Late Notice: Important DOE Webinar on New VOLUNTARY Technical Guidelines
The Department of Energy is inviting weatherizers to participate in a live Webinar on new National Residential Retrofit Guidelines tomorrow, July 27, at 2 PM EDT.
Click here to register to attend.
The webinar is specifically aimed at the W.A.P. workforce and managerial audience. DOE will report on the comprehensive effort underway to develop technical standards for W.A.P. work, the required knowledge and skills for each W.A.P. position and to provide standards for credentialing the workforce and for quality assurance.
For anyone unable to attend tomorrow, there will be another series of Webinars on August 4th, tailored to different groups, but with the exact same content. So the local agencies are welcome to register for whichever Webinar works for their calendar. Click here for the general registration link.
More Detail on the DOE Project
Q: What Do the Guidelines Cover?
A: The National Residential Retrofit Guidelines will include four related components:
- Job Task Analyses for four common Weatherization and home performance job classifications: Energy Auditor, Installer/Technician, Crew Chief, and Quality Assurance Professional/Inspector.
- Essential knowledge, skills, and abilities that workers must demonstrate to perform in accordance with the Standard Work Specifications.
- Referenced technical standards developed by independent or third party standards development organizations–for example, ASHRAE, ASTM, the Building Performance Institute.
- Standard Work Specifications which define the performance requirements and minimum conditions necessary to achieve the desired outcomes.
Q: What Is the Purpose
A: Once completed, the Retrofit Guidelines will:
- Enable state and local Weatherization officials and other retrofit program administrators to strengthen their field guides and other work manuals
- Assist training providers in developing course content and curricula consistent with an industry-recognized suite of Job Task Analyses
- Establish a clear set of Knowledge, Skills and Abilities upon which worker credentials should be based
- Build confidence amongst consumers and the energy efficiency finance community that retrofit work will be completed in a quality manner and produce the expected energy savings and benefits.
Q: How Does the Guidelines Project Fit Into ARRA and Weatherization?
A: Two ways:
- The effort to develop the National Residential Retrofit Guidelines is supported by the Weatherization Assistance Program (W.A.P.) Training and Technical Assistance Plan that calls for a voluntary national framework for worker certification and training program accreditation—a framework contingent on the development of Standard Work Specifications, Job Task Analyses and Skill Standards recognized by both the Weatherization network and home performance industry. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) tasked the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with developing Retrofit Guidelines through a process that involved Weatherization practitioners and trainers, home performance contractors, and other technical experts throughout the retrofit industry
Also in the fall of 2009, the Vice President’s Middle Class Task Force issued the Recovery Through Retrofit Report that identified the lack of a skilled and credentialed workforce as a significant barrier to scaling up the residential energy efficiency retrofit market. The report recommended establishing a uniform set of National Guidelines—including Standard Work Specifications and Essential KSAs—to promote high-quality energy efficiency retrofit work.
- Weatherization’s Involvement - Technical experts and program administrators from the Weatherization network are central to the development of the National Residential Retrofit Guidelines. They have formed the core of Working Groups that have met several times in the past six weeks. The entire community is being informed bout the initiative now.
- A Webinar will be held on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 2 p.m. EDT geared specifically to the Weatherization community to allow for questions and comments on the National Residential Retrofit Guidelines project.
- The National Residential Retrofit Guidelines will be made available for public comment sometime in the Fall. DOE will give the Weatherization community notice when this opportunity opens up.
- A National Residential Workforce Summit will take place in Washington D.C. in the Fall (dates to be determined). This Summit will bring together stakeholders from across the country to discuss an implementation strategy for the National Residential Retrofit Guidelines.
More Questions? They will be addressed in the Webinar on July 27 or can be directed to Renewable Energy Laboratory at retrofit-guidelines@nrel.gov.
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