EMA Launches Virtual O&M Training for Engineers & Facility Managers

The Energy Management Association has created a new virtual course aimed at providing commercial and public building personnel with the tools they need to increase energy efficiency, reduce costs and optimize systems. EMA’s “Virtual O&M Training for Engineers & Facility Managers” debuts Oct. 13, and is offered in a series of four webinars running through Oct. 21. To register, click here.

This course has been preapproved for incentives that are available to contractors and building operation personnel, who will be eligible to receive a cash rebate of 80% of enrollment costs. For more information and to download the incentive application, follow these links: Pepco Operations & Maintenance Training; BG&E Building Operation Training; Delmarva Power Operations and Maintenance Training; SMECO Building Operator Education.

The webinars focus on basic energy management strategies, including evaluating energy bills, establishing building energy baselines and various performance metrics and developing facility benchmarks utilizing Portfolio Manager.

The program will also examine industry accepted practices and processes for energy audits (ASHRAE Levels 1-3) and retro-commissioning. Attendees will learn how to systematically assess their facilities, identifying various energy-saving opportunities (conservation measures); then analyze them economically and rank/prioritize them based upon varying criteria. New in this course is a webinar that provides a deep examination of the rapidly emerging practice of monitoring-based commissioning, the process of collecting, storing, analyzing and reporting data (collected through sensors) to optimize equipment performance and efficiency.

In addition, strategies regarding budgeting and implementing energy-saving projects will be discussed; verifying their performance and developing an ongoing commissioning program, through continuous monitoring strategies and preventative/predictive maintenance, to ensure a “persistence of savings.” Sample problems and common calculations will be demonstrated throughout the training. Participants will earn up to 8 AIA LUs for continuing education purposes.