Energy numbers are easy to get wrong. Builders and their teams mix up energy and power units, misread utility bills and product labels, and compare fuels or systems on an uneven basis. On BC housing projects, the result is specification errors, weak estimates, and poor recommendations to clients.
This course takes builders through converting common residential energy units and using simple efficiency calculations to make practical decisions on real sites. It covers kWh, GJ, MJ, watts, and BTUs, with worked BC examples for electricity and natural gas use. You’ll also work through basic efficiency and coefficient of performance calculations, plus exercises comparing operating energy across system options for heating, hot water, ventilation, and enclosure decisions.
The payoff is numbers you trust when you estimate, specify, and advise clients. You’ll compare two system options on an equal basis and explain the difference in terms your client understands.
At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Convert common residential energy units used in design, construction and utility billing
- Calculate basic efficiency measures and coefficient of performance for common home systems
- Compare energy inputs, outputs, costs and operating energy across two residential system options
- Interpret utility bills, equipment labels and product data to support clearer estimating and product selection