Program Design
RDH brought together an internal multi-disciplinary team of instructional designers, technical content developers, peer reviewers, editors, graphic designers, and illustrators to lead the program from concept through delivery. This team included our in-house Training & Publications team and building science specialists with extensive experience performing airtightness testing across a wide range of building types and climate zones throughout the US and Canada.
Our team developed the program’s learning outcomes, module learning objectives, delivery approach, and instructional aids, including lesson plans, training manual, and an instructor guide. Our specialists also designed and developed plans for the freestanding physical mock-ups the trainees use in the classroom to perform simulated building airtightness tests.
We designed the program to educate both entry-level and experienced blower door technicians in the planning, preparation, and execution of blower door airtightness testing on commercial and large buildings in conformance with industry-standard test methods. The interactive 40-hour training program can be delivered either in-person or online over 5 days. In addition to the classroom instruction, the trainees perform a full-scale, whole-building test on an existing building.
Program Outcomes
The pilot session was delivered in March 2022 in Seattle, and RDH continues to support the program through instructor involvement. Graduates are equipped to pursue ISO 17024-compliant certification, and the course has attracted participants from across North America and beyond. In August 2023, ABAA launched its official Blower Door Technician Certification program based on this training.
The program is already having a regulatory impact. The State of Washington’s Residential Energy Code now requires airtightness testing on Group R-2 occupancies to be conducted by certified individuals. The code names explicitly ABAA as an approved certification body, reflecting growing recognition of this training program’s role in advancing airtightness testing standards.
Read more about the program here.
