In 2021, SEEA entered into a three-year cooperative agreement with U.S. DOE to fund the development and delivery of workforce training to increase the adoption of advanced energy technology like electric air source heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, electric vehicle charging systems, and battery storage systems. The project team, which includes SEEA, AZS Consulting, Inc., and Viridiant, has created training materials, with the guidance and input of regional experts and stakeholders.
This site hosts resources and trainings on electric air source heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, electric vehicle charging systems, and battery storage systems as part of the BENEFIT project, ‘Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies’ project from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
The initiative will train and educate more than 1,000 building workforce professionals to become champions for advanced building technologies over a three-year period.
Innovations in building technologies are transforming the ability of homeowners, building operators, and contracting service providers to control energy demand while increasing comfort and energy affordability. However, Southeastern markets have limited penetration of these technologies (electric air source heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, electric vehicle charging systems, and battery storage systems) in part due to the lack of workforce understanding of individual and system-level benefits.
Frontline building service providers are the key point of consumer contact, delivering information, education, and sales for critical efficiency components. When the primary point of contact has the knowledge and familiarity to recommend and service advanced building technologies, increased penetration in the region can be facilitated through daily consumer interactions. Training in the systems of tomorrow enables the workforce to drive market adoption of technologies that save energy, reduce costs, increase resiliency and enhance load management capacity for regional utilities.
To accomplish these goals, the project team assessed the state of the industry’s best practices, barriers, and gaps to better understand the identified technologies and their respective market penetration in Florida and Virginia. The project team split participants in the process chain into three Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) from which feedback was collected to develop this needs assessment. The TAGs advised the project team on the current state of the technologies, their capabilities, as well as shared questions, misunderstandings and barriers to market adoption.
Discover cutting-edge solutions that drive energy efficiency and sustainability in residential and commercial buildings. Explore the latest advancements in building technologies through our comprehensive resources. Each PDF below provides in-depth insights into specific innovations, their benefits, and applications in meeting modern energy codes and reducing environmental impact.
Download PDFs below to learn more about each technology.