Canadian GeoExchange Coalition’s training program

The Canadian GeoExchange Coalition (CGC), Canada’s industry association for geothermal heat pump technology, announced the release of its first course specifically designed to help Municipal Inspectors and Building Officials understand and inspect GeoExchange™ or geothermal heat pump systems.

The course, compiled and edited by a Municipal Safety Codes Officer at City of Calgary, and developed through a CGC partnership with Calgary and other leading municipalities, reflects over ten months of work from CGC and its partners.

This addition to the training portfolio of CGC’s Global Quality GeoExchange™ Program® is intended to help answer North American stakeholder desires, expressed over more than a decade of consultations at all levels of the geoexchange industry, to have state-of-the-art, current training materials which reflect the reality of Standards, Codes and best practices in North America.

“The Municipal Inspector course fills an important gap in available information for a group of professionals who are most concerned with proper installation practise. Having sharp and informed Municipal Inspectors who know what to look for and what not to look for on all installations, helps fulfil the spirit and mission of market transformation and responsible self-regulation” said CGC CEO Denis Tanguay. “Trained Municipal Inspectors will help raise the bar for the entire industry by helping eliminate bad practise from informal practitioners. This effort is another CGC step for the industry’s long-term health across the continent.”

Development was initiated with funding assistance from Natural Resources Canada and was completed through the CGC Permanent Training Fund. In this mechanism part of course fees are dedicated to annual revision and improvement of all courses. “The CGC’s Global Quality GeoExchange™ Program® is now delivering updated training materials to industry and in a sense paying for itself; industry is reinvesting in its own development and in professionalizing. This shows how a proactive and responsible industry association can reinvest in an industry rather than taking money out for individual profit” said Ted Kantrowitz, CGC Vice-President.

The course will be available in both English and French, and will be taught by a Municipal Inspector. CGC would like to reiterate that consumers, project owners and municipalities should insist that all geoexchange work done within their jurisdiction be CGC Certified Systems.

™ Coalition acts as the industry catalyst to unite private and public sector stakeholders, and to expand the market for geoexchange™ technology in Canada. As the nexus of information, training, certification, industry standards and public awareness, our mandate is to work with stakeholders to build the necessary infrastructure to foster the growth of the Canadian geoexchange™ industry. For more information, visit www.geo-exchange.ca