Factors for Success
Key Needs:
- Organization with strategic vision to nominate leaders & work on follow-up, AND with organizational capacity to coordinate program operations
- Trusted and respected organization or entity (ex. Cooperative Extension) which can get leaders to agree to energy test
- Training: we have a video but need nearby expert(s) to conduct classroom and field training (options: video, and checklist/guide) at least 1 person
Essential Components:
Coordination & organization —
- Experienced supervisor or team
- 1 to 3 people
Intern Recruitment-Job Requirements —
- 6 to 12 people
- At least half-time (options: students, AmeriCorps)
- Motivation and relevant major
- Communication skills
- People needing “gap training” won’t succeed
- Funding and sponsoring organizations
Training —
- Knowledge or 10 to 20 hours training
- Role-play experience
- Nearby experts to conduct classroom and field training (options: video, and checklist/guide) at least 1 person
Nomination of leaders & scheduling —
- Strategic targeting of communities/individuals
- Known/respected person or people to make initial contact (1 to 3 people)
- Reliable person to schedule/communicate with leaders
Initial visit —
- Blower door
- Compass cannot handle wood, solar, geothermal
- (Infrared camera would be useful)
- Quality of Reports (for example, determining exactly where leakages are coming from)
Return visits —
- Consistency and quality (option: video training)
- Knowledge
- Communication ability
- Training interns on educational materials (options: video, educator instruction sheet, role-play)
- Follow-up with leader: Networking
- Following up with leads
- Supporting leaders in making changes in their home and community
- Tracking change (options: benchmarking homes or tracking policies adopted)
- Creating peer to peer networks (options: website)
Energy Outreach Options:
Energy Education Material Distribution: Corps members work with community and high school groups to distribute free educational materials about energy efficiency. Materials include:
Energy Path. Picture which depicts energy efficiency as a multi-step process, starting with low- and no-cost steps and ending with certified home-performance improvements. Includes checklist for each step along the path.
Home Energy CD and Website. Website and CD for do-it-yourself home energy improvements. Includes an interactive house and video clips that show exactly how to make improvements with clear step-by-step instructions.
Guide to Energy Programs. Cards which quickly guide residents to the home energy programs available to them, phone numbers for local agencies, and a sample cash flow scenarios for the various programs.
Home Energy Benchmarking Reports: Corps members work with community and youth groups to collect home information forms, process and distribute free energy reports, and share educational materials about energy efficiency (described above). Residents turn in a form which includes basic information about their home, and they’ll receive back a free home energy profile report. The report includes an analysis of utility bills and an ENERGY STAR® Home Energy Yardstick score, so residents can see how their home measures up to similar homes. The report includes cost and carbon impacts, and potential savings to guide ¬financial investment decision making.
Energy-Saving Light Bulb Distribution: Corps members work with community and youth groups to coordinate distribution of energy-saving light bulbs or other low-cost home energy saving products door-to-door or through community groups or employers. Corps members facilitate completion of residential energy survey response form, once Educational outreach educational process is completed.
Leadership Education Program: Corps members, in teams of 2-3, conduct home energy assessments on the homes of local leaders (including visual inspection of appliances and lighting, heating systems, performing blower door tests, infrared camera scan, and utility bill analysis), compile reports & recommendations, and follow up with leaders to explain recommendations and educational materials, and discuss the economic opportunity in retrofitting homes for energy efficiency in their community.
