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Provide information to help customers pick the right contractor

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...
Tips for Success

Provide adequate time for data system development and testing

Many Better Buildings Neighborhood Program partners found that setting up their information technology (IT) systems early in the program design stage ensured that data terms and data entry procedures were consistently applied by all system users. Reaching agreement with stakeholders (e.g...
Tips for Success

Incentivize the action you want your customer to take

Successful programs know that it is not enough to get customers interested in their services. They know that homeowners that receive assessments but don’t undertake upgrades don’t receive the benefits of energy efficiency—and programs don’t get credit for energy savings. Instead of emphasizing...
Tips for Success

Make sure there are enough customers in your target market to meet your goals and attract partners

Many programs that focused on a specific neighborhood or other small geographic areas have found it difficult to generate enough customer interest, partner interest, and upgrade activity to meet program goals. Regional or statewide approaches are often more attractive to contractors, lenders...
Tips for Success

Make upgrade options clear and concise for customers

Programs in many regions of the U.S. find that the concept of home performance is new to homeowners. Homeowners may not know how energy efficiency measures compare (e.g., energy savings benefits of insulation versus new windows) or have not heard about some effective measures, such as air sealing...
Tips for Success

Overview and Preliminary Results of ARRA-Funded SGIG Consumer Behavior Studies

Author(s)
State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network
Publication Date
2014

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.

Resource - Webcast

Better Together: Linking and Leveraging Energy Programs for Low-Income Households

Author(s)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Publication Date
2017
Organizations or Programs
Energy Outreach Colorado,
DTE Energy

This 90-minute webinar explored the topic of linking and leveraging energy efficiency and renewable energy (EE/RE) programs for limited-income households, including the need to coordinate with other energy assistance programs. It presented case studies of organizations that have successfully advanced connections among available programs and funding sources.

Resource - Topical Presentations

Better Together: Linking and Leveraging Energy Programs for Low-Income Households

Author(s)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Publication Date
2016
Organizations or Programs
Energy Outreach Colorado

This webcast highlight effective efforts by state and local agencies, non-profits, and utilities to bring energy efficiency and renewable energy (EE/RE) to low-income households.

Resource - Topical Presentations

Beyond the Light Touch: Next Steps for Improving Energy Efficiency in Multi-Family Affordable Housing

Author(s)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Publication Date
2016
Organizations or Programs
Elevate Energy

This webcast in a multi-part series highlighting efforts by state and local agencies, non-profits, and utilities to bring energy efficiency and renewable energy (EE/RE) to low-income communities.

Resource - Topical Presentations

Working With Weatherization Assistance Programs

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2011
Organizations or Programs
Michigan Saves

This peer exchange call summary focused on integrating income-qualified programs into neighborhood sweeps.

Resource - Topical Presentations

Small Town Energy Program (STEP) Toolkit

Author(s)
Small Town Energy Program
Publication Date
2013

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.

Resource - Tools & Calculators

Non-Energy Benefits / Non-Energy Impacts (NEBs/NEIs) and Their Role & Values in Cost-effectiveness Tests: State of Maryland

Author(s)
Natural Resources Defense Council
Publication Date
2014
This study is a review of non-energy benefits related to residential weatherization programs. The study estimates the value, in dollar and percentage terms, of non-energy benefits from weatherization programs, and summarizes the ranges and typical values for non-energy benefits. Recommendations for a non-energy benefits strategy for Maryland are provided.
Resource - Publications

Sustainable Funding and Business Case for GHHI Home Interventions for Asthma Patients

Author(s)
Green & Healthy Homes Initiative
Publication Date
2016

This report identifies sustainable funding sources for asthma-related home interventions. It examines the business case and return on investment for interventions that remedy triggers that can exacerbate asthma.

Resource - Publications

Green & Healthy Homes Initiative: Improving Health, Economic, and Social Outcomes Through Integrated Housing Intervention

Author(s)
Environmental Justice
Publication Date
2014

This paper found that improved health outcomes and more stable, productive homes in primarily African American, low-income neighborhoods are related to the mitigation of asthma triggers and home-based environmental health hazards and that upstream investments in low-income housing have the potential for generating sustainable returns on investment and cost savings related to improved health, productivity gains, and wealth retention due to energy conservation.

Resource - Publications

Non-Energy Benefits / Non-Energy Impacts (NEBs/NEIs) and Their Role & Values in Cost-effectiveness Tests: State of Maryland

Author(s)
Natural Resources Defense Council
Publication Date
2014

This study is a review of non-energy benefits related to residential weatherization programs. The study estimates the value, in dollar and percentage terms, of non-energy benefits from weatherization programs, and summarizes the ranges and typical values for non-energy benefits. Recommendations for a non-energy benefits strategy for Maryland are provided.

Resource - Publications

More Savings for More Residents: Progress in Multifamily Housing Energy Efficiency

Author(s)
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
Publication Date
2017

This report updates ACEEE's 2013 assessment of multifamily energy efficiency programs in US metropolitan areas with the most multifamily households. Using housing, policy, and utility-sector data from 2014 and 2015, this report documents how these programs have changed in the context of dynamic housing markets and statewide policy environments. The report also offers an analysis of the number, spending, offerings, and targeted participants of current programs and their potential for further expansion.

Resource - Publications

Multifamily Energy Efficiency Retrofits: Barriers and Opportunities for Deep Energy Savings

Author(s)
Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance,
Southwest Energy Efficiency Project,
Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance,
South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource,
Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, Inc.
Publication Date
2016
Organizations or Programs
Michigan Saves,
ConEdison’s Brooklyn Queens Demand Management Program,
Florida's Multifamily Energy Retrofit Program,
Set the PACE St. Louis,
City of Chicago,
Energy Outreach Colorado,
Massachusetts Low-Income Multifamily Energy Retrofit Program

This report was developed to help inform national stakeholders about the strategies that have been used to achieve deep energy savings in the multifamily housing sector through energy efficiency upgrades. These strategies could be used as models in areas where utility program administrators and policymakers seek to achieve deep energy savings in the multifamily building stock for the purposes of reducing energy costs, creating comfortable and healthy homes, meeting regulatory requirements, or reducing the environmental impacts of energy consumption. This report includes a national multifamily market characterization, barriers and opportunities for program and policy efforts, and eight exemplary case studies from across the country.

Resource - Publications

Building Better Energy Efficiency Programs for Low-Income Households

Author(s)
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
Publication Date
2016
Organizations or Programs
Efficiency Vermont

This report details opportunities for scaling up program activity and increasing savings from programs reaching the people who need it most. It discussed best practices from existing programs for overcoming many of the key challenges that program administrators face, including how to address housing deficiencies that prevent energy efficiency upgrades, how to address cost effectiveness challenges, and how to serve hard-to-reach households.

Resource - Publications

Lifting the High Energy Burden in America's Largest Cities: How Energy Efficiency Can Improve Low-Income and Underserved Communities

Author(s)
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
Publication Date
2016

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.

Resource - Publications

Ratepayer-Funded Low-Income Energy Programs: Performance and Possibilities

Author(s)
APPRISE Inc.
Publication Date
2007

The purpose of this study is to furnish comprehensive information on ratepayer-funded low-income energy programs. This study includes information on and analysis of the energy needs of low-income households, the legal and regulatory framework supporting ratepayer-funded programs, program design options, and the findings from evaluations of program effectiveness.

Resource - Publications

Energy and Environment Guide to Action: State Policies and Best Practices for Advancing Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and Combined Heat and Power

Author(s)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Publication Date
2015

The Guide to Action provides in-depth information about over a dozen policies and programs that states are using to meet their energy, environmental, and economic objectives with energy efficiency, renewable energy, and combined heat and power. Each policy description is based on states’ experiences in designing and implementing policies, as documented in existing literature and shared through peer-exchange opportunities provided to states by EPA’s State Climate and Energy Program.

Resource - Publications

A Changing Landscape: The Regional Roundup of Energy Efficiency Policy in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States

Author(s)
Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, Inc.
Publication Date
2015

This report represents NEEP’s annual assessment of the major policy developments of 2014, as well as its look into the immediate future, where NEEP gauge states’ progress toward capturing cost-effective energy efficiency as a first-order resource. While looking at the region as a whole, NEEP also provides summary and analysis of some of the biggest building energy efficiency successes and setbacks from Maine to Maryland — including significant energy efficiency legislation and regulations and changes in funding levels for energy efficiency programs.

Resource - Publications

Aligning Utility Incentives with Investment in Energy Efficiency

Author(s)
National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency
Publication Date
2007

This report describes the effects of utility spending on efficiency programs, how those effects could constitute barriers to investment in energy efficiency, and how policy mechanisms can reduce these barriers.

Resource - Publications

Setting Energy Savings Targets for Utilities

Author(s)
State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network
Publication Date
2011

This report helps policymakers understand how electric and natural gas utilities can achieve greater efficiency by establishing numeric energy savings targets and goals for energy efficiency programs.

Resource - Publications

Who Should Deliver Ratepayer-Funded Energy Efficiency? A 2011 Update

Author(s)
Regulatory Assistance Project
Publication Date
2011

This report identifies and discusses factors that should be considered in evaluating model choices for administering and implementing ratepayer funded energy efficiency programs.

Resource - Publications

It's Academic: BetterBuildings for Michigan Partners With University to Reach Employees

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2013
Organizations or Programs
BetterBuildings for Michigan
This Focus Series interview discusses the semester-long, employer-assisted partnership between BetterBuildings for Michigan and Grand Valley State University (GVSU). This successful partnership involved an early adopter outreach campaign and served as a model for other program partnerships.
Resource - Case Studies

Content Type

  • Resource (21)
  • Tips for Success (5)

Resource Type

Program Components

  • Market Position & Business Model (15)
  • (-) Program Design & Customer Experience (26)
  • Evaluation & Data Collection (6)
  • Marketing & Outreach (20)
  • Financing (13)
  • Contractor Engagement & Workforce Development (8)

Program Design Phases

  • (-) Overview (3)
  • (-) Strategy Development (26)
  • Planning (27)
  • Implementation (24)
  • Evaluation (4)

States or Territories

  • Alabama (3)
  • Alaska (2)
  • Arizona (12)
  • Arkansas (7)
  • British Columbia (2)
  • California (41)
  • Colorado (30)
  • Connecticut (19)
  • DC (1)
  • Delaware (3)
  • District of Columbia (1)
  • Florida (10)
  • Georgia (11)
  • Hawaii (6)
  • Idaho (5)
  • Illinois (27)
  • Indiana (5)
  • Iowa (4)
  • Kansas (5)
  • Kentucky (5)
  • Louisiana (3)
  • Maine (11)
  • (-) Maryland (17)
  • Massachusetts (29)
  • (-) Michigan (14)
  • Minnesota (14)
  • Mississippi (2)
  • Missouri (9)
  • Montana (4)
  • Nebraska (2)
  • Nevada (12)
  • New Hampshire (8)
  • New Jersey (15)
  • New Mexico (2)
  • New York (33)
  • North Carolina (8)
  • Ohio (9)
  • Oklahoma (3)
  • Oregon (37)
  • Pennsylvania (18)
  • Rhode Island (10)
  • South Carolina (5)
  • Tennessee (3)
  • Texas (26)
  • Utah (9)
  • Vermont (27)
  • Virginia (8)
  • Washington (33)
  • Washington D.C. (1)
  • Washington DC (7)
  • West Virginia (1)
  • Wisconsin (14)
  • Wyoming (1)

Organizations or Programs

  • Michigan Saves (4)
  • Austin Energy (3)
  • Energy Outreach Colorado (3)
  • Be SMART (2)
  • Community Power Works (2)
  • Enhabit (2)
  • Beacon Communities Project (1)
  • BetterBuildings for Michigan (1)
  • City of Chicago (1)
  • ConEdison’s Brooklyn Queens Demand Management Program (1)
  • DTE Energy (1)
  • Efficiency Maine (1)
  • Efficiency Vermont (1)
  • Elevate Energy (1)
  • Energize New York (1)
  • Energize Phoenix (1)
  • Energy Impact Illinois (1)
  • EnergySmart (1)
  • Energy Upgrade California (1)
  • Florida's Multifamily Energy Retrofit Program (1)
  • Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance (GCEA) (1)
  • Maryland Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (1)
  • Massachusetts Low-Income Multifamily Energy Retrofit Program (1)
  • Set the PACE St. Louis (1)
Residential Program Guide is a resource of the U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office.
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