Efficiency First California

What a Load Calculation is and Why One Is So Important
2026-07-07 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online
Event Description
Learn what a heating and cooling load calculation on a building actually is. Discover what the main goal of a load calculation is. Explore what the heating and cooling loads on a building are and why a load calculation is unique to every building. Understand why it is important to perform a load calculation prior to specifying heating and cooling equipment.
Learning Objectives

Be able to define what a heating and cooling load calculation is.
Learn what the goal of the load calculation procedure is.
Realize that rules of thumb do not accurately predict how much heating and cooling a building needs.

Recovery Ventilator: Installation, Energy Savings, and Compliance
2026-07-15 14:00 - 16:00
Event Description
Improved health and cognitive performance. Easier Title 24 compliance. Utility bill savings. These are the reasons to consider incorporating Heat Recovery Ventilators & Energy Recovery Ventilators (collectively Recovery Ventilators or RVs) into your next high-performance home project.
The instructors are a high-performance home contractor and energy consultant, who together have specified and installed hundreds of RVs. They will draw on these experiences and data gathered from these units to better understand these mechanical ventilation systems and their benefits. They will cover the details of ducting to the outside for inlet and exhaust air and distributing the supply and exhaust throughout homes. Balancing airflow rates and maintenance requirements will also be covered.
We will also go over new 2025 energy code requirements for balanced ventilation and heat recovery in multifamily dwelling units, how to add a RV to a Title 24 compliance energy model and the change in energy use and compliance metrics that results. We’ll present various configurations of RVs, including through-the-wall paired units, packaged HRVs and packaged ERVs, and various ducting options.
Learning Objectives

Understand the basics of how Recovery Ventilators (RVs) work to improve indoor air quality in homes and reduce heating and cooling energy use
Learn the 2025 energy code requirements for mechanical ventilation in single family and multifamily buildings and how RVs impact Title 24 compliance metrics
Model a case study home and multifamily building using RVs and examine the energy use and compliance scores in various configurations
Hear best practices for specifying and installing RVs

Learning Units

2.0 AIA LUs pending for this course
0.2 ICC CEUs pending for this course
2.0 CEA CEUs pending for this course

Instructors
Nick Brown, Build Smart Group
Scott Kelly, SK Fresh Air
Course Location
Zoom link provided upon registration

Next Generation Passive Solar & Passive House
2026-07-22 09:30 - 11:00
Event Description
We all learned the principles of passive solar design in school – south facing orientation, strategic windows, thermal mass, etc., but the old rules don’t apply in the same way. In the meantime, Passive House building principles are folding into every-day construction. Modern buildings should still incorporate a range of passive strategies, but they need a new spin on the implementation to account for improved insulation, prevalence of high-performance glazing, and efficient HVAC systems and lighting.
Learning Units
1 AIA LUs pending for this course
Instructors
Jennifer Rennick, In Balance Green Consulting
Andy Pease, In Balance Green Consulting
Course Location
Zoom link provided upon registration.

Using the ECC (HERS) Registry for Energy Code Compliance
2026-07-30 09:30 - 11:00
Event Description
This class teaches building department personnel how to use the ECC (formerly HERS) Registry to track the status of all of the ECC tests and inspections, as well as all of the other compliance documents: CF1R, CF2Rs, and CF3Rs. The Project Status Report generated by the registry is probably the single most valuable tool for building departments to ensure compliance with the energy code.
Learning Objectives

What the ECC program is in the energy code
How ECC verification fits into the overall compliance process
When a project is required to be registered with an ECC provider and when it is not
How to find a project in an ECC registry
How to use the ECC registry to track compliance documentation for a project
How to use the ECC registry to save time on field inspections

Learning Units

1.5 AIA LUs pending for this course
0.15 ICC CEUs pending for this course
1.5 CEA CEUs pending for this course

Instructor
Russ King, Coded Energy
Course Location
Zoom link provided upon registration
