National Occupational Standards Consultation
Air Conditioning Energy Assessment

Introduction

The original National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Energy Assessor (Air Conditioning Systems) were approved in September 2007. The current revised NOS incorporate changes to both the format and content of the NOS to provide clearer differentiation between types of air conditioning systems and the extent and level of the knowledge required to carry out effective energy efficiency assessments. They are a consultation draft and final revised NOS will be submitted for re-approval following the review and consultation process.

The standards have been developed for individuals assessing the energy performance of air conditioning systems (over 12Kw rated cooling output) to comply with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). They require the competent application of a technical methodology directly derived from "CIBSE TM 44: Inspection of air conditioning systems" which is consistent with the principles for the inspection of air conditioning systems set out in BS EN 15420: "Ventilation for buildings. Energy performance of buildings. Guidelines for inspection of air conditioning systems", and EN 15420: "Inspection of air conditioning systems"

The original approved NOS were reformatted to conform to the new Asset Skills house style. In the process the previous Scope Statements were incorporated into either the knowledge (in most cases) or the performance criteria in relevant Elements. A meeting was held on the 15th July 2009 with all the key stakeholders to review the use made of the 2007 NOS including:

• The Department for Communities and Local Government,
• the Chartered Institution of Building Service Engineers (CIBSE the professional body),
  Asset Skills,
• Summit Skills (joint custodians of the standards),
• energy adviser accreditation bodies and
• ABBE (awarding body).

It was agreed that the NOS needed to be changed in two key ways:

• greater differentiation between the standards for inspecting simple and complex systems
• greater specification in the activities of the standards.

A technical working group was set up in order to review the content and provided a revised draft.

The revised draft Air Con NOS can be viewed/downloaded here.

Your response to this questionnaire will help structure the final qualifications. Please complete and submit this online survey to Asset Skills by midnight on Thursday 10th December.

Please click here to access the Questionnaire.

If you would like any further information please email dbell@assetskills.org, Director of Qualifications and Policy.