How To Become An Energy Advisor in 2024

This article was updated in June 2024.

Maybe you’ve got some experience in the building industry. Maybe you’ve got lots of it. Maybe you’re super keen about helping people have cost-effective, healthy housing. Maybe you’re searching around for an interesting career that gives you a strong foothold in residential construction and renovation.

Building or buying a new energy efficient home in Canada often involves working with licensed energy advisors who can guide you through the process.

Housing is a Big Deal in Canada

There are 200,000 to 250,000 new houses built every year in Canada

The home renovation industry accounts for more than $70 billion annually.

The new construction and renovation industry provides a job for roughly 1 in every 18 workers. It’s one of Canada’s largest employers.

New building code requirements, like the BC Energy Step Code, and the National Building Code 2020 are leaning more to performance paths vs. prescriptive paths.

Since the Pan-Canadian Framework for Clean Energy and Climate Change was adopted, more government funding has been set aside for renovations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy Advisor Jobs

More jurisdictions are adopting building code requirements that include energy efficiency measures. New home and retrofit programs that are built around reducing energy consumption and/or greenhouse gas emissions in Canada rely on energy evaluations carried out by registered Energy Advisors.

And there is a continuing need for more licensed energy advisors to provide EnerGuide for Houses services under provincial and territorial incentive programs, as well as all of the municipal programs that are funded by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).

Service Organizations and an Industry Organization to Support You

Service organizations play a crucial role in supporting licensed energy advisors by delivering comprehensive training and mentorship. To find out more about the industry visit CACEA, the Canadian Association of Consulting Energy Advisors.

While most people start out as NRCan Energy Advisors, there are many other roles and jobs where an Energy Advisor course will be helpful to understand how to build and renovate using The House As A System approach to building science.

What is an Energy Advisor?

An Energy Advisor (EA) is a licensed professional who provides technical services like energy modelling, blower door testing, and third-party verification to a range of programs:

• R-2000®

• EnerGuide ®

• ENERGY STAR for New Homes®

• Net Zero Homes®

• Built Green Canada®

• BC Energy Step Code

• EnerGuide Rating System

• Energy Modeling for Code Compliance

Energy advisors assess the energy performance of homes to ensure they meet specific energy efficiency standards.

What Does An Energy Advisor Do?

As a registered Energy Advisor, you work with home buyers, builders and renovators to:

• Assess materials and building assemblies for energy efficiency and a healthy indoor environment

• Analyse the performance of the building envelope and mechanical systems

• For new homes, provide a pre-construction energy evaluation and performance testing

• For existing homes, provide suggestions to improve the energy efficiency and indoor air quality.

• For new and existing homes, provide third party verification and inspection, a final report and an EnerGuide rating

Who Can Be A Registered Energy Advisor?

You need to know a lot about houses to be a competent EA. Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), and the Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) have a 3-step program for EA candidates. You must:

1. Pass the Foundation Level exam

2. Pass Energy Advisor exam

3. Be affiliated with a service organization

To work as a registered Energy Advisor, you must first pass the Foundation exam. The Energy Advisor exam requires you to have specialized training in the EnerGuide Rating Service (the ERS), which is overseen by Natural Resources Canada. This training ensures that you are qualified to deliver EnerGuide rating services for eligible homes in Canada. Find out everything need to know about the process of becoming an Energy Advisor.

NRCan has a partner, Yardstick, who delivers the exams. They also offer some practice questions and tutorials on the NRCAN exam registration site (sign in for free to see these).

Energy Advisor Foundation Exam Topics

• Construction Technology

• Construction & Renovation of Low-Rise Housing

• Building Envelope (New and Existing Homes)

• Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (New and Existing Homes)

• Building Science Principles and the House-as-a-System Concept

• Construction Math

• Plans Reading

• Construction Site Safety

This is where your background in residential construction is helpful, but it's likely to not be enough. You'll probably have some gaps in your knowledge.

We offer a free Foundation Exam Prep Backgrounder to help you identify those gaps in your knowledge and outline what you need to focus on studying to become a registered Energy Advisor through Natural Resources Canada.  Download our Foundation Exam Backgrounder

Blue House Energy's Secret Weapon

We know what it takes to be a home Energy Advisor in Canada.

BHE CEO, Shawna Henderson, was an R-2000 evaluator in the 1990s, and was one of the very first Energy Advisors in the country.

All Blue House Energy online learning is based on Shawna’s extensive training and experience as an Energy Advisor, as well as her ongoing work in the field over the past 3 decades. Shawna participates in industry working groups on high performance construction and renovation led by Natural Resources Canada and CHBA National.

Home Building and Renovation Industry Participation

Current:

Chair - Net Zero Energy Renovation Working Group CHBA (2020-2022)

Member - Education Committee, Canadian Association of Consulting Energy Advisors (CACEA)

Co-chair - Atlantic Canada Home Construction & Renovation Sector Council

Member - Net Zero Energy Renovation Initiative Advisory Group CHBA

Member - Retrofit Training Steering Committee, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT)

Past:

Chair - Professional Development Committee CHBA-NS (2018-2021)

Basically, she eats, breathes, and sleeps building science and houses.

Which means Blue House Energy has a start-to-finish solution.

Energy Advisor Training

Start by taking our online Energy Advisor Foundation Exam Preparation Course. It covers all of Natural Resources Canada’s competency guidelines. This is on-demand learning, meaning you set the pace according to your schedule. We’ve designed it for busy people, and you can get through most topics in 10 – 15 minute sessions. The on-demand learning is supported by monthly Q&A sessions with one of our favourite building science specialists.

The training prepares advisors to assist in building a new energy efficient home by providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills.

Ready?

 Download our Energy Advisor Foundation course booklet to find out more about what's covered in our Energy Advisor Foundation Exam Prep course.

We also offer an Energy Advisor Exam Prep course for those who pass Foundation.

You can take one or the other program with us, or get a great deal on both with our Energy Advisor Mastery Program.

Interested in finding out more?