Pennsylvania Energy Efficiency and Ethics 24 PDH Discount Package 1

This online engineering PDH course presents a performance analysis of 75 solar photovoltaic (PV) systems installed at federal sites, conducted by the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) with support from National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

System data is analyzed for key performance indicators including availability, performance ratio, and energy ratio by comparing the measured production data to modeled production data. The analysis utilizes the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s System Advisor Model (SAM), which combines a description of the system (such as inverter capacity, temperature derating, and balance-of-system efficiency) with environmental parameters (coincident solar and temperature data) to calculate predicted performance.

The measured performance metrics are useful in that they provide realistic expectations of performance, and owners of existing systems may compare their own measured performance values to the average and focus on corrective actions.

This online engineering PDH course provides a brief overview of wind turbine technology and its associated components, discusses the financial considerations and the technological improvements that would be required to increase the reliance on wind energy in the future.   

Current turbine technology has enabled wind energy to become a viable power source in today’s energy market. Advancements in turbine technology that have the potential to increase wind energy’s presence are currently being explored through areas of study including reducing capital costs, increasing capacity factors, and mitigating risk through enhanced system reliability.

This online engineering PDH course provides information on a wide variety of energy-related topics, ranging from simple weatherization, insulation, heating and cooling system improvements in homes, to installing and maintaining efficient water heaters, home appliances and solar panels.

Every year, a typical family in the United States spends around half of its home energy budget on heating and cooling. Unfortunately, many of those dollars are often wasted, because conditioned air escapes through leaky ceilings, walls and foundations, or flows through inadequately insulated attics, pipes, exterior walls and basements. In addition, many appliances, heating systems and air conditioners aren’t properly maintained, are old and inefficient, compared to models being sold today.

By properly maintaining your existing heating and cooling equipment (or replacing aging units with high-efficiency models), addressing weatherization and insulation issues at your house and getting into the habit of using energy efficiently all the time, you can save 10 to 30 percent (or more) on your utility bills every year. You will also help reduce pollution at utility plants that use fossil fuels to generate electricity.

This online engineering PDH course provides basic information about landscaping and irrigation and discusses the different approaches and technologies utilized to ensure efficient outdoor water use. 

Most of the residential outdoor water in the United States is used for landscape irrigation. In fact, as much as half the residential outdoor water is wasted through evaporation, wind, or runoff. Many factors are either directly or indirectly responsible for this loss among which; improper irrigation system design and installation as well as poor maintenance. Thus, improved landscaping, effective maintenance practices and efficient irrigation equipment can significantly reduce water use, prevent its loss and decrease costs from property landscapes.

This online engineering PDH course presents guidelines on how to reduce mechanical system water use in residential buildings. Mechanical systems are frequently utilized to provide heating and cooling for residential properties. They typically fall into two categories: centralized and decentralized systems.

Centralized mechanical systems provide heating and cooling from a central location, such as a mechanical room or utility penthouse. These systems are more common in mid- and high-rise multifamily properties and can include cooling towers, boilers, and steam systems, each of which uses water as the heat transfer medium. As a result, the use of water for building heating and cooling can be significant and using sound management practices is a good opportunity for water savings.

Decentralized mechanical systems treat each unit of a multifamily property as its own space, as if each unit were a stand-alone single-family residence. These systems do not typically use process water, so they are not the focus of this water efficiency management guide.

This online engineering PDH course identifies the opportunities for improving the performance of the heating and cooling system based on the type of system that is in place.

Heating and cooling systems are the largest single consumers of energy in buildings. These systems condition the air within a building so that occupants are comfortable. Heating and cooling systems consist mainly of chillers, boilers, cooling towers, and pumps. There are central heating and cooling systems, and unitary systems that combine heating and cooling. Opportunities exist for improvement to both central and unitary systems.

This 3 PDH online course is applicable to engineers, contractors, designers and other technical professionals who are involved in the retrofit of existing heating and cooling systems.

This online engineering PDH course presents the laws and rules of ethics and professional responsibility governing the practice of engineering in the State of Pennsylvania. Excerpts from Pennsylvania ACT 367 as well as Chapter 37 of the Pennsylvania Code, which relate to the rules of profession conduct, continuing education requirements, proper use of seal and other pertinent regulatory provisions are presented in this course.

Engineering ethics is (1) the study of moral issues and decisions confronting individuals and organizations involved in engineering and (2) the study of related questions about moral conduct, character, ideals and relationships of peoples and organizations involved in technological development (Martin and Schinzinger, Ethics in Engineering).

This 2 PDH  online course is applicable to Pennsylvania Professional Engineers who face different situations on daily basis while practicing engineering. This course will provide moral and ethical guidance to engineers in their decision making process. Most importantly, it will provide engineers with insight on how to respect and protect their profession with utmost professionalism.