North American Technician Excellence (NATE) and the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in order to promote the improvement of home energy performance in the United States. Under this agreement, NATE and RESNET will collaborate on key initiatives to meet this goal, while also supporting the growth of both organizations.

To kick off this strategic partnership, Patrick Murphy, Vice President of Certification for NATE, was recently appointed to the RESNET Technical Committee. As part of his role on the committee, Murphy will be responsible for assisting RESNET in the development of protocols for rating the performance of HVAC systems.

One of the key components of the MOU is that NATE and RESNET will advocate for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recognition of NATE-certified technicians in meeting the HVAC requirements in its ENERGY STAR® Qualified New Homes Program. The two organizations will also work together to identify the training and NATE certification required for raters to determine whether there is adequate air flow across the heat exchanger/coil. In addition, NATE and RESNET will develop a plan for expanding these ‘new homes’ activities into the ‘existing homes’ market by creating a program that can ultimately be recognized by the Department of Energy (DOE), EPA and other Federal, State and utility retrofit efforts.

By joining forces on initiatives such as these, as well supporting each organization’s membership efforts and activities, NATE and RESNET aim to achieve greater success in their shared mission to promote residential energy efficiency.

“This partnership between NATE and RESNET is a significant step forward in our effort to improve energy performance,” stated Peter Schwartz, president of NATE. “By working together to achieve the same goal, our organizations have twice the resources available to use towards this end, as well as a louder voice in this arena than ever before. We look forward to a long and successful collaboration.”

www.natex.org