfully passed the relevant NRCan exams

Where can I find reference documents?

To access reference documents such as the EnerGuide Rating System v.15, the exam competency profiles as well as Candidate Exam Handbooks, please contact nrcan.homes-maisons.rncan@canada.ca.

CIET has also developed two supplementary study guides to help participants with items identified as the most difficult, namely the Foundation Level Exam Study Guide and Energy Advisor Exam Study Guide.

The course includes...

Access to a private SharePoint website with additional training material, references, and links.

Policies and FAQ

Click here, to see our course postponement and cancellation policy.

Do you have questions? Consult our FAQ for answers.

Early bird fee	$1145
Regular fee (After August 29, 2023)	$1195
Continuing Education Units (CEU)	2.4
CSEP points	4 (+2 for certification)

Virtual real-time classrooms