In the age of pressing climate change and global warming issues, the work of an energy auditor helps support the transition to renewable energy. Energy audits not only help substantially reduce carbon footprints by directly addressing areas of overconsumption of energy but can also help families and businesses reduce costs on energy bills - especially in a place like Canada where heat consumption is vital to everyday life.
Performing energy audits on residential and commercial buildings also helps to assess and improve their energy efficiency. With this vital information, energy auditors can help businesses transition to more eco-friendly and cost-effective energy consumption.
Some may not know this, but being an energy auditor indirectly helps save lives. They help find small leaks in compressed air systems or detect dangerous carbon monoxide emissions from equipment that needs to be properly ventilated.
Job duties vary significantly from one position to the next, but in general, Energy auditors are involved in the following activities:
If you are a high school student considering a career as an environmental geophysicist, you should have a keen interest in:
If you are a post-secondary student considering a career as an environmental geophysicist, the following programs are most applicable.
In most cases, the minimum education requirement to work as an environmental geophysicist is a graduate degree. Pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree in fields related to environmental geophysics can enhance your expertise, career prospects, and ability to contribute to the field. These advanced degrees offer specialized knowledge and skills highly valued in both the professional and academic worlds.
In many provinces, geophysicists must obtain registration and licensure with their provincial association as a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.). The certification process for geophysicists is similar to that of engineering professions and is typically overseen by the same regulatory body.
Our Environmental Professional (EP) designation can also help you progress in your chosen environmental career.
Technical Skills
Personal and Professional Skills
Environmental employers look for professionals who can combine technical knowledge with soft skills. Watch our free webinar “Essential Not Optional: Skills Needed to Succeed in Canada’s Environmental Industry” or take our Essential Skills courses.
As key executive leaders who shape their company’s sustainability policy, CSOs work in many different types of organizations. Common employers of CSOs include:
Search for jobs on the ECO Canada Job Board.
If you are a post-secondary student seeking a CSO role in the future, consider pursuing a university degree related to:
In addition to the educational fields mentioned above, you will also need extensive management experience to become a CSO, with well-developed human resources management and leadership skills. Consider educational seminars or post-graduate studies that will hone your analytical thinking, such as:
Our Environmental Professional (EP) designation can also help you progress in your chosen environmental career.
Technical Skills
Personal and Professional Skills
Environmental employers seek professionals who combine technical knowledge with personal and professional skills. Watch our free webinar “Essential Not Optional: Skills Needed to Succeed in Canada’s Environmental Industry” or take our Essential Skills courses.
While the rest of his friends were slogging through their first year of university, Dan Boudreau was taking time off. During his two-year break, he worked a number of what he calls dead-end jobs, earning minimum wage. "That experience was enough of a wake-up call to prompt me to apply for university.” Five years later, Dan had his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New Brunswick.
Today, Dan works as a project manager with Enerplan, an energy management company based in Moncton, New Brunswick. As a part of his job, Dan regularly conducts energy audits. "Over 90 percent of the time, we conduct energy audits to help our clients reduce their own energy costs.”
The most important starting point before the energy audit contract is even won is looking over the proposed client’s energy bills. By doing this, Dan can compare the building or structure to a similar benchmark building and determine how much energy the building is using compared to the average energy expenditure.
Then Dan heads out to the site to conduct a visual inspection. On-site, Dan can be found crawling over pipes, crawling under ductwork, and generally trying to get a good feel for what he can do to save the company energy. "I just love getting on my hands and knees and seeing how a building works.” Dan also takes several different energy measurements to determine what areas, such as windows and doors, are losing the most energy. Once his inspection is complete, he heads back to the office, where he writes up the proposal.
When the contract is won, Dan researches a variety of solutions to reduce a building’s energy emissions. Usually, this can be completed at his desk and involves referring to similar projects he’s worked on, as well as researching new and innovative ways to conserve energy. Often the solutions are simple. "We’ve seen a lot of offices where the air conditioner and the heater are running at the same time, essentially fighting each other energy-wise.” In this case, Dan recommends that his client install an energy management control system (EMCS), a computer-operated system that can control everything from the heating, lighting, and air conditioning in a building. "An EMCS ensures that a building’s systems—heating, ventilation, air conditioning, etc.—are running as efficiently as possible.”
Despite offering this type of solution, Dan says people are apprehensive when they see an energy auditor in their office. "A lot of people think that we are going to reduce the temperature and leave them freezing in their office.” Energy auditing is about more than lowering the temperature to reduce energy costs. It’s about figuring out the best, most efficient ways to use energy: "Anything we can do to reduce our energy consumption would go a long way to preserving the environment, as well as save us money.”
As an energy auditor, the energy audits you perform usually fall into one of three categories: home, commercial buildings, and industrial plants. They also range in complexity, from a quick walk-through inspection to a comprehensive analysis of the implications of alternative energy efficiency measures.
Once an energy audit has been conducted, you work with a team of professionals to analyze the results and produce a technical report for the client that reveals areas where energy efficiency can be improved and reduce carbon and environmental footprints.
This occupation may require travel. Energy auditors are often required on site to perform audits, but they may be based out of a central location. When on the job, you are attentive to detail and perform audits in accordance with a given framework.
To be successful in this occupation, you need to be well versed in the technical side of things. You also need to have a positive attitude, strong communication skills and a friendly, approachable demeanour as you will be interacting with different business types and individuals.
We use energy every day whether to cook, or to power our homes, facilities, and businesses. A lot of times, we aren’t conscious of the ways in which we consume energy.
Whether it’s letting the tap run for too long or not turning the lights off when you leave a room, there are many parts of our daily routine that contributes to the misuse of energy that we may pay no attention to or even realize is wasteful.
Reasons such as these are why there is a need for energy auditors.
Some people mistakenly think that energy auditor’s look to reduce temperatures to the extent that rooms are left freezing. In reality, becoming an energy auditor involves a lot more than lowering room temperatures to reduce costs. It’s more about calculating the best and most efficient ways to use energy.
When performing an audit, an energy auditor may suggest installing an energy management control system (EMCS), which is a computer-operated system that can control everything from the heating, lighting, and air conditioning in a building. This type of management system ensures that all the building’s systems are running as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Not only does this benefit the environment; it lessens the works required to reduce energy consumption and helps save money in the long run.
Marine geologists are classified into the following occupational grouping:
NOC Code: 21102 – Geoscientists and oceanographers
The National Occupational Classification (NOC) provides a standardized language for describing the work performed by Canadians in the labour market. It gives statisticians, labour market analysts, career counsellors, employers, and individual job seekers a consistent way to collect data and describe and understand the nature of work within different occupations.
See ECO’s Blue National Occupational Standard for a career competency profile for a marine geologist that outlines the specific skills, knowledge, and behaviours required for individuals to perform effectively in this particular role. This profile is a benchmark for training and development, ensuring consistency and quality across professions within the blue economy.
Dans un esprit de respect, de réciprocité et de vérité, nous honorons et reconnaissons Moh’kinsstis, le territoire traditionnel du Traité 7 et les pratiques orales de la confédération des Pieds-Noirs : Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, ainsi que les nations Îyâxe Nakoda et Tsuut’ina. Nous reconnaissons que ce territoire abrite la Nation métisse de l’Alberta, la région 3 au sein de la patrie historique des Métis du Nord-Ouest. Enfin, nous reconnaissons toutes les nations qui vivent, travaillent et se divertissent sur ce territoire, et qui l’honorent et le célèbrent.
In the spirit of respect, reciprocity, and truth, we acknowledge that we live, work, and gather on the traditional territories of the peoples of Treaty 7, including the Blackfoot Confederacy—comprising the Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani Nations—as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina Nations.
This land, known as Moh’kinsstis in the Blackfoot language and encompassing what is now Districts 5 and 6, is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3, within the historical Northwest Métis homeland.
We recognize and honour the deep connection these Nations have to the land, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share in its stewardship.
As we continue our work, we commit to learning from Indigenous knowledge systems, uplifting Indigenous voices, and fostering relationships rooted in equity, understanding, and reconciliation.
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