Starting your own energy audit business is a real option for anyone that wants to get involved in a secure, green career.This is one industry that is expected to continue to grow, even in times of economic downturn, when people are more focused on saving money.This gives you a virtual guarantee of job security, regardless of the overall financial outlook.Working as an energy auditor has many significant advantages. You can be your own boss and the training can be relatively straight-forward and fast.Start-up costs? Minimal.You can also position yourself at the forefront of a developing energy-saving wave. It could be your energy audit business as a local leader in this emerging field.A Range of New Business IdeasTraining to work as an energy auditor opens up a wide range of possible career opportunities. Some of these include:
Self-employed Home Energy Auditor – provides energy efficiency advice for residential properties.
Self-employed Commercial Energy Auditor – provides energy efficiency advice for commercial properties.
Energy auditor employed by a Utility Company.You would provide regular home energy auditing advice for customers of a utility company. Utility companies are now realizing the popularity of energy auditing and offering it as an additional service for their customers. This is a good reflection of the growth of the energy audit business. Energy auditor specializing in Alternative Energy.You would provide energy advice for people interested in installing an alternative energy system (such as solar, wind or geothermal power) on their property. Consumers often need help understanding how to make the best use of these systems and how to successfully integrate them with other energy sources.Energy auditor specializing in building design and construction.You would provide advice to architects and builders about how to make buildings more energy efficient. They may also conduct assessments of newly built properties in order to give them an energy rating to guide potential investors. This is one aspect of the energy audit business that is very important as investors are now very interested in learning the energy efficiency of a property before purchasing it.Because conducting energy audits is such a new industry, you have a lot of freedom to determine the path that you want your career to take.Carefully check the components offered by various training courses to find the one that best aligns with your interests.When researching the best energy audit training courses, check whether they include units on the general principles involved in running your own business. You will need to learn about marketing, tax and public relations in order to successfully run your energy audit business.You should also consider whether the course has been accredited by a reputable organization. Certification by the National Energy and Sustainability Institute (NEASI) for example. This means that once you complete the course you are eligible to sit the NEASI Home Energy Audit Certification Exam. Such certification provides additional credibility for your business.

As the economy goes for bad to worse, obtaining energy seems to be tougher down the road. Thus it is important that we reduce our usage of non- renewable energy source and use other types of renewable energy sources that are available for us.Renewable energy are those sources that can keep providing energy without depleting the resources. And there are three types of energy when it comes to renewable energy solution:Solar energy solutions, hydro energy solutions, and wind energy solutions.Solar energy power: The sun’s energy is available for all and it is the most eternal source of energy on earth. We should make use of this free energy ALLAH has given us and use it to produce all energy we need to power our homes Not only will this cut down the energy bills, but we will be contributing in making green environment. Solar power solution include, solar cooker, solar heating systems, solar lighting systems, solar dryer etc,.As we all know the sun has always and will always be the ultimate source of light and heat energy. With the new technology, the sun’s power can be used to create other forms of energy, via photovoltaic cells. Fortunately the solar energy has many advantage, apart from being cost effective, it is also environment friendly, as it does not cause any type of pollution to the atmosphere. Also they have low to no maintenance which will save you time and effort. Above all of that, solar energy system once installed will give you return on investment very soon, you just need to invest and in and enjoy the free energy for years to come.Using solar power to cook is considered a very healthy thing. Families have started employing solar energy as a power solution at their homes. Many people have started to use solar energy in many various ways by obtaining a green source of energy and save tons of money spent on electrical bills. The good news is each and every one can make his own solar power system and start to generate his own source of energy, you just need to learn step by step plant on how to install it,tools you need and where to put it. Usually right up on the roof is a very promising place, where it is subject to a lot of heat from sun to be converted to energy. You may be thinking now that building and installing solar energy system will cost you a lot but in fact it won’t, usually if you have the proper knowledge it may cost under $200 to build a one.

In 2006, the residential sector accounted for just under a quarter of all energy used in Ireland & was the second largest using sector after transport. Energy is consumed by the sector for the purposes of heating, cooking, cleaning, washing, drying, lighting, cooling & entertainment.Due to the fact that our energy is largely imported from a rapidly-diminishing resource of fossil fuels, there is a huge onus of responsibility on home-owners & designers to reduce the amount of energy required to live comfortably in our homes as well as significantly increasing the amount of fuel domestically generated from renewable sources. Irish consumer spend €6 billion per annum on imported fossil fuels – if we can be more energy-efficient and/or use domestically generated fuels, then the economic & employment benefits are very significant. Also, the environmental benefits will be enormous for the country & the planet at large.For example, a house builder looking to build an energy efficient house in Cork, or an existing home owner looking to perform energy saving updates should consult with a specialist builder of Eco homes and sustainable buildings. The savings made in long term heating costs will be far greater than the initial investment in green building materials.With this in mind, the Irish Government has adopted & published “THE NATIONAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY ACTION PLAN 2009 – 2020”, the primary tenets which are as follows:
20% reduction in energy demand across the economy
33% reduction in public sector energy usage
10% of our passenger & light commercial fleet to be electrically powered
The Action Plan also states that the two major energy efficiency challenges that face the residential building sector are:
To create a generation of buildings that meet expectations of comfort & functionality while significantly reducing energy usage & CO2 emissions
To address the legacy of older buildings with poor energy & CO2 performance
The primary driver for improved energy performance in new buildings is the Building Regulations which are regularly upgraded. Contrary to some popular belief, building standards have improved thru the boom period, particularly when measured in terms of energy demand: a typical 2007 house will require 70% less energy than a 1987 house for space & water heating purposes. However, there are many more energy-saving measures to be rolled out. The 2002 Building Regulations are now being used as the benchmark against which ongoing improvements are being the measured. The 2007 Building regulations deliver a 40% more energy efficient house than the 2002 version, while the upcoming 2010 Regulations will increase that margin to 60%. It is envisaged that in 2013, Low Carbon Homes will become the new standard, which will increase the margin of energy efficiency to 70% from 2002.Obviously, it will be a little more challenging to deliver energy efficiencies in the huge stock of existing housing, much of which was constructed to very low standards. It is estimated that 1 million houses approx require investment to improve their energy efficiency. As many as 300,000 houses built pre-1981 have little or no energy efficiency features & have very significant energy demand.However, it is hoped that home-owners can be incentivised with a number of measures to improve the energy efficiency of their homes in order for the country as a whole to meet it’s 2020 targets. In particular, homeowners are currently being encouraged as follows:
Home Energy Saving Scheme: Grants are available for improvements such as cavity insulation, external wall insulation, attic insulation, condensing boilers, heating controls, etc
Building Energy Ratings (BER): All houses or apartments for sale or rent now have to have a BER. As the rating will be likely to become a factor in the price or rent that can be commanded, it is hoped that homeowners/landlords will be motivated to improve their stock. This rating will also be critical for the incoming homeowner or tenant as it will indicate their annual energy costs.
Smart Metering: The Programme for Government is committed to ensuring the installation of a smart meter in every household in Ireland. Smart meters support energy efficient behaviour in homes by offering consumers information on their energy usage and make clear the opportunities for change & improvement. They also include features such as net metering which allows users to sell micro-generated power to the national grid. International experience suggests that smart meters can prompt behaviour change, leading to electricity savings of at least 3%.
Warmer Homes Scheme: This scheme addresses the problem of energy affordability by providing attic insulation, lagging jackets, draught-proofing, energy-efficient lighting, cavity wall insulation, etc at little or no cost to eligible households.
Greener Homes Scheme: This scheme provides grants to home owners to install new renewable heating systems in their homes such as Biomass, Heat Pump & Solar Thermal.
The Government is also involved in other areas in their endeavour to deliver the target energy efficiencies, such as: better spatial & planning policies, consumer awareness campaigns, best practice design for social housing, etc.The drive to low energy housing is a win:win situation for all stakeholders: energy costs are reduced, carbon taxes are reduced, huge economic & employment benefits, huge reductions in CO2 & Greenhouse gas emissions which will make it a healthier & more sustainable environment for all.