Page 18 – Everblue Training

Overview of Solar Jobs and Qualifications

Solar energy is one of the most exciting up-and-coming industries. The demand for clean energy and the promise of a sustainable future means that job seekers with the requisite training can find security and success in this field. And we’ve only scratched the surface with the amount of solar installed all over the world; there is a great deal of potential for expansion that will lead to even more opportunities.

The Solar Foundation’s National Solar Jobs Census of 2015 found that the solar industry was adding workers at a rate nearly 12 times faster than the overall economy and that the wages are competitive.

If you’re wondering how to start a career in solar, here are the different vocations within the industry and what you need to throw your hat in the ring.

Types of Solar Jobs

solar inspector image

Solar Installation

A majority of current positions in the industry relate to installation. This sector flourishes, thanks to declining costs that make small-scale solar attainable for average home and business owners. There are also many state and federal policies and tax incentives that motivate consumers. This sector is mainly comprised of small firms with only 10 or fewer employees.

If you are keen on working in this sector, your job will involve either working on residential projects, commercial projects, or utility-scale installation—or possibly all of the above.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing sector makes products for various solar applications. For those who have more of a mind for engineering and innovation, this sector may be a satisfying fit. Even though there were job losses in the manufacturing sector during 2015, opportunities have grown, especially within firms who focus partial rather than whole efforts on solar.

Sales and Distribution

Sales and distribution deals with customer acquisition, customer service, third-party ownership, warehousing, and the distribution of solar goods. The number of people employed in this sector rose more than 20 percent from 2014 to 2015.

Project Development

Project development involves working with or for utility companies on utility-scale solar photovoltaics. Jobs in this sector include civil engineers, land surveyors, and power plant operators, as well as specialists who deal with permitting, finance, and land acquisition for projects like solar power plants.

Requisite Degrees and Training

house with solar panels image

Solar Installation

Thankfully, there are many paths to becoming a solar installer. You’ll need education and/or experience in a solar, electrical, renewable energy, engineering technology, or construction-related field. There are various ways you can meet the requirements to take the NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners) certification exam, which helps distinguish you as an experienced and trustworthy contractor to clients.

Manufacturing

To work in the manufacturing sector, a bachelor’s degree in mechanical or electrical engineering will most likely be required. Once you have obtained a bachelor’s, you can take a Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, which is a prerequisite for many solar industry jobs. Certain positions may require more schooling. In order to stay abreast of new developments in the industry, you may desire to attend professional development and join associations, like the American Solar Energy Society (ASES).

Sales and Distribution

Sales and distribution employees are the bridge between manufacturers and vendors. As with installation, there are several paths that can lead to a position in this sector. An environmental studies degree will come in handy, or you may want to go the engineering route (which could qualify you for a variety of jobs in every solar sector). Marketing experience will certainly make you a more attractive candidate in this field.

Project Development

A project development position will most likely require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction technology, or another technology related field. Experience with energy markets and utility-scale solar may help qualify you for competitive senior positions.

Regardless of your education, experience, or skill level, there are countless starting points that lead to a career in this booming industry that employs a diverse and well-paid workforce.

To begin learning about solar energy, call us at (800) 460-2575 or visit www.everbluetraining.com/solar.

Courtesy of Modernize.com

What is SCORM? Find Out How It Works

SCORM stands for Shareable Content Object Reference Model

And what does that mean?

The most accepted explanation is that SCORM defines a specific way of building a learning management system (and training content) so that they work well with other SCORM-compliant systems.

Specifically, Shareable Content Object refers to online training material that can be shared across systems. The objects can, therefore, be reused in different systems and contexts.

The Reference Model reflects the fact that SCORM isn’t actually a standard. Many standards exist, so SCORM references these existing standards and tells developers how to properly use them together.

What you really need to know is that SCORM is the technology that enables your training course to load and display inside your LMS.

How does SCORM work?

There are two aspects that make SCORM function: packaging content and exchanging data.

Packaging content determines how a piece of content should be physically delivered. There is a file inside the SCORM package that imports and launches content without human intervention. In other words, the file enables the LMS to fetch and display a specific piece of content to the user.
Exchanging data refers to how the content “talks” to the LMS while the content is actually playing. In layman’s terms, this is what we call delivery and tracking. In technical terms, the content undergoes a series of “get” and “set” functions, such as “request the learner’s name” and “tell the LMS that the learner scored 95% on this test.”

So when you hear the term “SCORM package,” this is what they are referring to – it’s all the information to fire up the course in your LMS.

Is SCORM required?

Technically, no. However, SCORM is a powerful and beneficial tool for content creators and administrators. You can create content once and use it in many different systems and situations without modification. This kind of plug-and-play functionality ultimately saves you time. There’s little downside to incorporating a SCORM package inside your LMS.

That said, you’ll want to make sure that the LMS you select is SCORM-compliant. As you can imagine, LMS and SCORM go hand-in-hand. When an LMS is SCORM-compliant, it’ll accept any content that is also SCORM-compliant and then make it available to users throughout the LMS.

To reiterate, SCORM can be a valuable tool if you plan to reuse content, such as a welcome video or introductory training course. It can also be useful if you have courses that share learning objectives and therefore have crossover training modules.

If you’re not sure whether SCORM will be necessary for the delivery of your online training courses, give us a call at (800) 460-2575. We can help you with your instructional design needs and the delivery of your content.

Energy Code Compliance Certification for HERS Raters

The International Code Council (ICC) and Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) have partnered to create a new energy code compliance certification for home performance professionals.

In layman’s terms, the ICC recognizes the value that RESNET HERS Raters bring to local building departments, code officials, and homeowners in terms of satisfying mandatory residential energy code requirements. As a result, HERS Raters can be rewarded for their exceptional technical knowledge by stacking another certification on top of the HERS Rater Certification.

The new energy code compliance certification is called IECC/HERS Compliance Specialist.

In order to earn this designation, a professional must:

Be an active RESNET HERS Rater (Learn about the RESNET Rater Certification process) AND
Hold the ICC Residential Plans Examiner Certification (79)

The IECC/HERS Compliance Specialist credential leverages the strengths of both ICC and RESNET to increase the number of qualified individuals available for evaluating energy code compliance and home energy performance.

Specifically, IECC/HERS Compliance Specialists verify that the local energy code has been implemented successfully. Having this extra set of eyes can be extremely helpful for municipalities that face resource constraints. By having a background in RESNET HERS ratings and ICC residential building plan examinations, the IECC/HERS Compliance Specialists bring a strong combination of technical knowledge that’s unmatched by any other outsourced party.

The pairing of these two technical backgrounds is unique and robust because:

RESNET HERS Rater Certification inherently requires extreme technical proficiency by way of passing multiple certification exams
RESNET HERS Rater Certification requires third-party quality assurance oversight and transparency built into the certification process
The RESNET standards have a 20-year proven track record, including the inspection, testing, and labeling of over 2.5 million homes in the U.S.
Both the RESNET standards and the IECC energy code are nationally recognized and implemented

Without the IECC/HERS Compliance Specialist designation, RESNET HERS Raters can still get in on the action. Who hires HERS Raters? Homebuilders that want to make educated decisions on their building plans, materials, and energy efficiency goals. The IECC/HERS Compliance Specialist credential simply offers more opportunity for experienced HERS Raters to gain new business.

The way the industry is going, it’s making more and more sense for certified HERS Raters to take their knowledge a step further and take the ICC Residential Plans Examiner test.

Why Raters Should Take the ICC Energy Code Compliance Exam

First, let’s look at the cold, hard facts.

80% of code officials are expected to retire in less than 15 years
30% will retire in less than 2-3 years
3% are younger than 35

Very few young professionals are coming in to fill the ranks. So there’s a strange dichotomy at play here – more stringent energy codes, fewer code officials to verify compliance of energy code requirements.

Therefore, there is a great opportunity for HERS Raters to fill this gap and offer third-party compliance verification of energy code requirements.

Potential Business Opportunity for HERS Raters

As home energy professionals, HERS Raters are among the most qualified to be involved with energy code compliance verification. It’s not a coincidence that the 2015 IECC introduced the Energy Rating Index compliance path, which was more or less modeled after the RESNET HERS Index. For more information about that, check out our other post about 2015 IECC compliance pathways and requirements.

What’s incredibly interesting about the state of the industry right now is that HERS Raters, who generally work for home performance companies or independently, can now integrate themselves into their local government.

Since fewer young professionals are stepping into the growing number of code official roles, municipalities are having to look to third parties to get energy code compliance verification work done.

Why Municipalities Hire HERS Raters

Some of the reasons why a local Building Department might contract work to HERS Raters include…

Smaller municipalities don’t have enough permit revenue to justify bringing staff members onboard.
A municipality can gain access to new subject matter experts and resources by contracting a home performance company.
The energy code is newer, so it’s beneficial to bring in a third party that’s familiar with its thresholds and idiosyncrasies.

This is an issue that is impacting building departments of all sizes. Building Departments in small jurisdictions sometimes issue only a handful of building permits in a year. With that level of infrequency, it would be difficult to justify hiring a full-time employee to manage the energy code compliance verification process. On the other hand, building departments in larger jurisdictions may find it easier to contract out this service to a home performance company that was set up to provide that kind of service in volume.

By contracting with a large firm to provide the code compliance verification, a building department could indirectly gain access to a significant amount of resources within that firm. Engineers and architects, for example, may not be working for that jurisdiction, but the firm may make their knowledge and guidance available, as necessary.

architect image

In terms of code, the International Energy Conservation Code is a relevant newcomer. The energy code doesn’t typically get a lot of attention from local code departments and that lack of familiarity makes this the prime code for utilizing third-party compliance verification.

How It Works at the Municipal Level

First, you must be in a state that has adopted the 2015 IECC or has adopted an amendment to the local energy code that allows for the use of the Energy Rating Index compliance pathway (like the South Carolina situation – a state that is on 2009 IECC but has adopted the ERI).

There are a couple of different ways that third parties can be utilized for code compliance verification.

Less common: A municipality can contract a company directly to provide the service.
More common: A municipality can require a third party to provide compliance verification and identifies qualifications for that individual/company.

When a municipality requires a third party to provide compliance verification, a builder in that area then hires a HERS Rater or home performance company to provide the energy code compliance verification on their behalf. HERS Raters already have relationships with builders and can actually provide services beyond only the energy code compliance.

Since many HERS Raters are already providing code compliance services to builders, why not pursue the ICC Certification?

It should be noted that even if you are in a state that is without the ERI compliance pathway, the ICC Certification offers value to HERS Raters who want to demonstrate their acute proficiency of the energy code requirements. There are still going to be jurisdictions that will be working under the Prescriptive and Performance paths to meet code. Those municipalities can still have the option to outsource the compliance verification.

Take Your HERS Rater Certification Even Farther

On its own, HERS Rater Certification is more than enough for you to get a job or start a business. You can certainly service clients and gain important partnerships with homebuilders.

But the future is in energy code compliance. It is an industry driver that’s not going away. If anything, it’s becoming more important, more visible, more stringent, and more heavily adopted throughout the country. Adding energy code verification skills to your resume will make you an even more marketable home performance professional.

In summary, new and existing HERS Raters have the opportunity to upgrade their skills even further and take a deeper dive into energy code compliance. After earning the HERS Rater Certification, you’ll want to take the ICC Residential Plans Examiner Certification exam. After you’ve passed that exam, you’ll be able to automatically add the IECC/HERS Compliance Specialist designation to your resume.

Now is a great time to become a RESNET HERS Rater, an ICC Residential Plans Examiner, or the ultimate IECC/HERS Compliance Specialist! First things first, start today with your RESNET HERS Rater Training program.

Learn more about Everblue's RESNET HERS Rater Training

Project Sunroof a Handy Resource for Solar Installers

The Internet has been abuzz this month about Google’s Project Sunroof product, which is a free online tool that aims to make it easier for people to obtain and use home solar panels. The product itself has been available since 2015 and has been used to inform users how much sun hits their roof and how much solar panels would save them in energy-related expenses per month if they pursued the option.

Now, Project Sunroof will be equipped with the functionality to show users which of their neighbors have taken the plunge.

As The Atlantic writes, “One of the best predictors of whether people install solar panels on their house isn’t their age, their race, their level of income, or their political affiliation. It’s whether their neighbors did it first.”

When on the map view, Project Sunroof will show a red dot over any home or structure that appears to have rooftop solar.

Google's Project Sunroof tool

The tool currently provides data for 60 million buildings across the United States, so there’s a high probability that homeowners nationwide will find value in the new “peer pressure” functionality. Google aims to analyze the remaining 40 million buildings in the next few years. If anyone can do it in a timely manner, it’s Google – and its machine-learning algorithm that recognizes the common appearance of rooftop solar panels.

How Solar Installers Can Use Project Sunroof

Project Sunroof is primarily a tool for homeowners, but there must be some applications for residential solar companies.

1. Get listed as a local solar installation company within Project Sunroof.

In addition to estimating how much solar energy falls on a roof or how much solar panels will reduce someone’s electricity bills, Project Sunroof also provides estimates from local installation firms. As a solar company, you should be included in your community’s listing of providers! To use Project Sunroof as an opportunity to reach potential solar customers, email [email protected].

2. Provide excellent customer service.

Naturally, you should be providing excellent customer service always. This leads to word-of-mouth referrals. Whether a potential solar customer sees a neighbor’s solar panels from the street or using the Project Sunroof tool, he or she will likely ask their neighbor how things are working out with the new technology…

Are your energy bills really lower?
Was the installation process quick and easy?
What about maintenance?
Which company installed your solar panels?
Were they affordable?
Were they easy to work with?
Are you happy with this decision?

People want to know from trusted associates whether solar is a smart, viable, and cost-effective choice. It’s candid conversations like these that a potential solar customer may finally choose solar energy for their home…and which company will do it, so always make sure that you’re positioning your solar installation company as the best choice for your geographic market.

3. Include Project Sunroof in your advertising.

Once your company has been selected as a solar provider partner with Project Sunroof, you should leverage that information in your marketing materials – provided that it’s not against any rules with Project Sunroof.

Project Sunroof partners example

The more people who know about Project Sunroof, the better. People want to feel like they are part of the “in group,” and Project Sunroof provides an opportunity to see where you stack up in your community. This tool could very well lead to more people wanting to add solar panels to their homes – either through the peer pressure of fitting in or from the candid conversations with trusted friends.

The only way that people will know about Project Sunroof is if you tell them! It’s a free online tool, so there’s no barrier to entry. In fact, “free” and “online” may offer the fastest foot-in-the-door to learning about solar energy – that language sets a homeowner on the right path to you and your company’s services!

If you include Project Sunroof in your advertising, people will become aware of it and will probably check it out and maybe have a candid conversation with a neighbor and maybe choose solar for themselves. It’s a cycle.

Some ways to leverage Project Sunroof in your marketing efforts include:

Using a short call-out phrase like “Find us on Project Sunroof” in your email signature, business card, company social media profiles, email blasts, radio & newspaper ads, etc.
Encouraging existing clients to tell their neighbors about Project Sunroof
Offering a free consultation with prospective clients on how to use Project Sunroof
Sharing an informational video that demonstrates how a homeowner can use the tool

Sometimes you have to go beyond just advertising your company/services and really sell a prospective customer on the concept or driving force behind your service. If they’re sold on the fact that solar panels will save them money and that they need to add solar panels to fit in in their community, then that’s half the battle! From there, your company needs to be seen and trusted. Project Sunroof is simply one tool that can help achieve those goals.

If you don’t yet have a solar installation company and want to move in this direction, visit our Getting Started With Solar series to learn about the job outlook for solar contractors and how you can add solar to your business.

Images courtesy of The Atlantic and MakeUsOf.com

Earn 12 RESNET CEUs at NCBPA Conference

The North Carolina Building Performance Association, or NCBPA, is a not-for-profit trade association that provides education and services to building performance contractors throughout the state of NC. The organization is hosting its annual High Performance Buildings Conference in Charlotte on July 12-13, and certified HERS Raters can acquire 12 RESNET CEUs simply by attending both days of the conference!

The RESNET HERS Rater Certification is valid for 3 years and must be renewed with the completion of 18 hours of RESNET-approved professional development training.

Ways to Get RESNET CEUs

There are a number of ways that certified HERS Raters can earn RESNET continuing education units. Like other standards boards, RESNET will not accept the same activities each renewal cycle, so HERS Raters must be on the look-out for fresh content and new events.

A common option for first-time HERS Raters is completing the ENERGY STAR v3 training program, which is exactly 18 hours in duration and qualifies Raters for new business concerning the ENERGY STAR Homes Certification program.

Another common option is the RESNET Building Performance Conference, which is held annually and hosted by the Residential Energy Services Network. In the last several years, the conference was held on the West Coast, namely Scottsdale, AZ (2017, 2016) and San Diego, CA (2015). The 2018 conference will be held in Orlando, FL on February 26-29. The RESNET Conference offers the total 18 hours of RESNET CEUs, but registration can be between $550-$800 depending on when you buy tickets and whether you qualify for the “member” rate.

NC Building Performance Association Conference banner

The NCBPA Conference is a great option for HERS Raters in the Southeast. The two-day registration fee ranges from $195-$290 depending on when you buy tickets and whether you are an NCBPA member. The conference is comprised of 40 sessions, with topics that impact the following building types:

Single-family homes
Commercial and office buildings
Governmental and institutional buildings
Retail stores and restaurants
Agricultural buildings
Multifamily buildings
Leisure and hospitality buildings
Healthcare and hospital facilities
Warehouses and data centers
Manufacturing and industrial facilities

Participants will be able to acquire CEUs for multiple certifications and boards, including LEED, AIA, BPI, RESNET, NAHB, PDH, CEM, PEM, CFE, ASHRAE, and AIC.

Remember, though, that a total of 12 RESNET CEUs will be available at the NCBPA Conference. HERS Raters will still need to acquire 6 RESNET CEUs during their 3-year renewal cycle.

For more information, please visit the NCBPA website or review the RESNET HERS Rater Certification process guidelines.

Greenbuild Conference Expands to China, India

Greenbuild is the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. Since 2002, the event has been held annually in the United States. As LEED certification has expanded internationally, so too has the Greenbuild conference – with the launch of Greenbuilding Brazil in 2009 and Greenbuild EuroMed in 2015 (for European and Mediterranean countries).

For the first time ever, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) – the creators of the LEED green building rating system – will offer Greenbuild in China and India.

If you’re new to LEED and want to begin learning green building terms so you can participate in sustainability events like Greenbuild, start with reading our What is LEED? overview series.

Why Greenbuild is Expanding

Mahesh Ramanujam, president & CEO of USGBC and GBCI, identified China as the largest market and India as the third largest market for LEED outside the U.S. Expanding the Greenbuild Conference to these locations is one of the ways in which USGBC can bring resources to advance more rapid adoption of green building practices in these countries.

Green building is projected to grow 20% in India, specifically, by 2018.

China certified 35 square meters of LEED space per person in 2016, accounting for nearly 1,000 LEED-certified projects.

Emerging economies like China, India, and Brazil are engines of green growth, and development varies from two to six-fold over current green building levels.

In addition to the U.S.-based Greenbuild Conference in Boston on Nov. 8-10, 2017, USGBC will offer the following Greenbuild events around the world:

Aug. 8-10, 2017: Sao Paolo, Brazil
Oct. 17-18, 2017: Shanghai, China
Nov. 2-5, 2017: Mumbai, India

Last year’s Greenbuild conference took place in Los Angeles, CA and included an overall attendance of 18,079. There were 531 exhibiting companies participating in 138,960 square feet of exhibit and display space on the trade show floor.

Greenbuild exhibition floor image

This is truly an exciting announcement. After 15 years, the world’s largest green building conference has gotten so large that the USGBC can conceivably host FOUR Greenbuild expos back-to-back in four completely different locations. This is sure to be a massive undertaking, yet time and time again, USGBC has shown that it can plan and organize a Greenbuild event as efficiently as a well-oiled machine. Those involved clearly feel confident with the task at hand.

I’m looking forward to all the photo and video footage from the international events. Hopefully we will have more to share (statistics and takeaways) in the Fall after these events occur! Stay tuned.

Nevada Solar Makes a Comeback

In early 2016, we talked about a solar tarrif decision in the state of Nevada that increased service charges for net-metered solar customers and lowered compensation for net excess solar generation from a retail rate to a wholesale rate. In other words, the local utilities were doing what they could to block net metering, which would then limit homeowners with solar panels from selling excess electricity to their utility at a reasonable rate.

The decision angered solar companies, who believed that the new policy would lower net metering compensation to the point where rooftop solar no longer made sense. As a result, several solar companies, including Sunrun and Tesla-owned SolarCity, halted operations in Nevada – which led to an estimated 2,600 jobs being lost.

For more information about net metering and other legislative policies that encourage solar energy growth, check out this post on state solar policies.

There has been an ongoing debate since 2016 to determine how to move forward. But earlier this month, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed a bill to reinstate net metering and entice residential solar installers from SolarCity and Sunrun to return to the state.

According to NPR, the new legislation enables homeowners with solar panels to sell excess electricity to the utility at a reduced rate. The Nevada law also creates new protections for homeowners, such as a guaranteed net metering rate for 20 years.

How This Policy Impacts Solar Jobs in Nevada

After an 18-month absence, Nevada can begin to reclaim its position as a top state for solar energy jobs.

Prior to the change in state policy, Nevada boasted more solar jobs per capita than any other state. In 2016, Nevada slipped to the fourth position for solar jobs – which is actually pretty good considering its legislative woes. Nevada is destined to be a major solar market, so it’s great news that the governor has recognized this and taken actionable steps to help the state reach its potential.

Sean Gallagher, vice president of states affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association, predicts that the new legislation can help the state gain thousands of solar jobs that were lost.

Both SolarCity and Sunrun pledged to resume sales in Nevada if Governor Sandoval signed the bill, and it certainly sent a unified message when the governor held the signing ceremony at a Tesla facility in Las Vegas.

Nevada Governor Sandoval presents Tesla VP of Business Development with a vanity license plate

Tesla Chief Technical Officer JB Straubel added that the new legislation would bring in “millions of dollars in positive economic benefit” over time and that the company would resume selling solar systems immediately.

The Sunrun company website hasn’t yet added Nevada to its list of states where they operate, but this will likely change in the coming weeks. The company distributed a press release on June 6 announcing its plans to re-enter the Nevada solar market.

Through its ups and downs, Nevada seems like a happening place to be for residential solar installations. This new legislation will only make things better.

If you’re interested in starting a career as a solar installer, learn more about Everblue’s NABCEP PV Installation Professional program, which provides over 100 hours of online and live content related to photovoltaic electricity, solar panel installation, and solar design and sales strategies.

Image by Steve Keegan of Reuters

Is LEED Certification International? An Introduction to LEED Earth

Yes, LEED Certification is intended to be international, and this flexibility is part of the reason why LEED Certification has grown to be the most widely used green building rating system in the world, with 1.85 million square feet of construction space certifying every day.

If that statistic alone is enough to get you pumped about LEED Certification, enough to make you want to learn more about it right now, visit our What is LEED Certification? series and become familiar with the basic terms, certification process, and benefits.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the organization that created the LEED standards, offers two awesome opportunities to encourage LEED Certification around the world. The opportunities fall under what’s called the LEED Earth campaign.

What is LEED Earth?

LEED Earth is a campaign that offers LEED Certification at no cost to two types of building projects:

The first projects to certify in the over 100 countries where LEED has yet to take root
The first LEED Platinum project in any country to certify using the newest version of LEED (LEED v4)

What this means is that LEED Earth encourages green-building trailblazers in developing countries to bring LEED Certification and environmental awareness to their communities.

Benefits of the LEED Earth Campaign

This is a tremendous opportunity for individuals to stand out from other professionals in their field – by potentially being one of the first professionals in their country to earn a LEED professional credential as well as a free LEED Certification achievement. While others may eventually share in those achievements, nobody can compare to the person who earned it first.

There is a massive opportunity for personal marketability and a somewhat intangible benefit of revolutionizing real estate development in developing countries. After the notoriety earned from that first LEED Certification project, one might expect to see more eyes being opened to the benefits of green building and eventually more LEED Certification projects to follow suit.

The USGBC has identified the countries that remain eligible to participate in the LEED Earth campaign. Click the image to see a larger version in a new window.

Currently, there are a total of 32 countries recognized by the LEED Earth campaign. In early June 2017, the USGBC highlighted recent additions to the campaign, including Armenia, Trinidad and Tobago, French Polynesia, Nigeria, Oman, Morocco, Montenegro and Cambodia. Costa Rica achieved its first LEED v4 Platinum building as part of the program.

Why USGBC Wants to Encourage LEED v4 Platinum Projects

With regard to the second type of building project, the USGBC wants to encourage building professionals to implement the newest strategies and technologies, knowing that such practices result in greater energy savings and indoor air quality.

Every few years, the USGBC undergoes a rigorous review of its LEED standards and debuts an updated version of the program. The most recent version, called LEED Version 4, was introduced in late 2014.

Project teams were given an opportunity to choose between satisfying LEED 2009 standards or LEED v4 standards when pursuing LEED Certification for their building projects. The USGBC initially set a deadline for June 2015 as the time when all projects had to register under LEED v4 guidelines. However, the market needed additional time to understand the changes from LEED 2009 to LEED v4, so the USGBC pushed the deadline to October 31, 2016. Now, all LEED projects must pursue certification under the LEED v4 standards.

Since LEED Certification is still trickling to various countries, the shift to LEED v4 has equally trickled down. Therefore, the USGBC wants to reward project teams that certify under the newest version. The second part of the LEED Earth campaign pushes project teams to not only pursue LEED v4 but to achieve the highest possible certification level, which is LEED Platinum. This results in the best-of-the-best design, construction, and operations practices.

While this may appear daunting, the prospect of earning that LEED Platinum Certification at no cost is rather appealing.

How to Join the LEED Earth Campaign

If you’re reading this post, and you live in any of the countries listed in the graphic above, you should definitely consider earning a LEED credential and aspiring to earn the free LEED Certification for your country.

Your first step will be to enroll in LEED Green Associate training and pass the LEED Green Associate exam. From there, you might choose to advance to a LEED AP professional credential or begin working with a project team on a potential LEED Certification project.

You should also visit the LEED Earth website and request information from the USGBC regarding any necessary paperwork to officially record your involvement with the campaign.

The LEED Earth campaign is such a great idea and awesome opportunity that will continue to support LEED Certification internationally. As a USGBC Education Partner, we at Everblue would love to assist you in your journey of LEED knowledge. Our LEED training courses are comprehensive and include a vast range of study materials. I’m pumped thinking about how much you will learn and the positive environmental impact and economic growth that you can bring to your community!

Start learning about LEED today – our online training courses give you immediate access to the knowledge. LEED Certification is available internationally, and so is LEED training! Call us at (800) 460-2575 to get started!

Solar Ready Homes Must Become Common Practice

There is a growing trend in new construction called “solar ready homes.” This phrase refers to viewing a home as an entire package and considering all of the building strategies, including rooftop solar, that would satisfy homeowner demand and result in a more durable, energy-efficient, and healthy home.

Over the last 10 years, residential building contractors have been increasingly changing their mindset to more of a house-as-a-system mentality anyway. At one time, it was not uncommon to have subcontractors who specialized in a specific area only. Now, contractors are striving to become more well-rounded and thus advertise themselves as home performance professionals who specialize in whole-house systems. With greater environmental awareness, and studies revealing the massive benefits of energy efficiency, it is becoming standard practice for building professionals to have familiarity with many aspects of a home and to consider all of the potential at the outset.

Before we continue, if you’d like to take a moment to learn more about the employment outlook for solar contractors or gain information about how to add solar skills to your business, visit our Getting Started With Solar series.

Why Solar-Ready Building Practices Are Important

Architects, engineers, and builders must work together in the design stage to optimize a home’s orientation and roof in a way that would allow for maximum energy production either from initial solar panel installation or future adoption.

“It is the worst kind of antiquated thinking for any new homes to be constructed that are not solar ready,” said Neal Lewis, the executive director of the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College.

In addition to homeowners wanting to save money on utility bills and do their part to improve the environment, more and more municipalities are requiring net zero energy from new residential and commercial construction. In other words, state and local governments are starting to incorporate rooftop solar guidelines into their building codes and adopt the most up-to-date electric and safety codes.

For example, one of our posts last year discussed the six California cities that require rooftop solar panels. And just last month, the Fremont City Council voted to require solar panel installation on new housing developments. Needless to say, CA home builders must be knowledgeable in solar-ready building practices in order to be compliant with their local code requirements.

solar ready homes image

Adrienne Esposito, executive director at Citizens Campaign for the Environment, noted that design changes that accommodate solar arrays are simple to include during the building process and could be difficult and costly to change after construction. With municipalities across the country moving more in the direction of clean energy, it would certainly be forward-thinking for builders and architects to design with solar in mind now than pay the price later.

What’s great about solar-ready homes is that the added clean energy maximizes financial returns and can cover 100% of energy needs, including electric loads, vehicle charging, heating, and cooling of the entire home. This is the direction that homebuilding is going.

Next Steps

Moreover, builders may also want to consider “battery ready” building practices. This refers to the process of making solar energy available during times when the solar panels themselves may not be producing energy (such as night time and bad weather). The batteries store the electric energy for later use.

If you work in a residential building trade, you know that consumers are taking a more active role in understanding building practices – purely from the standpoint of wanting to lower energy costs, increase thermal comfort, improve indoor air quality, reduce environmental impacts, etc. Solar is the next stop on the bus.

Home builders have a great opportunity now to stand out with their solar-ready homes.

If you want an introduction to solar energy systems and processes, take a look at our PV101 Solar Associate webinar. This 40-hour online webinar provides a thorough overview of solar photovoltaic and solar heating systems, allowing you to talk-the-talk and walk-the-walk on a job site. At a competitively low price of $599, you can begin your journey of becoming a solar-ready builder as early as…today! This course is also approved for 20 continuing education units from the Building Performance Institute (BPI).

Give us a call at (800) 460-2575 to learn more about how solar can impact your career in the residential construction industry. You can also email us at [email protected] with your questions, and we’ll point you in the right direction!

Image courtesy of Modernize

LMS vs. CMS: What’s the Difference?

Within the world of online learning, you’ve maybe heard of a learning management system (LMS), but there’s a very similar acronym that you might also stumble upon: CMS.

Both acronyms represent online systems that manage content, but they refer to different types of content and have different uses.

LMS stands for Learning Management System

CMS stands for Content Management System

Yes, online courses are technically content, but, as you can imagine, training courses are more appropriately categorized under “learning” than just “content.”

So what type of content does a CMS organize?

A CMS is largely used to manage website and blog content. WordPress, for example, is a content management system. If you’ve used WordPress to publish a blog post for your company or manage e-commerce product pages, then you know that all those pages of content are housed within one central WordPress CMS platform.

CMS systems typically come equipped with themes that were created by a developer. In other words, you can quickly implement a design and structure that another person painstakingly coded him or herself. This saves you from having to be the one to write all the code from scratch. That said, themes usually include a variety of options and permissions so that you can build from the theme’s foundation and personalize the look and feel of your website.

How LMS and CMS work together

Let’s say that you work for an online training company. Your typical customer journey will involve visiting your website, purchasing a course, logging in to view that course, and participating in the required activities. That journey involves touching the CMS and the LMS.

You might think of the CMS as the “front end” and the LMS as the “back end.” The front end is publicly accessible to anyone who encounters it. The back end is locked down to only users with appropriate credentials and permissions (ie, paying customers).

So, to retrace the customer journey:

Prospective customer visits your website = CMS

User purchases your course = shopping cart (can be integrated into the CMS)

Client logs in to view the course = LMS

Client participates in the required activities = LMS

As you can see, the conversation doesn’t have to be LMS vs CMS because the two systems work together.

Examples of CMS systems include WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and Magento.

Examples of LMS systems include Moodle, Canvas, Blackboard, and Brightspace.

Any organization with a website needs a CMS, but not every organization needs an LMS. You only need an LMS if you will be offering some kind of online training – either to paying customers or to internal employees/stakeholders.

We specialize in online course delivery and instructional design. For more information about packaging content in CMS and LMS systems, give us a call at (800) 460-2575.