Take you on a tour of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Residential Program Solution Center content and functionality and explore how you can use the Solution Center to help design, implement, and evaluate residential energy efficiency programs. Program examples focus on contractor engagement and workforce development. Learn how to support and partner with the workforce who will deliver your program’s energy efficiency services by understanding their capacity, recruiting contractor partners, enabling technical training and business development support, and refining program processes over time.
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This webcast covers DOE's new white paper, Capturing Energy Efficiency in Residential Real Estate Transactions, which highlights how residential energy efficiency programs can help make homes' energy efficiency visible to appraisers, real estate agents, mortgage lenders, homebuyers and sellers. The webcast provides examples of programs around the U.S. that are successfully engaging the real estate community and overcoming barriers to valuing energy efficiency in the home resale process.
High energy users in single-family homes present the greatest opportunities for energy and cost savings, yet relatively little is known about what is happening in these homes or how energy efficiency and utility programs can engage these consumers. In this on-demand webcast, hear the results of a groundbreaking field study of 100 high-consumption homes in Minnesota. The webcast will discuss possible causes and the technical and behavioral opportunities to reduce usage. Also, it will introduce the households studied to provide a holistic introduction to this utility customer group.
This on-demand webinar discusses what residential customers in Wisconsin, the Midwest, and the nation have to say about energy topics. Learn about the Energy Center of Wisconsin's (now Seventhwave's) research on consumer perceptions and actions concerning their energy use at home based on the 2011 Midwest Energy Survey.
This webcast covers a report that is a comparative analysis of utility-run behavior programs, which lays the groundwork for further program development by developing a classification scheme, or taxonomy, that sorts programs into discrete categories.
This webcast explores residential behavior-based energy efficiency programs and provides data to support issues and recommendations.
This webcast discusses the background for U.S. Department of Energy’s Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) consumer behavior study effort; the various utilities who are participating and what they each plan to include their respective studies; the quantitative results and qualitative lessons learned thus far from these studies; and the types of research will be undertaken by LBNL over the next several years.
This webcast discusses policy and planning considerations for incorporating behavior programs into efficiency portfolios.
This webcast provides an overview of community-based social marketing and provides examples from programs that have used it.
This webinar is the third (in a series of six) hosted by USDA Rural Utility Service (RUS) and focusing on the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program (EECLP). The first in a two-part series, this webinar shares best practices from the more than 40 competitively selected state and local governments who participated in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Neighborhood Program, including market position and business model, program design and customer experience, evaluation and data collection, marketing and outreach, financing, and contractor engagement and workforce development.
This webinar is the fourth (in a series of six) hosted by USDA Rural Utility Service (RUS) and focusing on the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program (EECLP). The second in a two-part series, this webinar shares best practices from the more than 40 competitively selected state and local governments who participated in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Neighborhood Program. This webinar focuses on data collection and continuous improvement, partnering with financial institutions, community-based outreach, and quality assurance of contractor work. It also features a case study from Jackson Electric Member Corporation about their audit tools, rebates and loans, tracking and reporting, and marketing and advertising strategies.
This webcast shares useful and effective strategies for getting local leaders to support local government's energy efficiency goals.
This webcast highlights programs that actively engage the contractor community in program design and implementation. Several contractors share their views on best practices for Marketing & Outreach.
This ENERGY STAR presentation provides an overview of the power of social media to promote energy efficiency with programmatic examples offered by expert presenters.
In this presentation, state and nonprofit leaders in Colorado and Connecticut discuss their policy and program efforts to offer rooftop and community solar and weatherization services and how they are scaling their programs to meet the needs of the underserved income-eligible market.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on working with the real estate sector, including NAR Green designation for realtors. Speakers include Sustainable Real Estate Consulting Services, Renewablue, and National Association of REALTORS.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on key challenges and opportunities to deploy interactive engagement strategies including customer segmentation, loyalty and reward programs, and gamification. It features speakers from Fiveworx, ICF International, and Cool Choices.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on using tailored messaging and approaches to meet the unique needs of families. Building Doctors is the featured speaker.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on communicating non-energy benefits that homeowners and building owners are most interested in. Speakers include Elevate Energy, Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, and Skumatz Economic Research Associates, Inc.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on working with multifamily and rental properties on energy efficiency programs. It features speakers from American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Community Housing Partners, and Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on developing messaging and branding strategies.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on consumer engagement through the use of interactive media, such as connected thermostats and other devices.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on employer assisted initiatives and the range of models used to help employees become energy efficient at home. It included lessons learned from the Clinton Climate Initiative, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation's (VEIC) employee sustainability benefit program, and the Nevada Governor's Office of Energy.
This presentation covers Home Energy Reports (HER), a behavior change strategy, and conducting multilevel modeling to garner insights into which consumers drive energy savings.
Capturing the story behind energy savings projects helps catapult a culture around planning future projects, funding them, and growing a team's value in your company or organization. This webcast features media experts giving tips on telling your tale.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on how to assess, reassess, and initiate organization partnerships.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on demonstration project strategies, advantages and challenges.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on changes and trends in the market for home energy upgrades.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on how to deploy smart home technologies and analyze their data.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on messaging strategies to capture the benefits of home upgrades and attract new customers to home performance.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on marketing techniques for lower income and other underrepresented populations.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on how to identify stakeholders and map them to determine the best engagement strategy.
The Consortium for Energy Efficiency has collected information from its membership for each of the past four years on the behavior-based programs currently underway and how these programs are being evaluated. This presentation describes the annual data collection effort and highlight the key findings of this research to date. Results discussed will consider the social science knowledge most commonly incorporated into the programs captured, as well as methods used for program evaluation and overarching lessons learned from the program administrator community.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on the benefits and challenges of local programs connecting to national campaigns.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on the benefits, challenges, messaging and imagery of different social media campaigns.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on marketing energy efficiency with season-specific marketing strategies and messages.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on how pet-based marketing can promote residential energy efficiency.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on an overview of the Better Buildings Residential Network.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on community-based outreach and organizing strategies to market home energy assessments and upgrades.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on approaches to generate demand for energy efficiency upgrades at multifamily buildings.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on effective messaging.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on how residential energy efficiency programs can use smart home technologies to drive customer demand.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on types of incentives.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on introducing Better Buildings Residential Network members to each other.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on how to use web and mobile applications to generate and increase customer demand.
This peer exchange call summary focused on different tenant and resident education programs and how to make them complement larger programs.
This peer exchange call summary focused on messaging and delivery strategies of those messages to low-income program participants.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on programs and outreach for faith-based organizations.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on ways to reach out to landlords.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on bringing energy efficiency programs to schools.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on using social media for long-term branding and marketing.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on driving demand for energy efficiency by leveraging service calls and emergency repairs.
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on the strategies and challenges of using holidays and other seasonal events to market energy assessments and upgrades.
This presentation provides lessons to ensure effective incentive structures.
This presentation highlights research from U.S. Green Data showing that it is important to pique consumers' interest with incentives, but that their effectiveness can be maximized by making them simple, focusing on people "ready to purchase," and educating consumers about the value of energy efficiency.
Presentations from past Behavior Energy and Climate Change (BECC) Conference. BECC is the premier event focused on understanding individual and organizational behavior and decision-making related to energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, and sustainability. Past conference presentations include various resources related to Marketing & Outreach.
This toolkit describes how to strengthen residential energy efficiency program outreach and marketing efforts through data-driven, tailored efforts to change behaviors. One of the greatest challenges facing the residential energy efficiency market is motivating people to take steps to save energy. This toolkit provides guidance, resources, and examples for applying community-based social marketing (CBSM) to increase the number of homes that are energy efficient.
The Better Buildings Residential Network Designing Incentives Toolkit can help residential energy efficiency programs design incentives that motivate potential customers to act by lowering the risk, decreasing the cost, or offering additional benefits with home energy upgrades. This toolkit provides easy access to various case studies, presentations, and tips related to incentive design.
The Database for Incentives and Joint Marketing Exchange (DIME) is an online, searchable tool to help manufacturers and retailers identify incentive and marketing opportunities for promoting ENERGY STAR certified products, and to enable all partners to coordinate with the appropriate contact from other partner organizations on promotional opportunities.
This calculator provides a simplified tool to demonstrate the business case for energy efficiency from the perspective of the consumer, the utility, and society.
The Small Town Energy Program (STEP) toolkit gives a complete overview of STEP from planning to implementation. It also includes access to a wide variety of materials developed by the program, including: local asset materials, partner materials, personnel materials, program administrative materials, outreach materials, and surveys. STEP has posted these toolkit documents with the hope that it will assist other small towns and communities in building and running more energy efficiency programs.
This database provides comprehensive information on state, federal, local, and utility incentives and policies that are in place to support renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Message Map and Value Proposition Worksheet is designed to help programs determine the key messages to best communicate to priority audiences.
A one-page template that helps program administrators visualize activities and associated timelines for their marketing efforts.
Homeowner survey created by the utility to inform their whole home upgrade program.
This handbook is intended to assist electric utilities in overcoming barriers to using social media; provide a clear and simple stepwise approach to get started or enhance social media use; and provide a set of recommendations for using social media as an additional marketing tool to drive participation in energy efficiency and demand management programs.
This white paper covers a few of the business-to-business marketing goals including social media strategies critical for an energy auditing business in today's world, while providing insights into how to make the most of these efforts.
This white paper covers the very basics of social media for home performance businesses. It describes how to set up a Home Performance profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Home Energy Pros; content creation ideas for social media accounts; and advanced strategies for improving reach in social media.
This white paper focuses on when to consider paid Facebook ads for building brand awareness and conversion on your organization’s website. It also reviews the most effective tactics for ad creation, targeting, and implementation.
This report shares the results of a multiyear energy consumer research program. The findings and analysis point to important shifts and highlight growing opportunities for forward-thinking energy providers. Above all, they reinforce the importance of the digitally engaged consumer and the need for energy providers to stake their claims in the digital energy ecosystem.
This paper defines customer engagement, illustrates how engagement platforms can be used in energy efficiency programs, and presents guidelines to help program administrators plan, design, implement, and evaluate a modern, integrated, and efficient customer engagement platform. It also covers how advances in big data and tracking systems can support platforms that are technology-enabled, center on customer needs, leverage psychosocial drivers and data analytics, and employ mechanisms to foster long-term trust and loyalty. Effective customer engagement can also lead to higher satisfaction levels, greater energy savings, and more persistence of savings.
The population of HVAC and home performance buyers is largely made up of baby boomers. The goal of this guide is to explain why programs should consider the baby boomer audience and outline the best ways to market to this audience.
This document features lessons learned shared by Better Buildings Residential Network members during Peer Exchange Calls held during Autumn 2016.
Research reveals a whole range of unmet housing-related desires in America -- gaps between what Americans have and what they say they need or want. The Demand Institute surveyed more than 10,000 households about their current living situation and what’s important to them in a home. The survey represents all U.S. households: renters and owners; movers and non-movers; young and old and finds that unsatisfied needs and desires cut across the entire population.
This study focused on barriers to, and opportunities for, solar photovoltaic energy generation; opportunities for, access to other renewable energy by low-income customers; contracting opportunities for local small businesses in disadvantaged communities; low-income customers to energy efficiency and weatherization investments, including those in disadvantaged communities. It also provides recommendations on how to increase access to energy efficiency and weatherization investments to low-income customers.
Behavioral change programs are not necessarily a separate category of efficiency efforts; rather, behavioral approaches can be effectively integrated into all programs in residential, commercial, or industrial settings. As increased connectivity within homes and businesses expands opportunities to provide energy information, the role of behavior will likely become even more prominent. Consortium for Energy Efficiency, Inc. (CEE) provides this webpage dedicated to behavior change resources.
Research traditions across the social sciences have explored the drivers of individual behavior change and proposed different models of decision making. In this paper, four diverse perspectives are reviewed: conventional and behavioral economics, technology adoption theory and attitude-based decision making, social and environmental psychology, and sociology. This paper concludes with how to develop a more integrated approach to both behavioral change research and intervention design in a residential energy context.
This report explains the psychology of individual energy efficiency actions, and how large scale behavior change programs can use this research to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This report, informed by leading research and real-world examples, highlights practical online and in-person tactics that contractors can use to promote social interaction and social comparison among homeowners to make energy upgrades a "must-have" in U.S. homes.
This paper describes a wide variety of behavior change insights potentially applicable to the energy efficiency program context, provides examples of efficiency programs that have applied these insights, and explores some untapped opportunities to achieve energy savings through behavior change.
Over the past 30 years, program administrators have concentrated on investment behavior change -- that is getting their customers to install things like insulation and lighting systems using various behavior change tools such as marketing, education, rebates, and technical assistance to support the investment behavior change. Today, as program administrators move to expand the range of behavior change strategies in their portfolios, it is often difficult to know where to begin. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) began by detailing the range of behavior change strategies and identifying strategic opportunities.
Energy burden is the percentage of household income spent on home energy bills. In this report, ACEEE, along with the Energy Efficiency for All coalition, measures the energy burden of households in 48 of the largest American cities. The report finds that low-income, African-American, Latino, low-income multifamily, and renter households all spend a greater proportion of their income on utilities than the average family. The report also identifies energy efficiency as an underutilized strategy that can help reduce high energy burdens by as much as 30%. Given this potential, the report goes on to describe policies and programs to ramp up energy efficiency investments in low-income and underserved communities.
The multifamily sector can be hard to reach when it comes to energy efficiency programs. Besides being diverse and complex, the sector presents a unique set of challenges to efficiency investments. The result is that multifamily customers are often underserved by energy efficiency programs. Drawing on data requests and interviews with program administrators, this report summarizes the challenges to program participation and identifies best practices that programs can use to reach and retain large numbers of multifamily participants.
Energy efficiency is good for you--and for the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the community in which you live. This fact sheet shows how saving energy reduces air and water pollution and conserves natural resources, which in turn creates a healthier living environment for people everywhere. It includes the stories of a family in Pennsylvania and a hospital in Florida.
A recent cost vs. value report compared the average cost for popular remodeling projects with the value those projects retain at resale value in 100 different U.S. markets. This Home Energy article discusses how one of the most valuable remodeling options is one you can’t see--energy efficiency.
A number of states are beginning to recognize Demand Reduction Induced Price Effects (DRIPE) as a real, quantifiable benefit of energy efficiency and demand response programs. DRIPE is a measurement of the value of demand reductions in terms of the decrease in wholesale energy prices, resulting in lower total expenditures on electricity or natural gas across a given grid. This paper reviews the existing knowledge and experience from select U.S. states regarding DRIPE (including New York and Ohio), and the potential for expanded application of the concept of DRIPE by regulators.
This paper presents obstacles to increasing lender and consumer participation in energy efficiency financing identified by a group of small to mid-size lenders, and offers recommendations to the energy efficiency community to foster growth in the market for energy efficiency financing.
With so much to gain, how can we optimize low-income energy efficiency programs to maximize the benefits for financially vulnerable citizens, as well as program implementers and the broader population of ratepayers? This paper shares four important lessons for engaging low-income customers based on Opower’s experience in partnering with utilities to serve the low-income population.
This series of 19 tip sheets is based on the experience and expertise of EPA’s Climate Showcase Communities. The tip sheets cover a wide range of topics, such as marketing and communications (effective messaging, traditional media strategies, community-based social marketing, and testimonial videos) and working with specific types of stakeholders (institutional partners, contractors, experts, utilities, early adopters, volunteers).