This week’s HERS Rater training course was in Manteo, NC, just across the water from the Outer Banks. We had a great group of folks in the class, representing many different work experiences – builders, HVAC contractors, weatherization auditors, code official, etc. Everyone did a great job digesting the large amount of building science information in such a short period of time. This really is a crash-course in building science, and is certainly geared toward those that want to test their learning capacity!
The local chapter of The Nature Conservancy allowed us to use their administration office as one of the buildings we inspected and rated (thanks Aaron!). It was a very interested building, built in the mid-eighties, that sits above a freshwater pond (in the middle of the dunes!). Talk about a moist environment! Everyone should consider donating to TNC to fund the work that we’ve identified for their buildings!
Many thanks to all of those that attended. It was a lot of fun. And, I hope you are successful at putting your new-found skills to productive use! I’d love to hear what you thought of the class. What was the most beneficial thing you learned? What advice would you offer to someone that wants to attend a HERS Rater training? How are you going to use what you’ve learned in your current job? Please share you comments below!
1 thought on “HERS Rater Training in The Outer Banks”
I have taken a lot of classes since starting our energy company. Classes for state certification, cont. educ. Classes, community college classes and this is by far THE best class I have ever taken, as well as, one of the most demanding. The immense amount of course material was really well organized. Our instructor was able to provide guidance & answer questions even when some of us couldn’t articulate our confusion. We received the course material well in advance of class with suggestions as to where & on what we should focus our prep work . If you haven’t worked or at least taken some energy classes prior to this class, it is critical that you study the texts BEFORE the course begins. It’s important that students understand that they must allocate time after the class to study the days class work & actually work through the homework assignments. Students with heavy family obligations in the evening need to make substitute plans for the week of the course. From the first day of class, it is a good idea to take the teacher’s advice & begin to make electronic (i used excel spreadsheets)indexes to help you quickly find subjects to use during the test. I choke on tests & hav “duh” moments on info that I hav known for years. It’s also imperative that students know how to down load electronic versions of the texts & other materials to their laptop AND know how to perform searches. Indexes should be developed & expanded nightly to reflect the days course work. Students should be comfortable using the tools they’ve created. Home Energy Partners lays a road that leads to success, but the student must be committed- all in & ready to sacrifice some time for learning & test prep.