History: How ISP came to be

It was 1995 when the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation met with Mark Fitzgerald (1955-2005), a global champion of the development and application of professional standards for training renewable energy practitioners. Mark’s goal was to contribute to a step-change in the successive installation of renewable energy systems. He identified a serious gap in the quality of installations due to the lack of adequate training for system integrators and installers. None of the International Standards organizations were addressing these issues. Under Mark’s leadership, the Institute for Sustainable Power prepared an international standard and commenced an application and audit process to ensure continuity, consistency, and quality in the delivery of training.  Funding from DOE, the World Bank and ALTENER supported early ISP efforts and pilot projects.

What emerged was the ISPQ Standard, a recognized accreditation based on the ISO/IEC Guide 61 (General requirements for assessment and accreditation of certification/registration bodies) and Guide 62 (General requirements for bodies operating assessment and certification/registration of quality systems). The ISPQ Standard provides metrics for training administration, appropriate facilities and training hardware, staff experience and competencies, and quality systems, as well as content standards taken from the appropriate Task Analysis.  In addition, ISP’s work closely follows the standards and competencies of the International Board of Standards for Training Performance and Instruction.

Today, the ISP program accredits training programs and certifies instructors based on the ISPQ Standard 01022.   A different but complementary component of quality training is the certification of individual technicians.  The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is the organization in the U.S. responsible for this certification; in Australia, it’s the Business Council for Sustainable Accredited Designers and Installers. ISP works closely with these international partners.

An international board administers the ISP program:

President:  Mr. Geoff Stapleton (Australia)
Vice-President:  Mr. Bernard McNelis (UK)
Secretary:  Ms. Jane Weissman (USA)
ISPQ-Europe Representative:  Ms Zhu Li
ISPQ-China Representative:  Vivianne Wang
Training Institution Representative:  Steve Kalland, North Carolina State University
Executive Director:  Jack Werner