Skip to main content
Energy.gov Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Residential Program Guide
  • About
  • Common Topics

Secondary

  • Explore Residential Guide
    • Handbook Index
    • Program Components
    • Program Design Phases
  • Resources
    • Quick Answers
    • Proven Practices
    • Energy Data Facts
    • Tips For Success
    • Resource Library
    • Glossary
  • Tech Solutions
    • About Tech Solutions
    • HVAC
    • Heat Pump Water Heater

Breadcrumbs

EERE » Residential Program Guide » Common Search Topics » Search by Topic

Page title

Search by Topic

Showing results 1 - 43 of 43

Contractor Engagement & Workforce Development – Assess & Improve Processes

Monitor the effectiveness of contractor and workforce development efforts, motivate improvement, address low performers, and adapt on a regular basis.
Handbook

Market Position & Business Model – Assess & Improve Processes

Develop processes, strategies, and procedures to continuously improve your organization’s operations and position in the market.
Handbook

Financing – Develop Resources

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

Contractor Engagement & Workforce Development – Deliver Program

Implement contractor coordination and workforce recruitment and training in concert with other program components
Handbook

Contractor Engagement & Workforce Development – Develop Resources

Develop workforce and contractor engagement procedures, forms, and materials
Handbook

Market Position & Business Model – Communicate Impacts

Publicize benefits and lessons learned resulting from your organization’s success in the market.
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

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

Financing – Deliver Program

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

Program Design & Customer Experience – Identify Partners

Establish relationships with organizations that can help deliver your program by enhancing your knowledge, resources, capabilities and access to customers and contractors.
Handbook

Market Position & Business Model – Create a Business Plan

Create your organization’s business plan, which describes how your operational and financial structure will support the delivery of energy efficiency services.
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 – Assess & Improve Processes

Monitor the effectiveness of marketing and outreach strategies and adapt as needed.
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

Marketing & Outreach – Develop Evaluation Plans

Develop a plan and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing and outreach strategies.
Handbook

Marketing & Outreach – Identify Partners

Establish relationships with organizations that will assist with program marketing and outreach.
Handbook

Market Position & Business Model – Set Goals & Objectives

Establish or update your organizational mission, vision, and goals to encompass energy efficiency programs.
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

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

Contractor Engagement & Workforce Development – 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 – Identify Partners

Establish relationships with contractors who will deliver program products and services, and with organizations that train and certify workers.
Handbook

Contractor Engagement & Workforce Development – Overview

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, fostering clear communication, and refining program processes over time, in partnership with your workforce.
Handbook

Consider a diversity of funding and revenue sources and make selections based on local opportunities when planning for long-term program sustainability

In order to craft a sustainable financial model, organizations need to identify long-term sustainable revenue sources. As with the Better Buildings Neighborhood Program, grant funding can be a great way to get an effort off the ground; however, grant funding does run out, leaving the need to secure...
Tips for Success

Connect home performance professionals to trainings focused on the skills that employers want and the community needs

Effective home performance contractors require many types of skills and expertise. To help individuals develop those skills, programs can target training on the specific topics and skills needed for successful home performance work. Many Better Buildings Neighborhood Program partners found that they...
Tips for Success

Contractors are your sales team – educate and empower them with the skills to sell home energy upgrades

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...
Tips for Success

Help contractors understand the program’s financing options and benefits, so they can communicate to homeowners

Homeowners do not benefit from access to financing if they don’t know about or understand options available to them. Contractors are often the primary transaction point for selling upgrades, and many programs have found that ongoing collaboration with contractors through sales training, regular...
Tips for Success

Motivate action through financial incentives and time-limited offers

Incentives can be the easiest approach to overcome motivation barriers and attract customers’ and contractors’ attention, as long as the upgrade and reimbursement processes are kept simple and easy to follow. Successful programs have found incentives help entice customers to complete upgrades...
Tips for Success

Workforce Development and Sales Training for Energy Efficiency Contractors

Author(s)
Elizabeth Stuart, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Publication Date
2011
Organizations or Programs
Efficiency Maine,
Efficiency Vermont
This webcast reports on the energy efficiency services sector workforce size, expectations for growth, and training needs and features a case studies from Efficiency Vermont and Efficiency Maine.
Resource - Webcast

Training: How to get Results - What Matters, What Doesn't

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2016
Organizations or Programs
New Mexico Energy$mart,
Energy Trust of Oregon,
Community Power Works

This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focused on strategies for contractor training.

Resource - Topical Presentations

Strengthening the Front Lines: Sales Training and Continuing Education for Contractors

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2015
Organizations or Programs
Build It Green

This summary from a Better Buildings Residential Network peer exchange call focuses on how mentoring on sales skills and business management helped one contractor increase sales and become more profitable. The call also covered top tips for supporting contractors, such as helping contractors develop systems to be more efficient in completing projects and creating a service plan with customers for additional improvements in the future.

Resource - Topical Presentations

Contractor Sales Training

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2012
Organizations or Programs
EnergyWorks,
Efficiency Maine,
BetterBuildings for Michigan

This peer exchange call summary focused on sales training assistance programs for contractors.

Resource - Topical Presentations

Five Steps to a Profitable Contractor Base

Author(s)
Courtney Moriarta, SRA International, Inc.,
Emily Levin, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation,
Tiger Adolf, Building Performance Institute,
Brad Geyer, Fayette County Better Buildings Initiative,
Sammy Chu, Suffolk County Department of Labor,
Sam Flanery, Building Science Academy
Publication Date
2012
Organizations or Programs
Efficiency Vermont,
Fayette County Better Buildings Initiative,
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)

Presentation on five steps to building a profitable contractor base. The steps include sensible program design and administration, certification and credentialing, communicating with contractors, contractor requirements (business vs. trade), and training and sales support.

Resource - Topical Presentations

Contractor Marketing Plan Template

Author(s)
Energy Circle, LLC
Publication Date
2017

This marketing plan template was developed to assist Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HPwES) participating contractors develop their marketing plans.

Resource - Templates & Forms

Contractor Marketing Tactics Spreadsheet Template

Author(s)
Energy Circle, LLC
Publication Date
2017

This marketing tactics spreadsheet was developed to assist Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HPwES) participating contractors.

Resource - Templates & Forms

Contractor Sales Training: Providing the Skills Necessary to Sell Comprehensive Home Energy Upgrades

Author(s)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Publication Date
2011
Organizations or Programs
Efficiency Maine

This Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Clean Energy Policy Brief describes how adding sales skills to contractors' existing technical expertise helps convert more assessments into comprehensive home energy upgrades. It profiles Efficiency Maine's contractor sales training and includes a list of resources.

Resource - Publications

Strategy Guideline: Transitioning HVAC Companies to Whole House Performance Contractors

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2012
This guide discusses the findings of research in moving existing companies, with a focus on HVAC, to deliver more comprehensive energy saving upgrade services. It also helps the industry understand the business processes and strategies for transitioning to such an approach.
Resource - Publications

Contractor Blueprint: Getting from HVAC to Home Performance

Author(s)
California Center for Sustainable Energy,
Home Performance Resource Center
Publication Date
2012
Organizations or Programs
Energy Upgrade California

This guide shows HVAC contractors how to get started in the home improvement market. It explains the approach of treating a house like a system and provides step-by-step instructions on setting up a home performance contracting business.

Resource - Publications

Technology Solutions and Programmatic Approaches: Driving Innovation in Residential Energy Efficiency Strategies

Author(s)
Kat Donnelly, EMpowerDevices,
Kerry O'Neill, Earth Markets
Publication Date
2012
Organizations or Programs
Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge

Connecticut's Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge uses dashboards that display key project data for administrators and contractors to monitor progress over time. The program has evaluated performance at different steps in the process and identified strategies to improve performance where needed, such as sales training for contractors, energy advisors, monthly contractor scorecards, and multiple customer "touches." These improvements increased the close rate from 26 to 60 percent in one year.

Resource - Program Presentations & Reports

New York Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Contractor Training Videos

Author(s)
NYSERDA
Publication Date
2017
Organizations or Programs
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)

New York Home Performance with ENERGY STAR offers a series of training videos for new contractors covering topics such as creating processes and procedures to manage projects, consumer incentives and financing options, and Quality Assurance (QA) inspections.

Resource - Program Materials

Spotlight on Fayette County, Pennsylvania: Developing the Skills and Tools for Workforce Success

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2012
Organizations or Programs
Fayette County Better Buildings Initiative

This case study discusses strategies that Fayette County, Pennsylvania used to provide Building Performance Institute (BPI) certification and business skills training to aspiring energy efficiency contractors.

Resource - Case Studies

Spotlight on Maine: Contractor Sales Training Boosts Energy Upgrade Conversions

Author(s)
U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date
2012
Organizations or Programs
Efficiency Maine

This case study explains how Efficiency Maine provided contractor sales training to boost upgrade conversions.

Resource - Case Studies

Content Type

  • Handbook (24)
  • Resource (14)
  • Tips for Success (5)

Resource Type

Program Components

  • Market Position & Business Model (10)
  • Program Design & Customer Experience (7)
  • Marketing & Outreach (9)
  • Financing (3)
  • Contractor Engagement & Workforce Development (19)

Program Design Phases

  • Overview (6)
  • Strategy Development (22)
  • Planning (19)
  • Implementation (18)
  • Evaluation (9)

States or Territories

  • California (3)
  • Connecticut (2)
  • Florida (2)
  • Kansas (1)
  • Maine (6)
  • Michigan (2)
  • New Mexico (1)
  • New York (2)
  • Ohio (1)
  • Oregon (3)
  • Pennsylvania (4)
  • Texas (3)
  • Vermont (1)
  • Washington (2)

Organizations or Programs

  • Efficiency Maine (6)
  • Austin Energy (3)
  • Community Power Works (2)
  • Connecticut Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge (2)
  • Efficiency Vermont (2)
  • Energy Upgrade California (2)
  • EnergyWorks (2)
  • Enhabit (2)
  • Fayette County Better Buildings Initiative (2)
  • New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) (2)
  • BetterBuildings for Michigan (1)
  • Build It Green (1)
  • Energy Trust of Oregon (1)
  • EnergyWorks Kansas City (1)
  • Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance (GCEA) (1)
  • Michigan Saves (1)
  • NeighborWorks of Western Vermont (1)
  • New Mexico Energy$mart (1)
  • ShopSmart with JEA (1)
  • Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF) (1)
Residential Program Guide is a resource of the U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Office.
Contact | Building Technologies Office

OFFICE of
ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

Forrestal Building
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585

Link to Facebook Link to Twitter Link to Youtube Link to Linkedin

An office of

Energy.Gov

About EERE

Careers and Internships

EERE Home

Publications Library

Contact EERE

Energy.gov Resources

Budget & Performance

Directives, Delegations & Requirements

FOIA

Inspector General

Privacy Program

Small Business

Staff & Contractor Resources

Federal Government

The White House

USA.gov

  • Web Policies
  • Privacy
  • No Fear Act
  • Whistleblower Protection
  • Information Quality
  • Open Gov
  • Accessibility
  • Vulnerability Disclosure Program