The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is developing new job standards for six areas – Operating engineer/building technician, Building energy auditor, Energy /sustainability manager, Energy modeler, Commissioning/retro-commissioning practitioner, and Facility manager – and a local firm was represented as a subject matter expert for commercial building energy audits.
Richard Buzard, President of Facilities Performance Services, www.fps-fm.com, helped develop new Job Task Analyses and Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities standards at a study sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory www.nrel.gov in Denver.
The study, hosted by Professional Testing, was to identify and catalog all the activities (Job Task Analyses) a worker performs in doing a commercial building energy audit, and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to successfully complete an accurate audit using the most reliable and recognized guidelines, standards, and analysis tools, such as those provided by ENERGY STAR, ASTM, ANSI, ASHRAE, and the Department of Energy.
The results of the study will be a set of national guidelines that define a common body of knowledge that training organizations can draw from in developing their curriculum and for use by the General Services Administration and the Department of Energy to help meet the requirements of the Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act of 2010.
Buzard said that “using the DACUM (Developing A Curriculum) process, we identified the major phases of a commercial building energy audit, then broke each of these into a set of tasks. Each task was broken down into separate steps, and we then listed the individual knowledge, skills, and ability components. Finally, we developed a list of building systems that would be checked in an audit, the attitudes and personal characteristics that energy auditors should have, physical conditions an auditor will regularly experience, safety issues, personal protective equipment, and tools and resources needed to complete an audit. Each of these were further separated on the basis of the level of energy audit being conducted.
Buzard, a former auxiliary engineering systems operating technician and training administrator in the Navy, earned an AAS degree in HVAC and went on to complete a BS degree in Industrial Science and Technology with a major in Facilities Management. Since graduation, he gained experience in Facilities Management through successful positions as a Program Manager, Project Manager, Area Facilities Manager, and Site Director of Facility Services. He started Facilities Performance Services in 2006 to address the energy efficiency and facilities management needs of businesses throughout the region.
An ENERGY STAR Partner and Veteran-owned business, Facilities Performance Services can be reached at support@fps-fm.com or at (248)935-9097.
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Source: Facilities Performance Services
