Certified Energy Auditor Certification Building Envelope and Lighting 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to ASHRAE 90.1, which lighting control is required in all enclosed spaces of 10,000 sq ft or less?
- Dimming controls
- Occupancy sensors or vacancy sensors (Correct answer)
- Daylight responsive controls
- Time-of-day scheduling
Correct answer: Occupancy sensors or vacancy sensors
ASHRAE 90.1 requires occupancy sensors or vacancy sensors in enclosed spaces of 10,000 sq ft or less to automatically reduce lighting when spaces are unoccupied.
Question 2: A wall assembly has components with R-values of 1.0, 13.0, 0.5, and 0.7. What is the total assembly R-value?
- 13.0
- 14.5
- 15.2 (Correct answer)
- 15.7
Correct answer: 15.2
Total R-value for series assemblies is the sum of all component R-values: 1.0 + 13.0 + 0.5 + 0.7 = 15.2.
Question 3: Which type of window frame material has the highest thermal conductivity, representing the worst thermal performance?
- Fiberglass
- Vinyl (PVC)
- Aluminum without thermal break (Correct answer)
- Wood
Correct answer: Aluminum without thermal break
Aluminum without a thermal break has very high thermal conductivity, making it the poorest performing frame material for thermal resistance.
Question 4: When auditing exterior wall insulation, a thermal bridge most commonly occurs at:
- Mid-cavity between studs
- Exterior sheathing joints
- Structural framing members (studs, plates, headers) (Correct answer)
- Interior gypsum board surface
Correct answer: Structural framing members (studs, plates, headers)
Thermal bridges in wall assemblies most commonly occur at structural framing members like studs, plates, and headers, which conduct heat more readily than cavity insulation.
Question 5: Color Rendering Index (CRI) measures:
- The color temperature of a light source in Kelvin
- How accurately a light source renders object colors compared to natural light (Correct answer)
- The percentage of visible spectrum emitted by a lamp
- The efficiency of a lamp at converting electricity to light
Correct answer: How accurately a light source renders object colors compared to natural light
CRI measures how accurately a light source renders the colors of objects compared to a reference light source, on a scale of 0 to 100.
Question 6: In a hot climate, which roof strategy provides the greatest reduction in cooling load?
- Adding R-30 insulation above the roof deck
- Installing a white or light-colored reflective roof coating (Correct answer)
- Installing a green roof with vegetation
- Adding continuous rigid insulation below the roof deck
Correct answer: Installing a white or light-colored reflective roof coating
A highly reflective (cool) roof coating dramatically reduces solar heat gain by reflecting up to 80% of solar radiation, directly cutting cooling loads.
Question 7: What lighting metric represents the amount of light falling on a surface, measured in foot-candles or lux?
- Luminance
- Illuminance (Correct answer)
- Luminous intensity
- Luminous flux
Correct answer: Illuminance
Illuminance, measured in foot-candles (fc) or lux, quantifies the amount of light incident on a surface and is used to determine if task lighting levels are adequate.
Certified Energy Auditor Certification Building Envelope and Lighting 3
According to ASHRAE 90.1, which lighting control is required in all enclosed spaces of 10,000 sq ft or less?