Improving the operational performance of America’s buildings offers significant energy and cost savings. Realizing those performance improvements requires a highly skilled and qualified workforce; to train the next-generation of building professionals, however, training and certification programs must be high-quality, consistent, and scalable across certification and certificate programs. The Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines (BBWG) in collaboration with the National Institute of Building Sciences and industry stakeholders, has established a clear set of guidelines that industry stakeholders can leverage for the development of successful training and certification programs.
Recently the Energy Management Association received recognition by the BBWG for its Energy Management Professional (EMP) certification program. This certification program is available to industry professionals who manage and continually improve energy performance in commercial buildings. It is based on a commissioning-based energy management protocol that can be used in existing buildings, including retro-commissioning and energy retrofit projects.
EMP certification applicants are required to go through an application process prior to sitting for the exam. Requirements include education, energy management experience, and general management experience. Applicants must demonstrate competency in:
- Planning effective energy management;
- Managing energy information;
- Implementing the energy management program;
- Managing budget and finance;
- Implementing energy efficient projects; and
- Managing energy communications.
The EMP certification aids in the development of a well-trained building energy workforce that can address the energy efficiency of building systems and their ongoing operations.