Certified Passive House Consultant Training Application Instructions

Certified Passive House Consultant TrainingApplication InstructionsTo help building professionals attain professional accreditation for thePassive Building Energy sector, the Passive House Institute US(PHIUS) offers a nine-day training course. The course may be offeredin two configurations:• One phase: A single nine-day course taken on consecutive days• Two phases: A five-day segment, followed at a later date by a 4-day segmentMulti-phase schedules must be completed in sequence.To achieve accreditation as a Certified Passive HouseConsultant, students must take and pass a computer-based examand complete a take home Passive Design exercise.NEW beginning 2012, the computer-based exam portion isadministered in the afternoon of day 9 of each training course.Trainees may elect to postpone the exam on day 9 and join othertraining courses in various locations to take the exam at a later time.The content and agendas for the Consultants’ Training Programs areavailable for download at the PHIUS Web site.Proof of relevant professional qualification and experience is aprerequisite for admission to the training and the exam. Experienceand any professional accreditation, as well as supportingdocumentation, should be attached to the application found at the endof this document and e-mailed to PHIUS at:training@passivehouse.us(Please also direct any questions to the above email address.)PHIUS consultant training regulations and applications/effective 1-1-2012 1

Details regarding registration and payment, event location, the exam,and Consultant Certification procedure will be emailed to acceptedcandidates. Filing the application attached in no way obligates theapplicant to register for the training.Certified Passive House Consultants will be listed and promoted on thepublicly accessible websites of PHIUS and the Passive House AllianceUS (PHAUS), www.passivehouse.us and www.phaus.org.Candidate PrerequisitesThe following list of prerequisites defines basic requirements foradmission to Passive House Consultant Certification Training.Applicants should possess the following:a) Ability to read and understand architectural plans andspecifications, general knowledge of conventional constructionpracticeb) Demonstrated basic knowledge of building science, including:• Building durability• Defining the thermal boundary• Defining the pressure boundary• Understanding thermal bridgesc) Basic understanding of energy flow and use in buildings,including:• Building energy losses• Peak loads• Energy load vs energy consumption• Annual load vs annual consumptiond) Proficiency in Microsoft Excel v.2003 or latere) Confirmation of professional or educational qualifications; see“Paths to Candidate Acceptance” belowPHIUS reserves the right to admit applicants into training without allpre-qualifications complete, with the understanding that the candidatePHIUS consultant training regulations and applications/effective 1-1-2012 2

will demonstrate proficiency in all required areas prior to certification.Paths to Application AcceptanceStudents can qualify for the Passive House Consultant training by anyone of four professional or educational paths, outlined below. Eachpath requires verification of qualifications, also noted below. PHIUS willreview qualifications and accept candidates on a case-by-case basis.a) Licensed Professional:i. Registered architectii. Registered professional engineerVerification requirements- Proof of current registration- Professional resume with contact info oftwo professional referencesb) Recognized Professional:i. Building Science Specialistii. Building Performance Specialistiii. Practicing Energy Consultantiv. Practicing Architectural Designerv. Practicing Engineering/Architectural TechnicianVerification Requirements:- Resume with contact info of threeprofessional references- History of employment for past 3 yearsc) Education Qualified - Current student or college graduate inone of the following areas:i. Architectureii. Engineeringiii. Building Scienceiv. Environmental ScienceVerification Requirements:PHIUS consultant training regulations and applications/effective 1-1-2012 3

- Current transcript- Resume with contact info of threereferences from teachers or employersd) Field Experience Qualified - Practitioner in one of thefollowing fields:i. Building Performanceii. Building Scienceiii. Building Diagnosticsiv. Building Constructionv. Building Systems (i.e. HVAC, plumbing, electrical)Verification Requirements:Admission Process- History of employment for past 3 years- Resume with contact info of threereferences from professional associatesor employersCandidates must supply to PHIUS a completed written application formindicating one of four acceptance paths, along with requireddocumentation. If the applicant clearly does not meet qualifications, orthe application is substantially incomplete, the application will bereturned. If the application requires further documentation orclarification, the applicant will receive an email request for information.Applicants will be notified by email about admission status.Final ExamPassing the exam is the final step to obtaining the PH ConsultantCertificate. The exam consists of two parts, a computer based portionand a take home design portion. The computer based portion is beingadministered subsequent to the completion of the last phase of thetraining via the testing service from Prometric, and there will be a feefor exam administration. The final result of the exam will be availableto the trainee instantly upon completion of the exam. Exam takershave the opportunity to inspect their graded exam online and canrequest a review of possible contested points for a time period of 24hours after the exam has been completed. No further appeal ispossible after this time period. Students must score an overallPHIUS consultant training regulations and applications/effective 1-1-2012 4

combined percentage of 65%. The exam is weighted as follows:Computerized Portion10% - General Building Science30% - Passive House/Building Standard Comprehension30% - Passive House/Building CalculationsTake Home Portion30% - Passive Design ProjectThe minimum score on the computerized portion tostill have a possibility of passing the exam overall is 50%.The take home portion has to be postmarked three weeks after theissuing date of the exercise. It will be graded by PHIUS within twoweeks of receipt and the final pass/fail results will be sent out via e-mail. In the case of passing a signed and water-marked papercertificate will be mailed via postal service. Exam takers have theopportunity to inspect their graded take home portion at the office ofPHIUS and can request a review of possible contested points. PHIUSwill consider the request and make a final determination after oneweek. No further appeal is possible after the examinee has beeninformed about the decision. Any legal challenge of the exam result isexcluded.Certified Passive House Consultant Privileges and Obligations• Certified Passive House Consultants will be listed on the PHIUSand PHAUS Web sites, authorized to describe themselves asCertified Passive House Consultants and to carry the professionaldesignation of the orange house and CPHC.• Certified Consultants will be granted access to the NorthAmerican Certified Passive House Consultant logos according touse guidelines issued by PHIUS to designate their certifiedconsultant status.• The Consultant status qualifies consultants for certain discountsfor pre-certification and consulting services as publicized on thePHIUS web site.PHIUS consultant training regulations and applications/effective 1-1-2012 5

• Please note that PHIUS does not offer the qualification path forconsultants through a Passive House model project. The onlyqualification path to obtain the designation CPHC is to pass theexam.• Certification continues for a period of three years or until theConsultant has a building verified as a Certified Passive Housewith PHIUS under the PHIUS+ program, at which point theConsultant’s certification is renewed for another three years.• A certified Passive House Building project is required to secure athree-year extension of the certificate thereafter. All projectscertified and verified by PHIUS and its affiliates will automaticallycount towards extension of the certificate for an additional threeyears and no other step or fee is necessary to extend theCertificate.• An alternative path to maintain certification is to complete aminimum of 32 continuing education credits per calendar year.PHAUS is offering CEU-approved webinars throughout the year.Also, local chapter conferences and the national conference offeropportunities of obtaining CEUs.• Certified Passive House consultants agree to adhere to thequality assurance measures and best practices guidelines asprovided by PHIUS in form of the pre-certification packet and tosubmit modeled software files and project drawings to a licensedthird party verifying agency such as PHIUS to obtain thedesignation “Quality Approved Passive House/Building” for theirparticular building projects aiming to achieve the Passive HouseBuilding Energy Standard.• Consultants are not entitled by PHIUS to self-certify or verify anyother lesser energy building metric than the Passive Housemetrics as determined by PHIUS.• Certified Passive House Consultants can qualify as precertificationproviders or as certified trainers for the PHIUStraining programs. For more information on these limitedprograms please contact PHIUS directly.PHIUS consultant training regulations and applications/effective 1-1-2012 6

Application to be admitted to Training and ExamLeading to “Certified Passive House Consultant”Mr/Ms *First Name * Last Name *Street Address *City, State, ZIP *Phone *E-mail *General Information for the Application ProcessCertificate Information to be published on www.passivehouse.us / www.phaus.orgStreet Address *(if different from above)City, State, ZIP *(if different from above)Path of Acceptance(see instructions) *Please attach Verification Requirementsaccording to the elected “Path of Acceptance” yes noPhoneE-Mail *(Personal email address for applicant required)Website URLhttp://Member of PHAUS/local Chapteryes (please specify Chapter) noPlease indicate date and location of the training program for which you are applying *(If you are interested in more than one program, please indicate order of preference):I have read and understood the “Certified Passive House Consultants Training ApplicationInstructions.”Signature * ......................................................................... ...........................................Type “X” to indicate electronic signature .......Date * ................................................* Required InformationThis information may be published in the national web database for Certified PHConsultantsPHIUS consultant training regulations and applications/effective 1-1-2012 8