March 30, 2021
BetterBuilt NW Quarterly Trainings Newsletter
Quarterly Trainings Feature
Each quarter, BetterBuiltNW will highlight relevant trainings to help builders and Raters/Verifiers stay current with new and upcoming trainings. This quarter features the following trainings:
Oregon Home Builder Roundtable: Chasing Opportunities in Energy Code
Wednesday, April 14, 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Energy Trust of Oregon’s first of two builder webinars, Oregon Home Builder Roundtable: Chasing Opportunities in Energy Code, will take place on April 14, 2021 from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. This webinar takes a deep dive into 2021 Oregon Residential Specialty Code requirements, focusing on the following:
- Bringing ducts and air handlers inside (the thermal boundary)
- Balanced ventilation options
The first hour of the webinar will be a presentation, followed by 30 minutes dedicated for questions. Register for the webinar today.
Sustainable Homes Professional (SHP)
New Online Training
Join Earth Advantage’s new Sustainable Homes Professional (SHP) on-demand online training program and gain 15+ hours of cutting-edge design and building best practices that are critical to success in today's housing market.
Learn from expert trainers as they help guide participants towards overcoming common barriers and choosing the best high-performance building practices to match their specific scenario. SHP offers presentation videos, behind-the-walls site visits, live webinars, guest speakers, product/technology demos, CE credits, and the option to earn the SHP designation.
Learn more about the SHP program and watch sample videos.
$150 discount for NW residential new construction professionals thanks to BetterBuiltNW.
For more training opportunities, visit BetterBuiltNW’s training page.
Programs in the News
Every month BetterBuiltNW highlights different programs in the news to keep builders and Raters/Verifiers informed about key updates, program changes, and features. This month’s Programs in the News features the following updates:
- Home Innovation Recognized as a WaterSense Home Certification Organization
- Built Green Single-Family Interim Supplemental Handbook Released
- ENERGY STAR RaterPRO™ Now Available on the Phone
Home Innovation Recognized as a WaterSense Home Certification Organization
Home Innovation Research Labs was recently named by EPA as one of two Home Certification Organizations for the new and improved WaterSense® Home Certification program.
Check out the news release about the new streamlined process and the opportunities this now offers to those seeking National Green Building Standard (NGBS) Green certification. For more details on the value of WaterSense certification and how to comply, see Home Innovation’s blog post and overview webpage.
For more from NGBS, check out these new resources:
Built Green Single-Family Interim Supplemental Handbook Released
Built Green recently released the 2021 Single-Family Interim Credit Supplemental Handbook. The interim supplemental handbook contains specific, detailed interpretation information about some of the new credits in the 2021 Single-Family/Townhome New Construction Checklist. The full handbook release is scheduled for June 2021.
Included in this supplemental handbook are a full set of narratives for the newly added Equity and Social Justice section and details around the new water and energy efficiency performance and prescriptive pathways. All projects permitted under the 2018 Washington State Energy Code (WSEC) are required to certify under the 2021 checklist.
ENERGY STAR RaterPRO™ Now Available on the Phone
RaterPRO is a free mobile app developed by the U.S. EPA to help home energy Raters complete on-site inspections for Energy Rating Index ratings and ENERGY STAR certifications. EPA recently announced that RaterPRO is now available for both Apple and Android phones, allowing you to get started today without any additional hardware.
RaterPRO captures digital notes and photos, geotags the inspection location, and automatically exports inspection results to energy modeling software. This all-digital workflow helps rating companies large and small deliver accurate, high-quality ratings and ENERGY STAR certifications.
Learn more by viewing a recent webinar. View the recordings of ENERGY STAR webinars, and select “Introduction to ENERGY STAR RaterPRO Version 1.0, now available on the Phone.”
Check out the following resources to learn more about Home Innovation’s new WaterSense designation, Build Green’s single-family interim handbook, and ENERGY STAR’s RaterPRO phone application.