Understanding BPI Certifications | Insights from Industry Expert Brynn Cooksey

Building Performance Institute (BPI) certifications are essential credentials for building science professionals across the country. To guide you through the BPI certification journey, we turned to Brynn Cooksey, HeatSpring’s lead BPI certification prep instructor and owner of Air Doctors Heating and Cooling. 

Known as the “Air Doctor” for his engineering expertise in building efficiency, Brynn has trained over 15,000 HVAC technicians, electricians, and energy auditors throughout his career. He teaches comprehensive courses to prepare students for each step of the BPI certification journey. Here’s what Brynn wants you to know about BPI and their most sought-after credentials.

Transcript below.

BPI is a non-profit organization that specializes in certifying individuals for building science.  The organization is conceived of the staff at BPI, but also industry experts from around the country. Those industry experts convene to make BPI standards,  which  are rules or guidance on how to do the best practices for home weatherization or home performance.

Those certifications are highly coveted. In many parts of the country, you have to have a BPI certification to perform in building science work, whether it be with a utility company, the weatherization agency, or some private companies are requiring BPI certification.  

The most popular course offering is Building Analyst Professionals (BA-P) Certification from BPI.  However, in order to get that certification, you must go through two prerequisites. 

The first prerequisite is the Building Science Principles (BSP), which is the foundation course that teaches the fundamentals for building science. You must take and pass that open-book, hundred question exam to become eligible to take the first certification, which is called the Building Analyst Technician (BA-T). The Building Analyst Technician is the person responsible for using tools correctly to get proper diagnostic testing measurements and that person has to take a field exam in order to become certified. That field exam, once they complete that successfully, now qualifies them to sit for the BA-P or Building Analyst Professional, which is a certification of choice used by many organizations. That test consists of a 60-question, multiple choice, test. You need 70% to pass that examination in order to become certified.