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Energy.gov Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Residential Program Guide
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Financing – Develop Resources

Develop the procurement, outreach, and loan support resources required to perform your financing activities.
Handbook

Evaluation & Data Collection – Conduct Evaluation

Manage third-party impact and process evaluation activities by coordinating with evaluators, transferring data, and overseeing evaluation deliverables.
Handbook

Evaluation & Data Collection – Develop Resources

Identify and implement systems and tools that will support data collection and data quality necessary for effective evaluation.
Handbook

Financing – Communicate Impacts

Communicate the results of your financing activities to internal and external partners.
Handbook

Market Position & Business Model – Develop Evaluation Plans

Develop processes to evaluate your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, and market position on a regular basis.
Handbook

Financing – Assess & Improve Processes

Focus on the continuous improvement of your financing activities by tracking and evaluating data, responding to feedback, and modifying strategies when needed.
Handbook

Program Design & Customer Experience – Make Design Decisions

Solidify your program strategy and decide which customers you will focus on; what products, services, and support you will provide; and how you will partner with contractors and others to deliver services to your customers.
Handbook

Contractor Engagement & Workforce Development – Develop Evaluation Plans

Determine processes for collecting and sharing data about key contractor metrics and workforce development activities.
Handbook

Financing – Deliver Program

Launch your financing activities in coordination with other program components.
Handbook

Market Position & Business Model – Develop a Business Model

Define your business model, including market position, products and services, type of customers, financial model, governance structure, and the assets and infrastructure your organization needs.
Handbook

Marketing & Outreach – Deliver Program

Implement marketing and outreach activities in coordination with other program components to generate demand for your program's services.
Handbook

Financing – Develop Evaluation Plans

Establish an evaluation plan that will allow you to determine how your financing activities are impacting the market.
Handbook

Financing – Make Design Decisions

Determine if enhancements to existing financing products or the development of new products are necessary to allow you to achieve your goals and objectives.
Handbook

Financing – Develop Implementation Plans

Develop a plan to implement your financing activities, with defined roles for financial institution partners, contractors, customers, and your program.
Handbook

Financing – Identify Partners

Identify and partner with financial institutions that can provide capital, underwriting, and other functions to enable your customers to access financing.
Handbook

Financing – Set Goals & Objectives

Establish goals, objectives, and timeframes for your financing activities.
Handbook

Financing – Assess the Market

Determine how your target audience currently funds energy efficiency services, to what extent upfront cost is a barrier, and whether improvements to their financing options would increase the uptake of energy efficiency measures.
Handbook

Market Position & Business Model – Assess the Market

Survey existing and potential demand for energy efficiency products and services based on an understanding of policies, housing and energy characteristics, demographics, related initiatives and other market actors.
Handbook

Financing – Overview

Ensure that your program’s customers will have access to affordable financing, so they can pay for the services you offer.
Handbook

Contractor Engagement & Workforce Development – Develop Implementation Plans

Develop contractor engagement, quality assurance, and workforce development plans that include strategies, workflow, timelines, and staff and partner roles and responsibilities.
Handbook

Program Design & Customer Experience – Assess & Improve Processes

Improve your program’s efficiency and effectiveness through regular information collection, assessment, decision-making, adaptation, and communication.
Handbook

Program Design & Customer Experience – Develop Resources

Develop the necessary materials, tools, and staff capacity to effectively deliver and manage your program.
Handbook

Program Design & Customer Experience – Assess the Market

Research and analyze the specific barriers, needs, and opportunities for a residential energy efficiency program in your community.
Handbook

When partnering with lenders through a request for proposal (RFP), establish a clear process and remain flexible

Establishing strong, collaborative partnerships with one or more lending partners is critical for successful delivery of affordable home energy lending. These partnerships are typically created through a request for proposal (RFP) process which can encourage market competition and help to attract...
Tips for Success

Establish data sharing relationships as early as possible

Though potentially challenging, establishing relationships for sharing energy consumption data is critical for evaluating program impact on energy and cost savings. Many Better Buildings Neighborhood Program partners found success by approaching utilities during the program planning phase, or at...
Tips for Success

Engage with potential lending partners early, and make a clear business case for their involvement

Some lenders perceive home energy lending to be too risky or not profitable enough for them to get involved. Programs have found that engaging potential lending partners early in the program design process, especially in face-to-face meetings, helped them understand both lender needs and the risks...
Tips for Success

Streamline the financing process with easy loan applications and quick approvals

Complicated loan and program application processes have deterred many potential customers from following through with an upgrade. Delays and overly burdensome requirements raise barriers to participation. Many programs have successfully employed strategies to reduce the number of requirements that...
Tips for Success

Leveraging EPA's Portfolio Manager in Benchmarking and Disclosure Policy

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2011
This webinar highlights the best practices of state and local benchmarking and disclosure policies. It discusses benchmarking and its place in the larger context of energy management planning and explores in detail some of the choices governments face when implementing these policies.
Resource - Webcast

On the Horizon: Making Home Energy Data Meaningful Beyond the MLS

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2016

Energy efficiency data can inform real estate transactions – including underwriting and appraisal, but each sector relies on its own sets of tools, data and specifications. The Home Energy Information Accelerator addresses how reliable energy information can get into the hands of decision-makers, and what types of policy, technical, and other changes are needed to make energy information useful in the real estate transaction.

Resource - Topical Presentations

The High Performance Value Chain & Chicago’s Residential Energy Disclosure Requirements

Author(s)
CNT Energy,
National Home Performance Council
Publication Date
2015

This presentation provides an overview of the CNT Energy and National Home Performance Council white paper "Unlocking the Value of an Energy Efficient Home: A Blueprint to Make Energy Efficiency Improvements Visible in the Real Estate Market." It covers making information about energy efficiency improvements visible to home buyers and others involved in a home sale transaction.

Resource - Topical Presentations

Commercial and Multifamily Building Benchmarking and Disclosure

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2013

This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on energy benchmarking and building disclosure policies.

Resource - Topical Presentations

Preliminary/Sample Residential Energy Efficiency Loan Term Sheet and Underwriting Criteria

Author(s)
Energy Efficiency Finance Corporation
Publication Date
2014

Provides a sample or preliminary term sheet for single family residential energy efficiency loans that can provide a basis for discussions and negotiations with prospective lending partners.

Resource - Templates & Forms

DOE Template Program Agreement

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2012

A template agreement that addresses the full energy efficiency or renewable energy loan origination cycle.

Resource - Templates & Forms

The Impact of On-Bill Programs on Loan Performance: Evidence from the Green Jobs, Green New York Program

Author(s)
Jeff Deason, Goldman School of Public Policy , UC Berkeley
Publication Date
2015
Organizations or Programs
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
This paper investigates the credit enhancement value of NYSERDA's on-bill energy efficiency financing program relative to its similar conventional unsecured loan program. In the raw data, while both loan pools perform well relative to credit card lending, the on-bill loans default more often than the unsecured loans. This paper shows that this result persists: on-bill loans default more often, and this finding is not sensitive to model specification. This paper also shows that NYSERDA's alternate underwriting mechanism based on mortgage and utility bill repayment history performs well, and that projected dollar savings from the installed projects do not significantly influence loan performance.
Resource - Publications

Energy Transparency in the Multifamily Housing Sector: Assessing Energy Benchmarking and Disclosure Policies

Author(s)
Institute for Market Transformation
Publication Date
2012

This report is intended to serve as a guide for policymakers and multifamily stakeholders on benchmarking and disclosure rules and regulations. It provides an introduction to the multifamily housing sector, followed by a thorough review of existing benchmarking and disclosure policies and an assessment of continuing policy challenges and opportunities.

Resource - Publications

Benchmarking and Disclosure: State and Local Policy Design Guide and Sample Policy Language

Author(s)
State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network
Publication Date
2012

This document provides sample policy language based on a synthesis of existing state and local policies, and discussion on key provisions, for the design of a commercial benchmarking and disclosure policy.

Resource - Publications

Energy Benchmarking, Rating, and Disclosure for State Governments

Author(s)
State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network
Publication Date
2012

This report provides information on how energy use data access can help state governments lead by example through benchmarking and disclosing results and implement benchmarking policies for the private sector.

Resource - Publications

Energy Benchmarking, Rating, and Disclosure for Local Governments

Author(s)
State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network
Publication Date
2012

This report provides information on how access to energy use data can help local governments create policies for benchmarking and disclosing building energy performance for public and private sector buildings.

Resource - Publications

Energy Benchmarking, Rating, and Disclosure for Regulators of Ratepayer-Funded Programs

Author(s)
State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network
Publication Date
2012

This report provides information on how supporting access to building benchmarking data can help utilities increase efficiency and drive down energy demand.

Resource - Publications

Residential Energy Use Disclosure: A Guide for Policymakers

Author(s)
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
Publication Date
2014
Organizations or Programs
NM
This guide/toolkit provides step-by-step recommendations on how policymakers can go about devising successful energy disclosure policies. It discusses the who, what, where, when, why, and, most importantly, how, for creating disclosure policies for the residential sector.
Resource - Publications

Recognizing the Benefits of Energy Efficiency in Multifamily Underwriting

Author(s)
Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation
Publication Date
2012
Organizations or Programs
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
This report addresses a key bottleneck for private capital: lenders declining to underwrite energy efficiency loans for multifamily housing because they lack confidence in energy savings. It presents findings from an analysis of 230+ buildings, assesses total savings achieved and savings as a percentage of projections, and provides a starting point for an underwriting methodology.
Resource - Publications

Extending Efficiency Services to Underserved Households: NYSERDA's Assisted Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program

Author(s)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Publication Date
2012
Organizations or Programs
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
This policy brief describes how NYSERDA's Assisted Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program increases access to financing through tiered underwriting criteria.
Resource - Program Presentations & Reports

Aggressive Underwriting and Smart Product Delivery: Keystone HELP

Author(s)
Tessa Shin, AFC First Financial Corporation
Publication Date
2012
Organizations or Programs
Keystone Home Energy Loan Program (HELP)
Presentation describing AFC First's (a lender's) aggressive underwriting and smart product delivery as part of the Keystone HELP program.
Resource - Program Presentations & Reports

Aggressive Underwriting and Smart Product Delivery: NYSERDA

Author(s)
Jeff Pitkin, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Publication Date
2012
Organizations or Programs
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)

Presentation describing NYSERDA's alternative underwriting approach for its target market.

Resource - Program Presentations & Reports

Smart-E Loan Data Release Form

Author(s)
Energize Connecticut
Publication Date
2014
Organizations or Programs
Energize Connecticut

Data release form that allows the Connecticut Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) to obtain customer utility account and actual energy usage data, energy costs, underwriting and loan repayment records, and data on energy savings measures installed.

Resource - Program Materials

Clean Energy Works Primer on Financial Products

Publication Date
2012

Primer for Clean Energy works Portland financial offering. Includes loan term and rates, transfer of ownership, and underwriting criteria to expand access to financing for low-income residents.

Resource - Program Materials

Make the Loan Application Process as Simple as Possible

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2012

In this video interview segment, Tessa Shin of AFC First discusses the importance of making the loan application process simple for both homeowners and contractors.

Resource - Case Studies

Alternative Underwriting Criteria: Using Utility Bill Payment History as a Proxy for Credit: Case Study on Clean Energy Works Oregon (now Enhabit)

Author(s)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Publication Date
2012
Organizations or Programs
Enhabit

This case study highlights Clean Energy Works Oregon's (now Enhabit) low interest, on-bill financing and alternative underwriting practices which have achieved a low rejection rate while also maintaining a low loan default rate.

Resource - Case Studies

Content Type

  • Handbook (23)
  • Resource (21)
  • Tips for Success (4)

Resource Type

Program Components

  • Market Position & Business Model (7)
  • Program Design & Customer Experience (7)
  • Evaluation & Data Collection (11)
  • Marketing & Outreach (1)
  • Financing (24)
  • Contractor Engagement & Workforce Development (2)

Program Design Phases

  • Overview (2)
  • Strategy Development (25)
  • Planning (21)
  • Implementation (19)
  • Evaluation (11)

States or Territories

  • Arizona (1)
  • California (5)
  • Colorado (1)
  • Connecticut (1)
  • Georgia (1)
  • Illinois (2)
  • Louisiana (1)
  • Massachusetts (1)
  • Minnesota (2)
  • New Hampshire (1)
  • New York (5)
  • Oregon (2)
  • Pennsylvania (3)
  • Texas (2)
  • Virginia (2)
  • Washington (1)
  • Washington D.C. (1)

Organizations or Programs

  • New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) (4)
  • EnergyWorks (2)
  • Enhabit (2)
  • Keystone Home Energy Loan Program (HELP) (2)
  • Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP) (2)
  • Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA) (2)
  • Austin Energy (1)
  • Beacon Communities Project (1)
  • DecaturWISE (1)
  • Energize Connecticut (1)
  • Energize Phoenix (1)
  • Energy Impact Illinois (1)
  • EnergySmart (1)
  • Energy Upgrade California (1)
  • NM (1)
  • NOLA WISE (1)
Residential Program Guide is a resource of the U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office.
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