AEE Certified Energy Manager (CEM)

The exam follows AEE's published body of knowledge, organized into sections on Codes and Standards, Electrical Power Systems and Motors, Maintenance and Commissioning, Energy Audits and Instrumentation, CHP Systems and Renewable Energy, HVAC Systems, Building Automation and Control Systems, Thermal Energy Storage Systems, Lighting Systems, and Energy Savings Performance Contracting and Measurement and Verification. Each section carries subtopics that questions are drawn from.

AEE describes two routes: a live paper-and-pencil exam administered at the end of an approved live seminar, and computer-based testing at PSI remote testing centers. When the body of knowledge was revised, AEE announced that live paper exams used the new outline from September 14, 2018, while PSI centers used the previous outline until December 6, 2018.

Check the revision date. AEE took a new form of the CEM exam into effect September 14, 2018, and directed candidates to review the updated body of knowledge posted on its CEM resources page. Any outline, outline summary, or prep guide predating that reorganization is likely to be misaligned with how the exam is now structured.

Mostly a reorganization, plus some content additions. High Performance Buildings moved into Codes and Standards, and Motors and Drives merged with Electrical Systems to form Electrical Power Systems and Motors. AEE flagged new subtopics that could appear as questions: behavioral modification, electronically commutated motors, micro-grids and battery storage, smart pumps, chilled beam systems, the Internet of Things, phase change materials, thermal storage for heating, luminaire-specific lighting controls, and UESC.

AEE conducts a Job Task Analysis survey approximately every five years to examine the current state of the energy industry, including responsibilities and the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill them. The 2017–2018 JTA, run with test development partner Authentic Testing Corporation, confirmed the CEM exam continues to measure knowledge areas relevant to Certified Energy Managers.

Yes. AEE runs a two-day CEM Update program for existing CEMs who want a refresher and for lapsed CEMs who need AEE credits to get re-certified. It covers current energy management technologies, strategies, best practices and global trends, new regulations that could affect your organization, and funding mechanisms, rebates and tax benefits. Attendance is capped to keep discussion workable.

Those specifics are not stated in the AEE announcements this page is based on, so confirm them with AEE before you register rather than relying on secondhand figures. What the announcements do establish is that the exam is ANSI-accredited, is validated through periodic Job Task Analysis surveys, and is built from the published body of knowledge.

Start with Codes and Standards, since that section absorbed High Performance Buildings and frames the regulatory context for everything else. Then take Electrical Power Systems and Motors, HVAC, and Building Automation together as a technical block, follow with Thermal Energy Storage and Lighting, and finish with CHP and Renewables plus Performance Contracting and M&V, where the financial and verification concepts build on the rest.

Studying from an outline that predates the 2018 reorganization, and therefore missing relocated material such as High Performance Buildings under Codes and Standards. The second is skipping the newly added subtopics because they are absent from older prep material. Thermal storage for heating, for example, sits alongside cooling storage, so treat the storage section as covering both.

Yes. AEE lists certification training programs, certificate and professional development programs, scheduled programs, on-demand training, training partners, and the option to request private training. Candidates who sit a live paper exam take it at the end of an approved live seminar. Training is not a substitute for the body of knowledge, but it maps directly onto the exam outline.