13-1199.01 - Energy Auditors
Green occupations will likely change as a result of the green economy. Green economy activities and technologies are increasing the demand for occupations, shaping the work and worker requirements needed for occupational performance, or generating new and emerging occupations.
This is a Green New & Emerging occupation — the impact of green economy activities and technologies is sufficient to create the need for unique work and worker requirements, which results in the generation of new occupations.
Energy auditors work in the following green economy sectors:
- Energy Efficiency — This sector covers activities related to increasing energy efficiency (broadly defined), making energy demand response more effective, constructing "smart grids," and other energy efficient activities.
- Governmental and Regulatory Administration — This sector covers activities by public and private organizations associated with conservation and pollution prevention, regulation enforcement, and policy analysis and advocacy.
They perform these tasks important to the green economy:
- Analyze energy bills, including utility rates or tariffs, to gather historical energy usage data.
- Analyze technical feasibility of energy-saving measures, using knowledge of engineering, energy production, energy use, construction, maintenance, system operation, or process systems.
- Calculate potential for energy savings.
- Collect and analyze field data related to energy usage.
- Compare existing energy consumption levels to normative data.
- Determine patterns of building use to show annual or monthly needs for heating, cooling, lighting, or other energy needs.
- Educate customers on energy efficiency or answer questions on topics such as the costs of running household appliances or the selection of energy-efficient appliances.
- Examine commercial sites to determine the feasibility of installing equipment that allows building management systems to reduce electricity consumption during peak demand periods.
- Identify and prioritize energy-saving measures.
- Identify any health or safety issues related to planned weatherization projects.
- Identify opportunities to improve the operation, maintenance, or energy efficiency of building or process systems.
- Inspect newly installed energy-efficient equipment to ensure that it was installed properly and is performing according to specifications.
- Inspect or evaluate building envelopes, mechanical systems, electrical systems, or process systems to determine the energy consumption of each system.
- Measure energy usage with devices such as data loggers, universal data recorders, light meters, sling psychrometers, psychrometric charts, flue gas analyzers, amp probes, watt meters, volt meters, thermometers, or utility meters.
- Oversee installation of equipment such as water heater wraps, pipe insulation, weatherstripping, door sweeps, or low-flow showerheads to improve energy efficiency.
- Perform tests such as blower-door tests to locate air leaks.
- Prepare audit reports containing energy analysis results or recommendations for energy cost savings.
- Prepare job specification sheets for home energy improvements, such as attic insulation, window retrofits, or heating system upgrades.
- Quantify energy consumption to establish baselines for energy use or need.
- Recommend energy-efficient technologies or alternate energy sources.
- Verify income eligibility of participants in publicly financed weatherization programs.