- What CRD Training Means Today
- The Legacy Status You Need to Understand First
- The Nine Historical Preparation Topics
- What Designers Must Master in Each Topic
- Sequencing Your Preparation by Topic
- Training for Existing Holders: CEUs and Renewal
- Transition Guidance: CRD Holders and the GRSD Path
- Where Designer Credentials Get Used
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CRD means Certified Residential Geothermal Designer, a legacy credential from the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA).
- IGSHPA reports replacing normal legacy training by the end of 2025; legacy courses now run case by case.
- Active holders can renew indefinitely with CEU documentation, provided the certification never lapses.
- Renewal costs USD $75 per year for members or $225 per year for non-members, on one-, two- or three-year terms.
What CRD Training Means Today
Searching for "CRD training" usually turns up outdated assumptions, so it helps to start with an accurate picture. The Certified Residential Geothermal Designer credential comes from the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA), and it targets people who design residential ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems. Training for it historically meant a multi-day instructor-led course followed by an examination tied to that course.
That picture has changed. IGSHPA has been retiring its legacy training courses and certifications, and its January 2026 white paper on sunsetting legacy training lays out the current position. This article treats CRD training in three clearly separated tracks: historical preparation content (what the course covered), existing-holder renewal (how active credentials stay alive), and transition guidance (what happens beyond the legacy credential). If you need background on the credential's identity first, see What Is CRD Certification? or What Does CRD Stand For?.
The Legacy Status You Need to Understand First
IGSHPA's white paper on sunsetting legacy training courses and certifications reports that normal legacy training was to be replaced by the end of 2025. Legacy courses are now considered case by case and are offered only when a utility, state or provincial program requires them. In other words, a candidate cannot simply browse a catalog and sign up for a CRD course the way they might have in earlier years.
Conflicting availability signals
You may encounter older material that suggests the course is still running. For example, a 2025-26 courses schedule from the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) advertised a virtual CRD course for late February 2026. A past schedule like that does not prove the session ran or that enrollment is open now. Treat historical listings as context, not as evidence of current availability.
What survives the sunset
| Situation | What the facts support |
|---|---|
| Active CRD holder | May continue renewing indefinitely with required continuing education, as long as the certification does not lapse |
| Lapsed CRD holder | IGSHPA's FAQ states lapsed legacy credentials cannot be reinstated |
| New candidate | Verification hold; legacy courses offered only when a utility/state/provincial program requires them |
| Holder wanting to upgrade | Taking the GRSD examination is a separate, optional path, not an automatic renaming |
The practical lesson: the single most valuable "training" action for a current holder is simply not letting the credential lapse. For the cost side of that decision, read CRD Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
The Nine Historical Preparation Topics
IGSHPA's historical event listing for the online CRD course, delivered with HRAI in February 2025, laid out the preparation topics the course addressed. The listing ties certification to passing the corresponding examination. Importantly, these nine headings are curriculum topics from a historical listing, not a current weighted examination blueprint, and they should not be read as proof of exhaustive exam coverage or as a ranking of which area matters most.
- Ground Source Heat Pump Benefits
- System Components
- Heat Pump Types
- Design Process
- Energy Requirements
- Load Calculations
- Parameters that affect different types of heat pump performance, site, geology and soil conditions
- Heat pump and pipe design
- Economics of design
No current legacy-exam question count, time limit, passing mark or initial exam fee was verified, so this article does not quote any. For a topic-by-topic walkthrough, see CRD Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 9 Content Areas.
What Designers Must Master in Each Topic
The sequence of the nine topics follows the logic of a residential design job: justify the system, understand the hardware, choose a configuration, run the numbers, then size and cost the installation. The blocks below describe what a designer needs to understand in each cluster, framed as competencies rather than as predicted exam questions.
Topics 1-3: Benefits, Components and Heat Pump Types
This cluster builds the vocabulary and conceptual frame for everything else. A designer should be able to explain a GSHP system to a homeowner and to a contractor, and to distinguish the equipment families.
- Articulate the benefits of ground source systems and the context in which those benefits apply
- Identify the main system components and the role each plays in the loop-to-house chain
- Differentiate heat pump types and recognize which configurations suit which residential situations
Topics 4-6: Design Process, Energy Requirements and Load Calculations
This is the analytical core. Everything downstream depends on getting the building's heating and cooling demand right, so errors here propagate into equipment selection and loop sizing.
- Follow a structured design process from site information to a documented system proposal
- Understand the building's energy requirements and how they drive equipment capacity
- Perform and interpret load calculations, including recognizing when inputs look unrealistic
Topics 7-9: Site Parameters, Equipment and Pipe Design, and Economics
The final cluster connects the building to the ground and to the homeowner's budget. Site conditions, geology and soil conditions affect how different heat pump types perform, which is why this topic is its own heading rather than a footnote.
- Evaluate how site, geology and soil conditions affect performance for each heat pump type
- Match heat pump selection to pipe design for the loop configuration chosen
- Assess the economics of a design so the proposal makes sense to the buyer, not just the engineer
Sequencing Your Preparation by Topic
If you are working through historical CRD materials, whether for context, for a program-required offering or for reference, the order matters more than the total hours. Load calculations sit in the middle of the list for a reason: they depend on the vocabulary from the earlier topics and feed the design topics that follow. Here is one reasonable ordering tied to the nine headings above.
Frame the System
- Benefits, components and heat pump types (topics 1-3)
- Build a one-page diagram of how the pieces connect
Process and Energy
- Design process and energy requirements (topics 4-5)
- Write the design steps in your own words, in order
Load Calculations Deep Dive
- Work load calculation problems until the method is automatic (topic 6)
- Check each result for reasonableness before moving on
Site, Equipment, Pipe and Cost
- Site, geology and soil parameters; heat pump and pipe design; economics (topics 7-9)
- Run one complete residential design from load to cost narrative
Because no current exam blueprint was verified, avoid over-weighting any single week based on guesses about scoring. For general exam-readiness advice that complements this plan, see CRD Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt and the quick-reference CRD Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts.
Key Takeaway
Treat load calculations as the hinge of your preparation. Equipment sizing, loop design and the economics narrative all inherit whatever errors you make there, so rehearse the method until you can spot an implausible result quickly.
Training for Existing Holders: CEUs and Renewal
For people who already hold the credential, "training" mostly means continuing education and renewal. IGSHPA's renewal policy, effective January 1, 2024, and its current renewal products set out the mechanics.
Renewal pricing
| Renewal Term Options | Member Rate | Non-Member Rate |
|---|---|---|
| One, two or three years | USD $75 per year | USD $225 per year |
These are renewal charges, not initial exam fees. IGSHPA's current CRD renewal products are listed separately for members and non-members, and the member price only works if your membership is valid for the whole renewal term. The membership term must cover the discounted certification-renewal term, so check dates before you buy.
Membership considerations
Individual membership for currently employed professionals costs $125 per year. A separate individual membership is unnecessary if you are already covered by an eligible business, community or utility membership. Compare the combined cost of membership plus the member renewal rate against the non-member rate for your specific term before deciding. For a fuller breakdown, see CRD Certification Cost 2026.
CEU documentation
CEU documentation is required for processing a renewal. IGSHPA describes eight CEU points per three-year cycle. Note the unit carefully: these are CEU points, not eight classroom hours, so do not assume a short workshop automatically satisfies the requirement or that hours convert one-to-one. Keep certificates and records organized well before your renewal date.
Transition Guidance: CRD Holders and the GRSD Path
The white paper makes a point that is easy to miss: taking the GRSD examination is a separate optional upgrade path, not an automatic renaming or replacement of the CRD. A CRD holder who never sits for GRSD keeps the legacy credential as long as it stays current. A CRD holder who wants the newer credential must treat it as its own goal with its own requirements.
That separation has a practical consequence for your study materials. Do not transplant GRSD objectives, fees, timers, reference rules or validity periods onto CRD, and do not assume CRD preparation topics map neatly onto a different credential's blueprint. If you pursue GRSD, use IGSHPA's current published information for that exam rather than this article's historical CRD material.
Questions about whether to keep renewing the legacy credential or move on belong in a broader value discussion; see Is the CRD Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026.
Where Designer Credentials Get Used
A residential geothermal design credential is relevant wherever ground source systems are specified, sold, installed or incentivized. Typical settings include geothermal and HVAC contractors who design as well as install, design-build firms, and utility, state or provincial programs that set qualification expectations for participating installers or designers. That last category matters here, because legacy courses are now offered mainly when such programs require them.
No salary figures are quoted in this article because none were verified for this credential. If you are weighing career value, look at CRD Jobs and CRD Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis, and keep in mind that program requirements in your own region often matter more than any national pattern.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not on a verified, unrestricted basis. IGSHPA offers legacy courses case by case, only when a utility, state or provincial program requires them. Contact IGSHPA through its Training & Certification page to ask about a specific current offering before assuming one exists.
No. A past schedule advertising a virtual CRD course does not prove the session ran or that enrollment is open today. Confirm directly with the issuer.
Current renewal products are USD $75 per year for members and USD $225 per year for non-members, with one-, two- or three-year terms. CEU documentation is required, and membership must cover the discounted term. See CRD Certification Cost 2026 for details.
According to IGSHPA's current FAQ, lapsed legacy credentials cannot be reinstated. Active holders can keep renewing indefinitely with required continuing education, provided the certification does not lapse.
No. Taking the GRSD examination is a separate optional upgrade path, not an automatic renaming or replacement. Review the details in CRD Certification and IGSHPA's current guidance, and use our practice test site to keep your general design knowledge sharp while you decide.
Whether you hold the credential, work in a program that still requires legacy training, or are mapping a path toward a newer designer credential, the useful approach is the same: know exactly which status applies to you, protect an active credential from lapsing, and keep your design fundamentals strong. When you are ready to test those fundamentals, visit the CRD Exam Prep practice test site.