Resources At Your Fingertips?

With so much new building science technology hitting the market annually, keeping up with the latest information can be a challenge for progressive builders. Sending team leaders to trade shows or training seminars means airfare, hotel, and expenses, plus registration fees. In addition to these costs the builder must manage around the down time associated with having their crew off the job site.

Yet continuing education should remain a priority for builders hoping to improve the energy efficiency and quality of the homes they build. In order to maintain high quality work, builders must find a way to bring new employees up to speed quickly on the best building practices, and also provide veteran workers with the opportunity to expand their knowledge.

After a builder invests in training, being able to market that advanced knowledge to the home buyer can create a great competitive advantage. Certifications and designations for the individual or the business can be assets used to distinguish a builder in any given market.

The Energy & Environmental Building Association's mission is to provide quality educational products and services for the building professional focused on better building performance. Through its Institute of Building Technology , EEBA has developed the nationally recognized Houses That Work educational series. www.eeba.org/housesthatwork . The EEBA Institute also certifies courses offered through other training venues and conferences all leading to the EEBA Certification and MasterBuilder program.

Online Courses Available

With the ever increasing time restraints felt by today's building professional, the IBT offers both classroom and on-line options. The classroom IBT courses can best be found at EEBA's Annual Building Solutions Conference . Additional classroom sessions are offered at various training venues, such as national and regional industry conferences; manufacturer and utility hosted training programs, local homebuilder association classes and a US Department of Energy/ Building America Program Series. Other sessions are customized for specific groups or businesses such as large production builders, professional associations or organizations. Each course includes climate specific detailing to address regional differences.

EEBA's online courses are filled with real world, best practice solutions, detailed illustrations and jobsite photos. The courses feature quizzes and assessments to help gauge how much the student learned, and individual certificates of completion.

Online training can be a convenient and cost effective way to provide training to employees. Because the courses are available over the Internet, students can study during off hours from any location that has online access. The course environment is designed to perform well over standard dial-up connections, and students can come and go from the learning environment to study, even after completing the final assessment.

Courses are available for purchase one at a time using a credit card, or can be bought in bulk for a company-wide managed training program.

Builders must complete 100 classroom/field credits. Upon completion of 100 classroom/field credits, IBT students will receive an EEBA Institute of Building Technology Certificate of Completion.

Information, Resources, and Support

EEBA's mission statement is to provide education and resources to transform the residential design, development and construction industries to profitably deliver energy efficiency and environmentally responsible buildings and communities. The EEBA web site is designed to help support this goal by offering free resources like the North American Climate Zone map, articles and resources from the Department of Energy's Building America Program, and information for builders engaged in new home construction, as well as existing homes, and consumer information.

Getting Started

If you are interested in the EEBA Institute Certification program and the advanced, MasterBuilder program you must begin by submitting your registration information. There is no charge to become a registered student of the Institute. Certification requires a minimum of 100 classroom/field hours from 12 building science subject areas. To learn more about the program visit www.eeba.org/institute or contact Student Services Representative via email at institute@eeba.org or call Tere Ohmann at 952-881-1098.