In a previous post, I reviewed the eligibility requirements for someone wondering how to become a Quality Control Inspector. One of these activities is to complete a training course specifically designed to prepare someone for the BPI Quality Control Inspector exams. You’ve probably noticed that I added BPI before the name of the exam. This is because the Building Performance Institute (BPI) has, so far, been the only organization named to provide this designation. You may also be wondering how the BPI QCI certification differs from the numerous other certifications available from the Building Performance Institute. Let’s review the most common BPI certifications and see how they differ.

Whole House Air Leakage Control Installer
This entry-level designation focuses primarily on insulation and air sealing techniques. Many consider this certification as the one most closely aligned with “weatherization.” Weatherization professionals implement measures to tighten the building envelope to reduce energy loss from air leakage. They improve thermal comfort through the proper installation of dense-pack insulation materials.

BPI Infiltration and Duct Leakage
This brand new certification focuses exclusively on blower door and duct blaster concepts. BPI developed this certification to fill a gap in the industry – not everyone needs to be a certified home energy auditor with the ability to diagnose whole-house energy efficiency issues. There is a large population of home performance professionals who simply need to know how to operate the diagnostic equipment involved in a home energy audit so that they can provide their results to other team members for analysis. BPI IDL training prepares an individual for an entry-level job in the home performance industry.

BPI Building Analyst
This popular BPI certification focuses on basic building science knowledge, which leads to performing comprehensive, whole-home energy audits. It becomes less about specializing in a certain trade and more about understanding how various parts in the home affect one another. These practitioners identify problems at the root cause and make recommendations on ways to improve the energy efficiency and thermal comfort in the home.

BPI Envelope Professional
This is an advanced designation that builds upon knowledge introduced in BPI Building Analyst. An Envelope Professional concentrates on the external, or thermal, boundary of a home. These individuals seek to tighten the building envelope by stopping uncontrolled air leakage.

BPI Heating Professional
This is a specialty designation for professionals working in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning industries. BPI Heating Professionals optimize the installation, operation, and maintenance of heating equipment in relation to other building systems. Their primary concern is to save energy while ensuring occupant comfort, health, and safety.

BPI Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Professional
Similar to the BPI Heating certification, this is a specialty designation that focuses on the air conditioning and heat pump systems. These individuals diagnose and correct problems associated with these systems and seek to achieve peak performance.

BPI Multi-Family Building Analyst
This certification is very much like the BPI Building Analyst certification listed above. However, this skillset applies to multi-family building structures, such as apartment complexes, townhomes, and condominiums. The building science principles are the same, though the requirements and analyses differ due to a more complicated building.

BPI Quality Control Inspector
The Quality Control Inspector designation was developed by the U.S. Department of Energy to demonstrate proficiency in the DOE’s new expectations for the home energy upgrade industry.

A Quality Control Inspector essentially verifies compliance of retrofit work performed based on work plans and standards. Like an energy auditor, a QCI uses diagnostic equipment to conduct audits and inspections and develops reports that specify corrective actions to achieve optimal whole-house home performance. As you can see from the training topics below, QCI focuses less on building science principles and more on the analysis, tracking, reporting, and monitoring of results.

To become a QCI, you must have extensive experience doing audits, so it is expected that you will have knowledge of basic building science when you seek the QCI certification.

Training for Quality Control Inspector covers the following topics:

• Introduction to Weatherization
• House as a System
• Regulations and Standards
• Purpose of Monitoring and Inspecting
• Desk Monitoring
• Inspector’s Toolbox
• Building Assessment
• Interpreting Infrared
• In-Progress Monitoring and Inspecting
• Report Writing

Everblue provides training for the BPI certifications listed above. If you see a specialty that aligns with your line of work, you may benefit from a certification. View our full listing of energy auditor courses now.