The accredited training component of the Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals project guarantees the existence and availability of high quality standardized training programs within the home energy upgrade industry.

Just as the Home Energy Professional Certifications ensure qualified workers in the field, accredited training programs ensure that individuals receive the proper training to become certified Home Energy Professionals and to do the quality work that is defined in the standard work specifications. Many people may not know the difference between certification and accreditation. In the simplest terms, an individual gets certified and organizations, such as training providers, get accredited.

Below you will find information on accredited training centers and Job Task Analyses (JTAs), which serve as the foundation for accredited training programs.

 

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The webinar covers flexibility allowed with Accredited Training for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program.
Video courtesy of the Department of Energy
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This video describes the benefits of using an accredited training provider by highlighting the requirements of accredited training programs and how they benefit the customer/trainee.
Video courtesy of the Department of Energy

Job Task Analyses

The backbone of the accreditation process are the JTAs. The JTAs define and catalogue the knowledge, skills, and abilities that a practitioner needs in order to perform a given job effectively and safely. They define what a home energy professional needs to know in order to do the job correctly.

The JTAs for Single-Family Home Energy Upgrades developed under the Guidelines project reflect the four most common job classifications in the U.S. Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) and home energy upgrade industry and are publicly available:

Essentially, these Single-Family JTAs are used by training providers to develop coursework that can be verified and accredited by a third-party organization. By being able to verify and accredit training programs based on these JTAs, a higher level of consistency and quality is now available within the industry. 

Similar JTAs were developed for four job categories associated with Multifamily Home Energy Upgrades and are now available as well:

For the purpose of this project, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) was chosen as the accreditation body and can provide guidance to training centers on becoming accredited. IREC is a leading provider of training program accreditation and offers accreditation to weatherization training centers through its Credentialing Program. For more information on how a Weatherization Training Center can earn accreditation, please refer to the Weatherization Training Center Toolkits.

Accredited Training Centers

Becoming an accredited training center requires time, rigor, and dedication. Visit the IREC site to locate accredited training providers, IREC certified instructors, and IREC certified master trainers.