BCIT and Okanagan College to Help Deliver Lighting Controls Training to Electricians

Oct 6, 2017

BC electricians will have access to advanced lighting controls training at two BC schools as early as January 2018.

Four years of hard work by several organizations, including BC Hydro, will bring North America’s leading lighting controls training program to BC under agreements between EJTC Enterprises (E2 Inc.) and the BC Institute of Technology (Burnaby) and Okanagan College (Kelowna).

The program will begin with a train-the-trainers initiative for instructors at the two post-secondary institutions, which will soon offer training that will help address BC’s shortage of qualified installers.

“Only the proper installation of new technologies will yield the results customers are looking for in terms of energy savings and occupant productivity and comfort,” says BC Hydro senior engineer Dr. Cristian Suvagau. “We’re pleased to see that this program will become more widely available. It will help electricians and electrical contractors install advanced lighting controls at the highest quality level.”

Properly installed and maintained, advanced lighting control systems can deliver reduced energy costs related to lighting by 25% or more for commercial, industrial and institutional users. However, there are several factors that customers face when considering the option to include lighting controls: scope of the lighting design, additional costs, length of project, delays, and functionality with the controls themselves. The National Advanced Lighting Controls Training Program (NALCTP) will train electricians to be able to answer and address these concerns that customers face, increasing the value of lighting design projects for customers and Alliance members.

The program trains qualified electricians in the planning, installation and operation of advanced lighting controls systems. Through the working group process and contacts in California, E2 Inc. became the primary license holder of NALCTP in Canada, and led the adaptation of the program to the Canadian electrical code. E2 Inc. is a training partnership between the Electrical Contractors Association of BC and IBEW Local 213.