30 AUGUST 2015 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
BUSINESS OPERATIONS
N
ORA wants to teach tech-
nicians a lesson. Make that
many lessons. NORA is
revamping its advanced
or "Gold' certification for
technicians, and creating new courses to
recognize specialized areas of expertise.
"The problem in the past was that
the old Gold program didn't address
heating systems," said Bob Hedden, a
NORA board member who, along with
John Levey of consulting firm Oilheat
Associates, oversees education and train-
ing for the Alliance. "It was all about
oil burners and oil burner efficiency,"
Hedden said of the earlier iteration of the
Gold program. In fact, all three technician
certifications—Bronze, Silver and Gold—
were "oil burner" courses. "They touched
on heating systems, but they didn't really
get into a lot of depth. This new Gold pro-
gram that service managers had a big part
in suggesting focuses primarily on heat-
ing systems, and we spun off efficiency to
be its own independent program." (The
Silver and Bronze certification programs
for technicians will be unchanged.)
"We're creating a book, a seminar
and tests to go with the new Gold pro-
gram, "Hedden said. The book, written
by Hedden, is scheduled to be issued this
summer.
The Alliance has also revamped its
websites, including helpful tools such as
"technician look-ups," Hedden said. "We
have the ability to do online training and
all kinds of other things now," he added.
More books are in the works, and
there will be training programs and tests
associated with those books which will
be on hot air heat and hot water heat,
Hedden said. They too are expected to be
completed this summer.
Together with a book on steam heat,
scheduled to be issued some time later, they
NORA's New Gold Standard
The National Oilheat Research Alliance gives its Gold certification
for technicians a major makeover
BY STEPHEN BENNETT
More books are in the works,
and there will be training
programs and tests
associated with those books
which will be on hot air heat
and hot water heat.
— Bob Hedden
IMAGES
PROVIDED
BY
NATIONAL
OILHEAT
RESEARCH
ALLIANCE
PHOTOS
COURTESY
OF
NORA
