News Release Distributed 12/18/15
BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter LaHouse Resource Center will offer classes in January that address new residential energy code requirements for Louisiana contractors, builders, inspectors and prospective code verifiers.
A Duct and Envelope Tightness (DET) Verifier certification class will be held Jan. 26 and 27 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The HVAC for Home Performance class includes the DET class and an extra day of interactive education, with the full HVAC class running Jan. 26 to 28.
“These classes will help participants meet the new provisions of Louisiana’s residential building energy code so homeowners can enjoy the benefits of greater energy efficiency, along with high comfort and indoor air quality,” said Claudette Reichel, AgCenter extension housing specialist. “The instructor will discuss concepts to help them choose methods appropriate to our climate to avoid problems.”
Participants who complete the DET course and written and field exams will be designated Southface Energy Institute certified DET Verifiers. The certification allows them to perform diagnostic testing and report the building and duct tightness testing results to verify compliance with the 2009 IRC energy code.
LaHouse is an authorized provider for Southface DET training and certification.
The HVAC class includes the DET course and certification testing as well as instruction on building science concepts and best practices to prevent, diagnose and solve heating, cooling and ventilation problems.
Participants will receive a handbook, online tutorials, classroom instruction and hands-on practice, plus the DET exams. The classes also count for CEU hours for Louisiana residential contractors.
“DET certification is especially beneficial to HVAC contractors because it provides more options for duct tightness code compliance that are not available to those who are certified only in using duct test equipment for ‘total leakage’ measurements,” Reichel said. “DET verifiers can do both ‘total leakage’ and ‘leakage to outside’ tests.”
Registration and more information are available at www.lsuagcenter.com/LaHouse on the Seminars and Events page. LaHouse is located at 2858 Gourrier Ave. across from LSU Alex Box Baseball Stadium.
Olivia McClure