10 free, exam-style Certified Energy Auditor (CEA) practice questions with answers and explanations. No signup required. Work through them below, then take the full free CEA practice test to study every exam domain.
These 10 free CEA questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Certified Energy Auditor blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
A federal agency is entering into an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) with an ESCO for a 200,000 sf office complex. Per ANSI/ASHRAE/ACCA Standard 211-2018, which minimum audit level is required before the contract can be executed?
Correct answer: C - Level 3 - Investment-Grade Audit
A 50,000 sf commercial building consumed 425,000 kWh of electricity and 3,200 Mcf of natural gas last year. Using 3,412 Btu/kWh and 1,038,000 Btu/Mcf, what is the building's site Energy Use Intensity (EUI) in kBtu/sf/yr?
Correct answer: B - 95.4 kBtu/sf/yr
During a Level 2 energy audit of a commercial office building, a CEA completes a lighting retrofit and needs to verify savings. The auditor measures the wattage of the new fixtures after installation but uses published operating-hour schedules from DOE rather than metering actual hours. According to the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP), which M&V option is being applied?
Correct answer: A - Option A - Retrofit Isolation: Key Parameter Measurement
A $120,000 HVAC upgrade is projected to save $28,000 per year in energy costs over a 7-year useful life. Using a discount rate of 6% and a present value annuity factor of 5.582 for 7 years at 6%, what is the Net Present Value (NPV) of this project?
Correct answer: A - $36,296
An energy auditor recommends replacing 200 existing 250-watt metal halide high-bay fixtures with 100-watt LED high-bay fixtures in a warehouse operating 4,160 hours per year. What are the annual energy savings from the lighting retrofit alone, excluding any HVAC interactive effects?
Correct answer: C - 124,800 kWh/yr
A water-cooled centrifugal chiller operates at 0.65 kW/ton at full load. What is the chiller's Coefficient of Performance (COP)?
Correct answer: B - 5.41
An air handling unit supplies 15,000 CFM of air at 55°F to a space maintained at 74°F. Using the sensible heat formula Q = 1.08 × CFM × ΔT, what is the sensible cooling capacity being delivered to the space?
Correct answer: B - 307,800 Btu/hr
A three-phase, 480V electric motor draws 52 amps and operates at a power factor of 0.87. What is the motor's electrical demand in kW?
Correct answer: B - 37.6 kW
A variable-air-volume (VAV) supply fan currently operates at full speed, consuming 30 kW. A variable-frequency drive (VFD) is installed and reduces the average fan speed to 75% of design. Using the fan affinity laws, what is the approximate power consumption at the reduced speed?
Correct answer: C - 12.7 kW
An energy auditor reviews trend data from a building automation system (BAS) and discovers that a multi-zone VAV air handling unit maintains a constant duct static pressure setpoint of 2.5 in. w.c. at all times, regardless of zone demand. Which ASHRAE 90.1-2019 requirement is this system failing to comply with?
Correct answer: B - Section 6.5.3.2.3 - Static Pressure Reset for VAV systems
The CEA exam also covers these domains. Drill them in the full free practice test:
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