BPI Building Science Principles Certificate of Knowledge

Hours: 10 / Access Length: 12 Months / Delivery: Online, Self-Paced

Course Overview:

Are you considering a career in green buildings, sustainability or energy efficiency? Do you already work in the residential building trades? If so, basic building science knowledge is critical to your success. 

Earning the Building Science Principles certificate is your first step into the world of energy efficient home performance. Building science demonstrates how various components of the home interact to affect the home’s overall performance. Understand the relationship between the building envelope, heating, A/C, insulation, mechanical ventilation, lighting, appliances and other systems of the home. Learn how all of these systems affect the comfort, health and safety of occupants and durability of the home. Discover why improving the energy efficiency of the home is the first step toward solar, geothermal or other renewable energy improvements. 

The second edition features an extended renewables section, an entire chapter dedicated to the Home Energy Score, and will be available in Spanish.

We moved the guide to a flipping book format, making it much easier to use and accessible from a computer connected to the internet, a tablet such as an iPad connected to the internet, and most cell phones.

Course Outline:

Chapter 1: Introduction

• Home Performance – systematic approach to improving comfort, health, safety, energy efficiency and durability of a home
• Building Science – based on physics, chemistry and thermodynamics
• ‘House-as-a system’ – holistic view of building, mechanicals, environment and occupants
• Construction Basics – attic, ceiling, foundation, framing
• Summary and Test Your Knowledge questions

Chapter 2: Heat and Insulation

• Heat, Air and Moisture including the laws of thermodynamics
• Measuring Heat
• Sensible and latent heat
• Change in temperature
• BTUS
• Heat Transfer - Convection, Radiation and Conduction
• Building Envelope and Thermal Boundary
• Types of Insulation
• R-Values
• Summary and Test Your Knowledge questions

Chapter 3: Air and Air Sealing

• Airflow
• Air Exchange Rate
• Stack Effect
• Wind Effect and Mechanical Effect
• Air Sealing
• Framing Types
• Products used for air sealing
• Blower Door
• Summary and Test Your Knowledge questions

Chapter 4: Moisture and Moisture Control

• Sources of Moisture
• Moisture Cycle
• Relative Humidity and Dew Point
• Air Temperature and Moisture Capacity
• Condensation
• Indoor Air Quality
• Moisture Transport
• Measuring Moisture
• Controlling Bulk Moisture
• Summary and Test Your Knowledge questions

Chapter 5: Mechanical Systems

• Space Heating and Cooling
• Types of Heating Systems
• Input/Output and Efficiency
• Cooling Systems
• Heating and Cooling Loads
• Ductwork
• Water Heating Systems
• Carbon Monoxide
• Venting
• Depressurization and Draft
• Summary and Test Your Knowledge questions

Chapter 6: Conversation Strategies

• Energy Audits and Customer Education
• Cost/Benefit Metrics
• Interactive Savings
• Energy Modeling
• Energy Star
• Electricity Conservation
• Water Conservation
• Windows and Doors
• Window Styles and Frames
• U values
• Weather stripping
• Renewable Energy
• Summary and Test Your Knowledge questions

Chapter 7: U.S. DOE Home Energy Source

• The Home Energy Score tool
• What DOE Qualified Assessors look for
• What homeowners learn
• Summary and Test Your Knowledge questions

BPI Building Science Principles Certificate of Knowledge Exam

The BSP exam is a 100 question multiple choice exam and the passing score is 70%. If an individual is successful on the exam they will receive a BPI BSP Certificate of Completion as proof of success.  

The price of this course includes one attempt at the BPI BSP Certificate of Knowledge exam.  If the student fails the exam, the student would need to purchase an additional code to attempt the exam again.

All necessary materials are included.

System Requirements:

Internet Connectivity Requirements:

• Cable, Fiber, DSL, or LEO Satellite (i.e. Starlink) internet with speeds of at least 10mb/sec download and 5mb/sec upload are recommended for the best experience.

NOTE: While cellular hotspots may allow access to our courses, users may experience connectivity issues by trying to access our learning management system.  This is due to the potential high download and upload latency of cellular connections.   Therefore, it is not recommended that students use a cellular hotspot as their primary way of accessing their courses.

Hardware Requirements:

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 4 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher.  1920x1080 resolution is recommended for the best experience.
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone for Webinar or Live Online sessions.

Operating System Requirements:

• Windows 7 or higher.
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions
  

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

Web Browser Requirements:

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

Basic Software Requirements (These are recommendations of software to use):

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is described in the above course outline.