Green building career?
Hello, I am getting burnt out at work and considering a change. I am interested in going into green building in some capacity, but I don’t know what kind of jobs are available and what kind of training I would need to get into them. I studied mechanical engineering in school and stayed on to get my PhD in heat transfer. I am currently working at a company designing gas turbines. However, I have no formal training in building or building science. I have mostly been exposed to green building through fixing up my house and consider myself an advanced DIYer, but certainly not a professional. While doing these projects, I was most interested in the building’s thermal envelope, HVAC sizing, and mechanical system efficiency. It sounds like something an architect would do, but I’m not sure I have the eye for design that an architect needs.
Any suggestions, people to talk to, things to read, or videos to watch would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jack
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Replies
Hi Jack,
Building Performance Institute (BPI) has a great intro to building science called Building Science Principles. This is a prerequisite for many of their other certifications, including Building Analyst Technician and Building Analyst Professional (both are energy auditor and building science practitioner certifications). BPI mostly covers existing houses which should have expanding opportunities in the coming years.
If you are interested in new construction, I'd look into RESNet and their HERS Rating. There's a bunch of hoops to jump through after the training in becoming an energy rater, but HERS raters seem to be busy, especially in some larger cities.
Green Building Advisor is one of the best forums about residential energy, efficiency, green building, etc... on the web. There are lots of archived blog posts and discussions in the Q&A. GBA's sister company, Fine HomeBuilding is a great publication as well.
One of my regular building science website visits is buildingscience.com, especially the BSI articles.
If you can get to one of the Building Science Symposiums, you'll learn a lot. Two days of drinking from the building science firehose, they cover a lot of information that many builders don't understand. https://buildingsciencesymposium.com/
If you are looking to be hands on, you can learn on the job, but it would be better to get as much formal training as possible. Construction Instruction in Denver has formal classroom plus lab and hands-on training on various building science and high-performance topics. There are also a few universities in both the US and Canada that are offering building science related education, there aren't a lot, but there seems to be more offering BS classes. I know one of the instructors at this program in Wisconsin: https://www.westerntc.edu/building-science-energy-management He's a good instructor.
The International Builders Show (IBS) has two demonstration areas where experts show you how to assemble construction details. The Construction Performance Zone and the Craft Techniques Zone, both are very popular areas at North America's largest construction trade show. Another really good tradeshow to learn at is JLC Live.
A few areas to get you started, hope this helps.
Randy
Great reply, Randy. Better than a glass half full response ! I also think we need to get serious about green retrofit. The high cost of building new really shines a light on making an existing home work. If the foundation is sound and the basic layout is reasonable, take a look. There are a lot of well built homes from the late 50's through the 70's that are often ranch style with universal design not far off. I have added great rooms to some of these homes including our 1958 built rambler here on the farm. One room can transform these older homes into something very livable and modern. Kitchens can flow into the great room and some well placed glass can add daylight. I do need to make some foundation insulation improvements here along with daylighting a drain tile system, now to find the time !! Rural living is mainly off the natural gas grid so the ROI on energy retrofits is to be considered. I see the fuel truck going by here a lot during this cold month, $600.00 monthly fills get your attention.
Stay warm,
Doug
On top of what Randy said which was awesome. Personal finance plays a role in this, bjy I suggest find a green builder in your area and offer to work for them for free when you can.
Prove your worth to them and they'll most likely indirectly teach you a lot. Just being around it, you'll learn a lot about how it's done boots on the ground. And you can iterate or pivot from there.
The term you are looking for is "apprenticeship", a long forgotten word in the building industry. Learn from those who have learned, a simple concept, really.
As a practical matter, there are two segments to the green building industry.
The first is well-to-do people building their "forever" or "trophy" house. For them green building is a lifestyle choice, they're willing and able to spend to get what they want. These are the clients that everyone is chasing.
The second is areas -- usually major cities -- that are seriously enforcing the energy efficiency codes, and doing things like requiring that HVAC systems be engineered and that houses have energy modeling for construction or major renovation. In this segment cost is king, clients will pay for consulting because it's required but will go with the cheapest provider that the jurisdiction will accept.
For the most part, home buyers don't care about energy efficiency, and that's what drives the market. Most people are pretty oblivious to how a house works, they don't get that they are custom made and not mass-produced like cars.
A lot of DIY types care about efficiency but they're not a good market because they tend to be cheap.
I second the sentiments of DCcontrarian.
My first 15 years in the trades (all spent as a home improvement contractor) have proven that most folks do not understand their houses enough to see the real benefits of residential energy efficiency (largely oblivious to its high value relative to what typically does receive “attention”).
The niche markets (mainly the “near major cities” areas) are where you want to start your search. I had a pretty darn successful run operating a home performance company in northern Virginia for years.
Jack,
I think a career path that may interest you may be what some call an MEP engineer. For example I design and build HVAC, plumbing, piping, and fire protection systems. Most projects are not "green" per-se but they do involve optimizing all of the mechanical systems and there are design firms and contractors that specialize in green design and I always try to find the most efficient design for whatever projects I happen to work on. Ex: https://paladinengineers.com/