BPI Certification and Accreditation Explained

Are you looking for a BPI Certification? Are you looking to become a BPI Accredited contractor? To set the record straight, BPI Certification is for individuals while BPI Accreditation is for companies [NOTE: Please do not confuse this with LEED where the buildings are LEED Certified and individuals are LEED Accredited].

There are a number of BPI Certifications that an individual can earn. The basic and most popular certification is called BPI Building Analyst. Typically, a BPI Building Analyst is also called an Energy Auditor. The next most popular BPI certification is the BPI Envelope/Shell Professional. After BPI Building Analyst and BPI Envelope, the other credentials BPI credentials are called Heat Pump, Heating, Air Condition, Multi-family, and Manufactured Housing. All of the advanced specialties are growing rapidly. However, many of the advanced specialties required in-depth trade knowledge to pass the exams. For example, the BPI Multi-family specialty an in depth knowledge of Boiler systems.

On to BPI Accreditation, a BPI Accredited contractor is typically called a 'Home Performance Contractor' (sometimes labeled 'with Energy Star'). This point of accreditation is to label those contractors that have both the training and incorporated quality control systems in place to truly look at the home as a system. A home performance contractor will come to a home not as a single trade (ie, an HVAC tech whose sole aim is to sell you a new HVAC unit) but rather from a holistic approach which includes insulation, air sealing, appliance efficiency, duct testing, and more. Once the work is selected, a BPI Accredited contractor will ensure that quality repairs or energy retrofits are made to the home.

So, if you are an individual looking to become an Energy Auditor, you will want to gain multiple certifications to expand your knowledge and to be able to market your services. If you represent a home services/energy retrofit contractor, then you want to gain at least two certifications so that your firm can become BPI Accredited.