LEED CMP | Review of Everblue’s ‘Basics of Solar’ Live Webinar
18 Aug 2011 3 Comments
in education and awareness Tags: CMP, continuing education, Everblue, LEED, LEED AP, LEED AP BD&C, online course, review, solar, webinar
Last night I started with first of many Everblue webinars I will be doing over the next couple of weeks in order to complete my Continued Education hours for my LEED AP BD&C credential. This one was called ‘Basics of Solar’, and satisfied 2 hours in the ‘Project Systems and Energy Impacts’ portion of required subjects.
*note: I took this course as a part of an Everblue Training package of 30 hours designed to meet the CMP prescriptive path for LEED AP’s previously without specialty.
My general impression of the course was that LEED and GBCI (the parties responsible for determining what qualifies as an ‘ERB approved course’) must think that most people are not capable of advancing past a 5th grade level of technical education. I mean no offense at the presenter from Everblue, Chris Boggiano, who – aside from a somewhat unnecessary 10 minute tangent on the wonders of the American military – presented the material in a very clear and understandable way. (note: He was also kind enough to reply to this post in the comments, which I think shows a degree of concern for quality by Everblue that is refreshing.)
More than anything, I am just amazed that a group of professionals (who have already passed the test to become LEED AP’s) have to sit through a 2 hour presentation of material very similar to what we covered in my 5th grade science class on the basics of solar energy in order to prove that we are still capable of holding our credential. I’ll have to write a separate post in the future about the overall lack of advanced material for CMP hours, which really is a critique of GBCI and not Everblue.
My venting aside, Everblue did a fairly good job of organizing the webinar. My only criticism would be to provide a little more information about what to expect before joining a live session (i.e. Give yourself some time, because you’ll have to download the software first.). Really, it was fairly easy to figure out, though.
The course was divided into four sections:
- History
- Types of Solar Energy
- Solar Thermal Systems
- System Maintenance & Troubleshooting
The first section was too long and not useful at all… not to mention, filled with questionable historical truths about solar energy (clarification: I thought that time would have been better spent on expanding on some of the information in the last two sections… practical applications). The run-through of the various types of solar technology is, I suppose, necessary for a course called ‘Basics of Solar’. However, I could have used less repetition of easy concepts and would have appreciated the assumption that we had all been to science class at least one time (clarification: As Chris mentions in the notes, perhaps it is necessary to simplify the action of an electron… but if you’re considering this course, you should know that the science is presented in a simplified way). The last two sections were fine – there was a little info that was new to me, but I think much more could have been covered had there been less repetition.
Overall, the course got the job done. It satisfied my credits, and if that’s all you care about – go for it. If you’re looking to be enlightened about the intricacies of solar technologies, try somewhere else… such as the “70 hour solar design and installation program” suggested by Chris.
Aug 19, 2011 @ 02:11:46
Mariana,
Hi it’s Chris your instructor from Everblue. I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your feedback as we are always trying to improve the learning experience for our students. Also, I would also like to address two of your critiques of the CMP class that you attended:
1. The course is too basic: At this point I’ve taught a few thousand people on topics such as LEED, solar, and energy efficiency. For what it’s worth, the vast majority of those students (including most LEED APs) don’t know the first thing about solar and never learned about it in the fifth grade. On top of that, few will ever admit to anyone that they don’t know much out of fear of appearing stupid. For that reason, I would rather insult one student’s intelligence than go over the heads of the other 99 who don’t know anything about the topic – in this case solar. That being said, we have much longer and more in depth technical courses available. For example, our 2 hour Basics of Solar class is really a first step toward a much longer (and technical) 70 hour solar design and installation program if you are interested in being challenged by technical content.
2. A somewhat unnecessary tangent about the wonders of the American military: Perhaps it is because you are not located in the United States, but I maintain that the US military is one of the most positive forces for the growth of renewable in the world today. The largest solar projects in the world are being developed on US Army and Air Force bases in the United States. This is because the US military recognizes the importance of, and is responsible for, securing global energy supplies – The US Navy alone uses 1.7% of the energy in the United States. It is also because the US military can take risks to move the market in a way that the private sector could never accomplish. For that reason, I believe their investment in renewable energy is extremely relevant to anyone learning about solar.
Again, I appreciate your feedback and hope that you understand where we are coming from. I look forward to seeing you in a future class.
Chris
Aug 19, 2011 @ 08:36:28
Hi Chris, thank you so much for your reply – it really shows a concern by Everblue to follow up with their students, which I appreicate. As I said, but perhaps didn’t emphasize enough in my post, I was really quite pleased with your capabilities as an instructor and never meant to insult you personally or professionally. Hopefully you have not taken offense.
As far as your reply, I understand the need to present basic information for people as a training institution. And, as I said, my criticism is not with Everblue or the existence of ‘Basics of Solar’… it’s with the fact that I personally have found it very difficult to complete my CMP hours from abroad with advanced content that doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg and is ERB approved.
While I will try to address this in another post, so as not to associate Everblue with my comments, I must say that I have found that if you want to complete your hours with free courses… you have to be willing to sit through very very basic info.
If you want to complete your hours with packages (like the one I am taking with you guys, which definitely has its advantages), there will also be some basic info… but you get what you get in the package.
If instead, you’d really like to get advanced material out of every hour of your continued education… you have to be prepared to spend A LOT of money.
My comment is only that this is a bit unfortunate, and that I wish there were more advanced material available at the same degree as the basic.
As far as the military tangent, I maintain that it was unnecessary for a LEED AP training class… no matter how true it may be. It sounded a bit like an ad for the US Army.
I will enter some clarification notes in my original post to alert readers that I am not trying to insult Everblue… or you! I was just posting my general reaction to the information so that someone interested in taking it could know what to expect. I really did think you presented the material in a very skilled way.
Sincerely, Mariana