To develop a successful business model, Better Buildings Neighborhood Program partners found it critical to have a strong understanding of the external environment within which they operated. This included who their customers were, who their competitors and partners were, what key policies governed...
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Even with the best contractor partners, a program may sometimes encounter difficulties that require remediation. Consistent with Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program principles, many Better Buildings Neighborhood Program partners discovered that they could address these difficulties by...
Many home performance programs have confronted the challenge of how to reach out to more customers and to improve conversion rates of customer interest into completed upgrades. Realizing that the contractor is a primary face-to-face link between customers and the program, some Better Buildings...
Early on, many Better Buildings Neighborhood Program partners focused on providing customers with a range of contractors to choose from, while providing contractors with access to customers. Customer feedback received by some programs, however, indicated that customers were confused or overwhelmed...
Many programs used the information they gathered through their quality assurance efforts to recognize contractors that deliver consistent, high-quality work. Rewarding good contractor performance can help you build trust, strengthen partnerships, and boost workforce morale. You can incentivize...
Many Better Buildings Neighborhood Program partners found that program dashboards—regularly updated, easily accessed, summary reports of key metrics—helped them identify problems and monitor program progress toward their goals. Depending on the program’s goals and needs, dashboards included metrics...
Measuring performance at key points in the upgrade process (e.g., assessments, conversion rates, and financing applications) has helped programs understand where their processes are working smoothly and where they are not. This information has helped them continuously improve their program design...
While homeowners may be interested in the benefits of an energy upgrade, many are deterred from completing an upgrade project because of the complex and unknown process. Often, a significant portion of homeowners who receive energy assessments do not continue with the upgrades. As part of the Better...
Without an incentive, homeowners and contractors may limit themselves to smaller upgrade projects. Programs in search of more energy savings have found that some homeowners already interested in an upgrade are amenable to a bigger upgrade when coupled with better financing terms or larger rebates...
Following up on leads that result from your marketing and outreach efforts quickly and consistently will help your program convert them from interested parties to satisfied customers. Many programs found a sizable drop-off in action if they or their contractors were not able to follow up within a...
Publication Date
Organizations or Programs
Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge,
NeighborWorks H.E.A.T. Squad
This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on evaluating and demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of energy upgrades to programs.
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Organizations or Programs
Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge
This peer exchange call summary focused on effective program evaluation and incorporating changes into programs based off evaluation insight.
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Organizations or Programs
Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge
Short survey for Connecticut's Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge workshop participants. The workshop allowed the program to share its energy efficiency offerings with homeowners.
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Organizations or Programs
Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge
This presentation outlines the steps Connecticut's Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge program took to obtain and sort useful feedback from surveys and volunteer observations.
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Organizations or Programs
Denver Energy Challenge
This presentation highlights key plan elements that helped a Denver energy efficiency program reorient toward success.
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Organizations or Programs
Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge
This presentation shares how the Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge collected and evaluated data and used the results to improve its program.
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Organizations or Programs
Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge
This presentation describes Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge program and lessons learned on community engagement as a driver of demand.
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Organizations or Programs
Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge
A list of tips from Connecticut's Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge for working with utilities to access energy usage data.
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Organizations or Programs
Energize New York
In this video interview segment, Tom Bregman of Energize New York, Energy Smart discusses how to overcoming Difficulties Collecting Non-Utility Fuel Data (e.g., fuel oil, propane).