BPI Certifications Explained: Insights from CEO Amanda Hatherly

The Building Performance Institute (BPI) certification landscape can feel overwhelming at first glance. With multiple pathways, different levels of rigor, and varying prerequisites, where do you even begin?

In this clip from our interview with BPI CEO Amanda Hatherly, she cuts through the confusion and breaks down the most popular certifications and certificates of knowledge. From the foundational Building Science Principles that form the bedrock of industry knowledge, to the advanced Energy Auditor Certification for experienced professionals tackling complex diagnostic challenges, Amanda explains exactly what these credentials offer and who should pursue them.

BPI certifications deliver real career impact. In data included on BPI’s website, 96% of BPI-certified professionals work in fields directly related to their certification, and 84% report that their BPI credentials enhanced their careers. BPI-certified professionals command respect in the industry, because they’ve demonstrated mastery of the technical skills and diagnostic expertise that separate true building science experts from general contractors.

Ready to get started? HeatSpring offers a wide range of comprehensive BPI prep courses, giving you the knowledge and confidence you need to succeed on your certification journey. Explore HeatSpring’s BPI prep courses here.

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Transcript below.

Brit: I know you guys have so many different certifications, but if you could maybe walk us through those certifications and certificates of knowledge and maybe just a quick tidbit on who’s it for?

Amanda: Yeah. I won’t do every single one. I’ll do the ones that are the main ones that are out there. We start out with the Building Science Principles (BSP). That’s a core certificate, a basic certificate of knowledge, where it really is all of that information that you should know, even if you are just a homeowner living in a built home.

I used to work at a community college and we taught Building Science Principles and the  brother certificate called Healthy Housing Principles (HHP). I would have a lot of homeowners, young students, real estate agents, HVAC technicians, take both of those. And they would always just, I mean, I remember the biggest comments were like, I had no idea about any of this. They’re living in a house and they just assume that they know how a house works. So that’s the basic – the Building Science Principles. 

Then the Healthy Housing Principles, because there’s a lot about living in a home and how your house interacts that can affect your health in pretty significant ways. So those two are the basics. They have accompanying reference guides that people can use to self-study. They’re taken online. You don’t need a proctor and there are a lot of classes that are offered around the country, either in person, some of them are online, and then you take that certificate of knowledge.

We also have two other certificates of knowledge that are a little bit for more niche audiences. One of them is for people that go in and do what’s called a deep energy retrofit of a house.

The other one is like a crew leader on specific types of job sites. So they’re not quite as relevant for most people in the industry.

Then we move into our certifications. A certification does have a proctor. You have to have somebody there overseeing you, or if it’s online, you have them filming you online at the same time and you’re filming yourself with a camera. There’s a lot more rigor and they’re just a lot more monitored.

The entry [level] one is Building Analyst Technician (BA-T). That’s the field exam that you’d go to a training center and learn how to use a lot of diagnostic equipment, how to go and analyze a house, walk around the outside, the inside, and do a blower door test on it. Sometimes that is offered as a virtual course that I know some training programs do offer, if you have the equipment, but you do need to have equipment. Then there is a field exam, That’s when a proctor walks around and evaluates you. 

After that there’s one called Building Analyst Professional (BA-P), and that one follows on from the [Building Analyst] Technician. That’s an additional step for the person that then goes back and will be entering the data that was gathered by the previous technician into some type of software program, doing an analysis of what that tells you, what should be done on the house this time around, prioritize the work, and develop a work scope. That’s the Building Analyst Professional (BA-P) and that pathway where people take the Building Science Principles (BSP), Building Analyst Technician (BA-T), and Building Analyst Professional (BA-P)  is one pathway of knowledge.

We have another one that’s considered a more advanced pathway and it’s called Energy Auditor (EA). You still end up with a lot of the same skillset as that other pathway, but it has some pretty rigorous prerequisites. It’s assuming that you’re actually out there. You’re experienced. You’ve already been working in the field for at least six months. Then you take your Energy Auditor exam, and that’s a field exam and a written exam. 

Then the last one I’ll mention is one called the Quality Control Inspector (QCI), and that’s the person who will go loop back after work has been done to make sure that what was called out was the correct scope of work and then the work that was done was appropriate.

We do have other certifications, hands-on ones that evaluate whether you know how to do duct leakage testing and blower door testing and some air sealing classes and that type of thing for for technicians too.