HPSC's Retrofitting with a House-as-a-System Approach in Kamloops

Are your clients interested in accessing Provincial rebates for their heat pump installs, insulation upgrades or window and door retrofits? This course is included in the mandatory qualification criteria for the Home Performance Contractor Network (HPCN), the network of contractors that homeowners must hire from to access retrofit rebates from the Province of BC and utility providers.

Single-family home retrofit contractors and other building professionals:

This course is an introduction to retrofitting with a whole-home, or house-as-a-system, approach to both create better homes for your clients and to grow your business. By participating you will learn:

· How a house operates as a system

· How to identify common home issues that have energy retrofit solutions, and how to avoid creating new issues.

· How to explain the home- and life-improving benefits of your products and services

· How to create a reciprocal referral network that can support your clients to complete whole-home retrofits and bring in more business for your company.

This course focuses on practical examples and scenarios providing participants with takeaways they can immediately put into practice.

This course has been pre-approved for 4 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Points through BC Housing.

Learning Objectives

• Define the concept of house-as-a-system (HAAS) and explain why it is relevant to retrofit contractors
• Define the components included in house-as-a-system (occupants, environment, mechanical systems, building envelope)
• Identify common energy related house problems, pre-existing or unintended consequences of isolated retrofits, their complex causes, and reasons for concern
• Explain the HAAS considerations and solutions to avoid unintended consequences for each major retrofit type, and identify and solve existing problems
• Learn how to uncover the specific desires, motivations and needs of customers and communicate with them in consumer-friendly language about the benefits of HAAS retrofits
• Identify the benefits and best practices of making contractor referrals for complementary energy retrofits and creating a referral network

Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course students will be able to:

• More accurately identify the house-specific potential consequences of an isolated retrofit and any pre-existing issues in the home
• Effectively interview customers to understand their specific whole-home desires, motivations, and needs, and common activities and behaviours inside the home
• Capably communicate the house-specific consequences of isolated retrofits and the homeowner-specific benefits of a HAAS approach on their retrofit projects
• More accurately implement HAAS solutions and recommend additional complementary retrofits to customers as applicable, including recommending other contractors
• Pursue the development of a personal referral network and make use of it to increase sales

Live closer to Kimberley?

CEA is offering this course in Kimberley on February 20th. Follow this link to learn more and to register.

About the Trainer

Ashley Lubyk - Sustainable Building Technology Professor, Okanagan College

Ashley is the Chair and a full-time professor in Okanagan College’s Sustainable Building Technology program. He is a Certified Passive House Consultant, and the co-director of the Green Construction Research & Training Centre – a collaborative and multi-disciplinary research and training hub between the University of British Columbia and Okanagan College. Ashley sits on the Canadian Home Builder's Association - Central Okanagan Technical Advisory Committee.

Ashley holds a Master in Building Science from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson), and a Bachelor of Environmental Science from the University of Calgary. Previously, Ashley ran a small natural building company building straw bale houses and teaching hands-on workshops across Western Canada, and, more recently, worked as the City of Kelowna’s Community Energy Specialist implementing the BC Energy Step Code.

Over the next 3 years (2024 - 2027), with funding from Fortis BC, Ashley is leading the development of a micro-credential and a mobile high performance building teaching lab at Okanagan College to better support students and industry deliver low carbon, net-zero buildings in the Okanagan Valley.

Through his consulting company, Ponderosa Building Science, Ashley provides research and design support and educational offerings related to building science, embodied carbon accounting, net-zero and passive house construction, as well as the BC Energy Step Code and Zero Carbon Step Code. He is a House As A System educator through the Home Performance Stakeholder Council.