BPV Academy

Training tracks & practical applications

Training for the work
your people perform.

Technical training with Marcus Myers for people entering the industry and professionals building on their experience. Choose a subject, identify the skills you need and build a learning plan around your work.

How you learn: Train. Test. Verify. Perform. Try a complete learning example

Learn the meaning behind the requirement

LEED, codes, standards and Cx levels.

Explore the framework, ask a useful question and choose what you want to understand next.

Explore the Cx reference library

Explore the training

What do you want
to learn?

Build a foundation, deepen a technical skill or prepare for a new responsibility. Each subject connects to tasks you or your team need to perform.

Commissioning fundamentals

Understand what a building must do and how to verify it.

Commissioning across the building’s life

New construction, existing buildings and ongoing performance. Learn how the starting point changes the work.

Construction quality & readiness

Learn how quality plans, inspections and issue resolution support the work.

Building enclosure commissioning

Understand how roofs, walls, windows and their connections perform.

Central plants & district energy

Connect heating, cooling, pumps, distribution, controls and plant performance.

Controls, integration & digital twins

Learn how building systems exchange reliable data and work together.

Electrical systems, metering & energy data

Follow how power moves through a building and use energy information systems (EIS) to interpret measurements.

Energy audits & condition assessments

Understand energy use, building condition and improvement priorities.

Commissioning, qualification & validation (CQV)

Connect engineering, quality and evidence in pharmaceutical and biotechnology facilities.

Data centers

Connect power, cooling, controls, testing and readiness for operation.

Semiconductors & cleanrooms

Learn how cleanrooms, equipment and building services support manufacturing.

Leadership & business skills

Practice communication, project decisions, client relationships and team leadership.

Follow the work a little further

Different systems.
Different starting points.

Open the subject that fits your work. Start with the fundamentals, then shape the examples and depth around your role.

Commissioning across the building’s lifeNew construction · Existing buildings · Ongoing performance

The starting point changes. The purpose stays connected to what the owner needs and the evidence that the systems perform.

New construction & major renovations

Connect owner requirements to design reviews, installation checks, functional testing, operating information and staff training throughout project delivery.

Existing-building commissioning (EBCx)

Investigate current performance, compare it with today’s needs and verify improvements. Recommissioning revisits previously commissioned systems. Retrocommissioning applies the process where it was not previously performed.

Ongoing commissioning (OCx)

After initial commissioning, keep performance aligned with changing needs. Review operation, investigate problems, verify corrections and update the information and knowledge people use.

Monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx)

Use reliable data, trends and analysis to support ongoing Cx. Follow findings through investigation, correction and verification. Monitoring supports the process; it is not a separate stage in a building’s life.

Try the thinking

A building was commissioned five years ago. Its occupants and schedules have changed. What would you need to learn before deciding what good performance looks like today?

Explore the source: DOE’s commissioning types · ASHRAE process references

Build training around this subject
Central plants & district energyFollow the heating, cooling, flow and controls.

A central plant produces heating or cooling for a building or a network of buildings. Learn how the equipment works together, from production through distribution and return.

Understand the plant

Chillers, boilers, heat pumps, cooling towers, pumps, heat exchangers and thermal energy storage. Trace how water, heat and energy move through the system.

Connect operation and performance

Equipment staging, operating sequences, flow, temperature difference, metering and response to changing loads. Practice connecting a control command with measured system behavior.

Try the thinking

The chiller reports normal operation, but the buildings are not getting enough cooling. What would you check between the plant and the loads it serves?

Use drawings, trends and guided scenarios to practice plant Cx, troubleshooting and optimization. The learning can fit a new plant, an existing facility or ongoing operations.

Explore the source: ASHRAE: Central Cooling and Heating Plants

Build training around this subject
Commissioning, qualification & validation (CQV)Connect engineering, quality and evidence in life-sciences facilities.

Explore how these related activities support pharmaceutical and biotechnology facilities. Start by understanding what each activity needs to demonstrate.

Commissioning

Verify and document that installation and operation meet defined requirements, using sound engineering practices.

Qualification

Establish documented evidence that facilities, utilities and equipment are suitable for their intended use, with the required quality oversight.

Process validation

Evaluate evidence across the process lifecycle to show that a manufacturing process can consistently deliver the intended product quality.

Training can connect user requirements, risk assessment, test planning, traceability, deviations and change control. Learn how commissioning evidence supports qualification and how qualified systems support process validation within the owner’s quality system.

Try the thinking

A utility system passes its functional test. What additional evidence and quality review are needed before it can support a regulated manufacturing process?

Explore the sources: ISPE commissioning and qualification guidance · FDA process validation guidance

Build training around this subject

Follow your curiosity

A good question
opens another door.

Pick a subject. Try a question. Explore the reasoning, then go a level deeper. You do not need to know everything to begin.

Explore 01 / 06

Psychrometrics

Psychrometrics connects air temperature, moisture and energy. Start with what a humidity reading actually tells you.

Start with the fundamentals

Two rooms at the same air pressure both show 50% relative humidity. Does their air have the same moisture content?

What other reading would you ask for before deciding?

Explore the reasoning

Ask for the air temperature. Relative humidity compares the water vapor present with saturation at that temperature. At different temperatures, the same percentage does not mean the same water vapor per pound of dry air.

Keep thinking. At the same pressure and relative humidity, warmer air contains more water vapor per pound of dry air. What could a percentage alone hide?

Make it relevant to you. Practice reading a psychrometric chart using conditions from your climate and building type.

Discuss training on this topic

Go deeper

Air warms as it passes a heating coil. Its relative humidity falls. Did the coil remove moisture?

Separate a change in temperature from a change in water content.

Explore the reasoning

Not necessarily. Sensible heating changes temperature without adding or removing moisture. Humidity ratio, the mass of water vapor per mass of dry air, stays constant while relative humidity falls.

Keep thinking. How would cooling with moisture removal look different on a psychrometric chart? Track both temperature and humidity ratio.

Make it relevant to you. Build exercises around coil processes, mixed air, dehumidification and the conditions your facility must maintain.

Discuss training on this topic
Explore a reference

Original BPV learning scenario. For technical background, see ASHRAE Handbook: Psychrometrics (opens a new tab).

Explore 02 / 06

Thermodynamics & refrigeration

Thermodynamics explains energy and heat transfer. A refrigeration cycle gives those ideas a practical job: moving heat.

Start with the fundamentals

An air conditioner cools a room. Where does that heat go?

Follow the heat, not just the cold air.

Explore the reasoning

In a typical split air conditioner, refrigerant absorbs heat at the indoor evaporator. The compressor adds energy, and the outdoor condenser rejects heat to the surroundings. Cooling the room means moving heat out of it.

Keep thinking. Why is the air leaving the outdoor condenser warmer? It carries away heat removed indoors, along with energy added during the process.

Make it relevant to you. Learn the cycle with the equipment your team recognizes, from room cooling to larger mechanical systems.

Discuss training on this topic

Go deeper

Can the condenser reject more heat than the evaporator absorbs?

Draw an energy boundary around the refrigerant cycle.

Explore the reasoning

Yes. In a simplified steady-state vapor-compression cycle, the heat rejected equals the heat absorbed plus the compressor work added to the refrigerant. State the boundary and assumptions before comparing equipment measurements.

Keep thinking. What could make a field comparison differ from that simple balance? Consider heat losses, measurement locations and whether the system has reached steady operation.

Make it relevant to you. Work through energy balances, pressure-temperature relationships and performance evidence at a depth suited to your role.

Discuss training on this topic
Explore a reference

Original BPV learning scenario. For technical background, see U.S. Department of Energy / PNNL: Air conditioning (opens a new tab).

For a closer look: OpenStax: Heat pumps and energy balance (opens a new tab).

Explore 03 / 06

Reading an electrical one-line

A one-line diagram uses symbols to show electrical equipment and its connections. It helps you understand where power can travel.

Start with the fundamentals

A drawing shows a utility source and a generator. Does every load have backup power?

Choose one load and follow its connections on the drawing.

Explore the reasoning

You cannot tell from the presence of a generator alone. Trace the load through the distribution equipment and transfer arrangement. Find which sources can serve it and what the drawing says about normal operation.

Keep thinking. What else would you need? The current drawing revision, symbol legend and operating sequence help explain what the diagram represents.

Make it relevant to you. Practice with example one-lines, equipment labels and power paths relevant to your facilities.

Discuss training on this topic

Go deeper

Two incoming sources appear on the one-line. Have you proved that a critical load is resilient?

Look for shared equipment and assumptions between each source and the load.

Explore the reasoning

A diagram shows intended connections; it does not prove availability or transfer performance. Shared buses, protection, controls or downstream equipment may still affect both paths. Compare the design with the required operating modes and documented verification.

Keep thinking. Which dependencies would you include in a review of the load’s power path? Explain the evidence needed without assuming a drawing proves the equipment’s present state.

Make it relevant to you. Explore transfer sequences, shared dependencies and commissioning evidence through guided document reviews.

Discuss training on this topic
Explore a reference

Original BPV learning scenario. For technical background, see Eaton: Reading electrical one-line drawings (opens a new tab).

Explore 04 / 06

EPMS & power quality

An electrical power monitoring system (EPMS) brings electrical information together. Power quality monitoring (PQM) looks at disturbances as well as steady operating conditions.

Start with the fundamentals

The monthly energy chart looks normal. Could a brief voltage event still have interrupted equipment?

Think about the difference between energy use over time and a short electrical disturbance.

Explore the reasoning

Yes. An energy total does not describe every moment of the electrical supply. A voltage sag or other short event may require event records or waveform capture from a meter capable of recording it.

Keep thinking. Before asking the chart for an answer, ask what the meter measured, where it measured it and how the information was recorded.

Make it relevant to you. Connect meter readings and dashboards to the questions your operations, energy or electrical team needs to answer.

Discuss training on this topic

Go deeper

A process stopped at 10:02. Several meters recorded events. Which event happened first?

A timestamp is useful only when you understand the clock and the record.

Explore the reasoning

Compare clock synchronization, timestamp resolution, meter locations and event-capture capabilities before ordering the records. A matching minute on two displays does not establish the sequence or the cause.

Keep thinking. What other evidence would help connect the electrical disturbance with the process interruption? Review equipment and process records alongside the electrical data.

Make it relevant to you. Develop exercises around event timelines, meter capabilities and the evidence needed to investigate disturbances.

Discuss training on this topic
Explore a reference

Original BPV learning scenario. For technical background, see Schneider Electric: Power quality measurement capabilities (opens a new tab).

For a closer look: Schneider Electric: Time synchronization (opens a new tab).

Explore 05 / 06

SCADA: From signal to understanding

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems collect information and support operational control. A useful display depends on the meaning and quality of its data.

Start with the fundamentals

The screen says “OPEN.” Does that prove the valve is open?

Ask what that displayed point actually represents.

Explore the reasoning

It may be an open command, a position indication or a label derived from other logic. A command asks for an action. Feedback reports a measured or detected condition. Identify the source before treating either as proof of process performance.

Keep thinking. Even confirmed valve position does not, by itself, prove the required flow. What process measurement would help you understand the result?

Make it relevant to you. Use example point lists and graphics to connect commands, feedback, alarms and process results.

Discuss training on this topic

Go deeper

A value looks reasonable, but its last update was 20 minutes ago. Can you use it to judge the system now?

Separate a plausible number from a current, trustworthy measurement.

Explore the reasoning

First determine the update behavior, timestamp meaning and data-quality indication. A held or stale value can remain believable after communication stops. Compare the record with the information needed for the decision.

Keep thinking. How should the display and alarm behavior communicate unavailable or unreliable data? Work from the agreed operating requirements rather than assuming a default is adequate.

Make it relevant to you. Explore data mapping, update behavior, alarm meaning and communication-loss scenarios using your team’s responsibilities.

Discuss training on this topic
Explore a reference

Original BPV learning scenario. For technical background, see NIST: SCADA terminology and source guidance (opens a new tab).

For a closer look: OPC Foundation: Data quality and communication status (opens a new tab).

Explore 06 / 06

From working parts to a working system

Systems thinking follows the relationships between equipment, controls, people and requirements. Those connections often explain the result.

Start with the fundamentals

The fan runs. The cooling coil works. Why might the room still be uncomfortable?

Connect the equipment checks to the result the room needs.

Explore the reasoning

Each part can work while the combined result falls short. Air quantity, distribution, control response, room conditions or the requirement itself may need a closer look. Start with the expected outcome, then follow the dependencies.

Keep thinking. What would you ask the occupant, the designer and the operator? Each may hold a different part of the explanation.

Make it relevant to you. Build a shared understanding across design, construction, commissioning and operations roles.

Discuss training on this topic

Go deeper

Every component passed its individual check. What remains to be demonstrated?

Choose a required operating mode and describe the interactions it depends on.

Explore the reasoning

The assembled system still needs evidence that it performs as required. Interfaces, timing, interlocks and responses to changing conditions can matter even when individual equipment checks pass. Agree on the requirement and acceptance evidence before planning the demonstration.

Keep thinking. Which team owns each interface, and who reviews the combined result? An unassigned connection can become an unresolved gap.

Make it relevant to you. Develop scenario reviews and evidence plans around your project’s systems, responsibilities and acceptance criteria.

Discuss training on this topic
Explore a reference

Original BPV learning scenario. For technical background, see ASHRAE: Commissioning resources (opens a new tab).

These are learning examples. Electrical diagrams and screen indications alone do not establish safe working conditions. Practical activity follows the site’s approved procedures and your authorized role.

Training available · Built around your team

Choose modules.
For the work ahead.

Select a focused workshop or combine modules into a development pathway. We tailor the examples, depth and delivery to your people, systems, project standards and timeline.

Plan your training with Marcus New to the industry? Start here Explore construction QA/QC Develop new hires into contributors

A starting point for a new career or responsibility

Build your foundation.
Then put it to work.

I work with students, new hires, career changers and people bringing experience from another field. We start with what you know and the role you want to grow into.

01

Understand the building.

Learn the purpose of mechanical, electrical and controls systems. Connect drawings and terminology to the equipment and the people responsible for it.

02

Learn how to verify it.

Commissioning (Cx) connects what the owner needs with evidence of system performance. Learn the process, the roles and the questions to ask before testing.

03

Practice with support.

Work through approved examples, explain your observations and receive feedback. Progress toward tasks that match your training and authorized responsibilities.

Talk to Marcus about your starting point

Understand the why. Apply the process.

ASHRAE fundamentals.
Practical application.

Start with ASHRAE Guideline 0 and the Owner’s Project Requirements, then connect the relevant guidance to your project. BPV teaches people to ask better questions, organize evidence and understand their responsibilities. Explore the commissioning definition and its meaning

Guideline 0 · Start to finish

Follow commissioning through the building’s life.

Start with the owner’s needs. Explore predesign, design, construction and occupancy and operations. At each phase, ask what the team needs to do and what evidence supports the result.

Explore the Guideline 0 pathway

Commissioning fundamentals

Guideline 0 · Standard 202

Owner intent, lifecycle responsibilities and acceptance evidence.

HVAC&R application

Guidelines 1.1 & 1.2

Connect commissioning with new and existing heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration systems.

Existing buildings

Guideline 0.2 · Standard 230

Current facility needs, investigation and verified improvements.

Training & handover

Guidelines 1.3 & 1.4

Operations training and useful systems manuals.

Ongoing Cx, data centers & semiconductor facilities: explore the practical disciplines and current development of Guidelines 0.3P, 1.6P and 1.7P. These are proposed guidelines; they are not presented here as published requirements.

BPV provides independent training. References to ASHRAE publications do not imply ASHRAE endorsement, certification or course sponsorship. Select the applicable edition and project requirements when defining the training scope.

Check ASHRAE’s current publication status
Explore the eight training tracksNeed help choosing? Talk to Marcus

Open a topic to explore the work.

Technical commissioning

Follow what the owner needs through installation readiness, functional testing, connected system responses and ongoing operation.

For: Commissioning practitioners, construction teams and owners

  • Introduction to commissioning (Cx)
  • Industry standards overview
  • ASHRAE Guideline 0: the commissioning process
  • Owner’s Project Requirements
  • Pre-design coordination & kickoff
  • Design reviews for commissioning & testability
  • Network diagramming for commissioning managers
  • Commissioning plans & scope
  • Factory acceptance testing
  • Installation & prefunctional readiness checks
  • Issue logs & document control
  • Startup & programming verification
  • Functional performance testing
  • Integrated systems testing
  • Handover training & systems manuals
  • Ongoing & monitoring-based commissioning

What you work toward: Connect one requirement with the conditions needed for testing, the test result and a supported acceptance recommendation.

Discuss this training
Controls, building automation & integration

Understand how a building automation system (BAS) connects sensors, control logic, networks and operator displays. Compare displayed values with actual equipment behavior.

For: Controls staff, technicians, integrators and operators

  • Controls & building automation system (BAS) fundamentals
  • Communication protocols
  • Point-to-point checks: field device to displayed value
  • Sequence of operations: testing the intended response
  • BAS graphics, recorded trends & alarms
  • Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) & facility-platform integration
  • Electrical power monitoring
  • Power quality verification
  • Integrated systems testing (IST): controls & power coordination
  • Data checks for fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) & monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx)

What you work toward: Trace a field signal through the controller and display. Explain a difference using field observations and recorded data.

Discuss this training
Digital transformation & analytics

Turn operating information into a decision supported by evidence. Establish where the data comes from, what it means, whether it is reliable and how it will be used.

For: Integrators, energy teams and facility managers

  • Division 25: Integrated Automation & master systems integration (MSI)
  • Semantic tagging: consistent names & meaning for data
  • Trend validation: checking recorded data
  • Fault detection & diagnostics (FDD)
  • Monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx)
  • Building automation system cybersecurity
  • Dashboards & key performance indicators (KPIs)

What you work toward: Define a useful key performance indicator (KPI): what it measures, where its verified data comes from, who responds and when action is needed.

Discuss this training
Electrical testing & verification

Connect electrical system behavior with the specialists responsible for checking it. Understand approved test records and how power-system responses affect the facility.

For: Electrical commissioning teams, project managers and operators

  • Testing fundamentals
  • Switchgear
  • Breakers & relays
  • Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) & batteries
  • Generators & automatic transfer switches (ATS)
  • Electrical power monitoring systems (EPMS)
  • Power quality

What you work toward: Explain the power path and the evidence needed to evaluate normal operation, transfers between power sources and recovery.

Discuss this training
Mechanical systems, fire protection & life safety

Connect cooling, airflow, water systems, controls and life-safety interfaces with the required operating conditions.

For: Mechanical commissioning, testing and balancing, controls and operations teams

  • Heating, ventilation & air-conditioning (HVAC) commissioning
  • Mechanical controls
  • Testing, adjusting & balancing (TAB) verification
  • Thermal management
  • Liquid-cooling interfaces
  • Life-safety coordination

What you work toward: Follow how heat is removed. Identify the systems involved, the alarms and the evidence of recovery in an approved scenario.

Discuss this training
Project management & procurement

Make the work, its prerequisites, each supplier’s responsibilities and the acceptance expectations clear enough for the next team to act.

For: Project managers, procurement and construction leaders

  • Scope & deliverables
  • Procurement
  • Schedule dependencies
  • Quality assurance (QA), quality control (QC) planning & peer review
  • Readiness reviews
  • Handoffs

What you work toward: Recommend whether the work is ready to move forward. Identify the evidence, unresolved conditions, responsible people and who makes the decision.

Discuss this training
Leadership & professional practice

Develop the judgment, communication and mentoring habits that technical responsibility requires.

For: Technical leaders, mentors and developing professionals

  • Technical judgment
  • Communication
  • Mentoring
  • Ethics & accountability

What you work toward: Explain a technical concern to someone in another role, agree on the next action and coach them through the reasoning.

Discuss this training
Business development & client value

Understand what the client needs, then connect your proposal with the work your team can deliver and the result it supports.

For: People who sell and deliver services, practice leaders and client-facing teams

  • Discovery, questioning & listening
  • Scope, assumptions & commitments
  • Proposals, effort & commercial judgment
  • Value communication & selling
  • Seller/doer development
  • Client relationships & follow-through

What you work toward: Explain the proposed service, responsibilities, how the work will be accepted and why the approach matters to the client.

Discuss this training

Topics form tailored pathways. Objectives, prerequisites, duration and assessment are agreed for each program. Specialist instruction also covers building enclosure Cx, Division 25 and MSI, energy audits, FCA/PCA/BCA condition assessments, and controls optimization. Ask how these fit your team’s development goals.

Construction QA/QC · A core BPV capability

Quality has to be built
into the work.

Teach the team how to define good work, check it and close the gaps. BPV connects QA/QC and Cx while keeping their responsibilities clear.

QA

Build the process.

Quality planning, responsibilities, review methods and prevention.

QC

Check the work.

Submittals, installation inspections, deviations, startup records and correction evidence.

Cx

Verify the outcome.

Connect owner intent, readiness, functional response and acceptance evidence.

Practice it: review an installation package, identify a gap, write a useful finding, assign the next action and verify closure.

Build your QA/QC training
Clear responsibilities. Connected evidence. Better handoffs.

Start with the person

Different roles.
Relevant responsibilities.

A new technician, a project leader and an experienced operator need different learning tasks. Select a role to see a possible starting point.

Open a topic to explore the work.

New to the industry

Build a foundation in systems, terminology, drawings, requirements and the commissioning (Cx) process. Learn where your role connects to other people.

A practical development goal: Explain a system’s purpose and follow a requirement into a practical observation.

Discuss this training
Technical & field teams

Develop controls, electrical, mechanical, QA/QC and testing capability through reviewed tasks and field-relevant scenarios.

A practical development goal: Complete an agreed task, explain the evidence and recognize when specialist input is needed.

Discuss this training
Project leaders

Connect scope, procurement, schedules, dependencies, readiness and handoffs. Make responsibilities and acceptance expectations clear.

A practical development goal: Coordinate a readiness decision with visible evidence, ownership and next steps.

Discuss this training
Owners & operators

Connect operating intent, asset condition, procedures, energy information and ongoing performance.

A practical development goal: Interpret a trend, explain an operating concern and identify a supported action.

Discuss this training
Managers & mentors

Build a shared technical language and a repeatable way to coach, review work and develop the next person.

A practical development goal: Set a learning objective, review demonstrated work and give useful feedback.

Discuss this training
Business development

Connect client needs, service capabilities, scope and proposals with the work your organization can deliver.

A practical development goal: Explain the value, boundaries and outcomes of a service in the client’s context.

Discuss this training

Industry applications

Make the learning
fit the facility.

Use the systems, interfaces, operating conditions and decisions your team actually encounters.

Open a topic to explore the work.

Data centers

Learn how power, cooling, controls and operator actions work together in a data center. Use approved diagrams and scenarios to understand which systems depend on one another.

  • Power paths, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), source transfers and recovery
  • Heat removal, liquid cooling and equipment-manufacturer interfaces
  • Building management, supervisory control and electrical power monitoring systems with reliable operating data
  • Readiness, integrated systems testing and operator response
Discuss this training
Semiconductors & cleanrooms

Learn how cleanroom conditions, process utilities and automation support semiconductor production. Clarify where each equipment package connects and what demonstrates readiness.

  • Cleanroom conditions and the utilities that support them
  • Water, gases, exhaust and process-equipment interfaces
  • Instrumentation, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), supervisory controls and manufacturer handoffs
  • Quality records, documented and approved changes, and readiness to operate
Discuss this training

Programs can also be shaped for healthcare, laboratories, higher education, industrial facilities and owner or construction organizations.

The business of technical practice

Develop the seller and the doer.

Discovery, listening, value, scope, commercial judgment and client leadership belong in a technical professional’s development.

Explore Seller / Doer training

Your people. Your priorities.

What should your people be able to do?

Bring the role, the project and the challenge. We will build the learning around them.

Talk to Marcus about training