The Total Energy Pathways (TEP) Workforce Online Resource Center was created to address a major barrier to scaling whole-home retrofit projects: access to a workforce with the right skills. To achieve this goal, we are working to remove the roadblocks of accessibility and cost for anyone looking to enter the clean energy workforce. The Online Resource Center is home to the resource library, a collection of workforce training resources from NEEP, our partners, and others. It will also house the Building Performance Institute (BPI) TEP Certificate and related training modules, which will launch December 2023.
The Online Resource Center provides on-demand courses and technical assistance for anyone looking to enter the clean energy workforce. The flexibility of these resources is intended to help meet the needs of individuals and small businesses who may not have the time to step away from work for a day-long training or may be budget constrained. This can be especially important when trying to attract more women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) to the energy efficiency industry.
What Can You Find Here?
The Total Energy Pathways (TEP) Workforce Development project aims to grow and diversify the field in two ways:
Resource Library: NEEP has collected resources from across the industry and compiled them into an ever-growing library. Resources include on-demand courses, general industry information, paid internship programs, and government resources.
The Total Energy Pathways (TEP) Certificate: The TEP Certificate will be a nationally-recognized Building Performance Institute (BPI) certificate that identifies contractors who have knowledge of all components of a whole-home retrofit. A large group of subject matter experts are currently identifying important curriculum components, and the certificate will launch December 2023. Training modules to support the certificate are in development and will be released quarterly until all sections of the certificate are covered.
Training Modules: Upcoming training modules will help people study for the TEP Certificate exam. They will be available via a self-paced program and cover every section of the TEP certificate. They will cover the following topics:
Below are for the Knowledge & Skills Assessment:
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Designing a Building Decarbonization Project
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Project Financial Analysis
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Communication to Clients
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Energy Modeling, Load Calculators and Measure Analysis
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Building Science and Whole-Building Concepts
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Project Carbon Impacts
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Electrification/Decarbonization Technologies
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Understanding the Post-Retrofit Process
Video Resources
The Zero Energy Now (ZEN) pilot program in Vermont is the model on which the TEP program was developed. These videos provide an overview of the ZEN pilot program, which emphasizes maximizing energy efficiency in homes. To show the importance of this, they provide data and case studies for program participants, and explain that in order to see the benefits of retrofitting our homes, we need to address the need of building up a workforce.
- Video #1 – Packaging Heat Pump Solutions
- Video #2 – Implementing Deep Energy Retrofits
Partners
The Online Resource Center was created under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) TEP Workforce Project; NEEP is partnered with Energy Futures Group, Building Performance Institute (BPI), and Building Performance Association (BPA) to meet the goals of this project. A project advisory committee, which includes 10 state governments and nonprofits, is assisting with the implementation of this project and ensures that the project outcomes are met.
Acknowledgment: This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Building Technologies Office and "Empowering and Diversifying the Design and Construction Workforce" Initiative. Award number DE-EE0009740
The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the view of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.