ASHRAE HBDP study guide
ASHRAE HBDP · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The ASHRAE High-Performance Building Design Professional (HBDP) credential is an ASHRAE certification aimed at professionals who design and deliver high-performance buildings. ASHRAE describes its overall mission as serving humanity by advancing the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and their allied fields, with a vision of a healthy and sustainable built environment for all; the HBDP sits within ASHRAE's certification program under professional development. This independent study page organizes preparation around five domains: high-performance building design; energy analysis and modeling; indoor environmental quality; commissioning and operations; and water and materials efficiency. Each domain is weighted equally here, and those weights are an estimate rather than an official ASHRAE breakdown. The ASHRAE HBDP study guide has 5 sections and about 1,394 words.
01High-Performance Building Design
High-performance design starts by reducing loads before sizing systems: orientation and massing, envelope performance (U-factor, SHGC, air leakage), daylighting, and internal-load control. Understand the load order of operations : climate analysis → form and envelope → passive strategies → efficient systems → renewables.
321 words, about 2 min02Energy Analysis and Modeling
Whole-building energy models solve hourly heat and mass balances. Know the inputs that most affect results: weather file (TMY3 vs.
262 words, about 1 min03Indoor Environmental Quality
Know ASHRAE Standard 62.1 (ventilation rate procedure and IAQ procedure) and Standard 55 (thermal comfort, PMV/PPD, operative temperature, air speed, clothing and metabolic rates). Distinguish ventilation rate (cfm/person or per area) from air-change rate (ACH) .
274 words, about 1 min04Commissioning and Operations
Understand the commissioning (Cx) process : owner's project requirements (OPR), basis of design (BOD), Cx plan, pre-functional checks, functional performance testing (FPT), issues log, and final Cx report. Recognize retro-commissioning (RCx) for existing buildings and ongoing commissioning (OCx) for continuous monitoring.
276 words, about 1 min05Water and Materials Efficiency
Know indoor water-use reduction strategies: low-flow fixtures (toilets, urinals, faucets, showerheads), WaterSense labels, submetering , leak detection , and rainwater/greywater harvesting . Outdoor strategies: xeriscaping , drip irrigation , soil moisture sensors , and ET-based controllers .
261 words, about 1 min