Implementation of VR Technology for Energy Audit Training and Workforce Development

Abstract

The US energy efficiency sector will require a significantly larger workforce in the near future. To meet this demand, opportunities for training in real-world environments are needed to help the future workforce gain applicable experience that will help them to quickly learn skills needed for their future positions. However, a significant challenge in preparing the future workforce for energy efficiency–focused careers is the limited availability and access to relevant spaces such as mechanical rooms for hands-on training, particularly in commercial and industrial buildings. Such areas are beneficial in providing real-world examples of equipment and their energy inefficiencies that can be used as case studies for learning energy efficiency improvement methods. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a potential solution to create realistic virtual environments for energy workforce education and virtual energy audits. However, its effectiveness has not been thoroughly evaluated. Therefore, this study aims to assess the use of VR technology for training focused on conducting energy audits. The effectiveness of this approach is compared with traditional (lecture-based, didactic) training methods. Real-world environments were scanned using an infrared device to create virtual training environments. Three participant groups were then trained, including a control group using traditional training methods and two others trained in virtual environments using immersive (with VR headsets) and nonimmersive (with computers) virtual reality training methods. Their performance was evaluated through virtual and real-world energy audits. The impact on participant learning is assessed through pretraining and posttraining surveys and performance metrics. The findings indicated that the groups trained with immersive and nonimmersive VR methods identified 59% and 65% of the energy-saving opportunities, respectively, whereas the group trained with the traditional method identified only 43% of the opportunities. These results suggest that VR technology can effectively be used to enhance energy audit training.