The 5th annual ENERGY STAR Utility Sponsors Meeting occurred last month in Anaheim, CA. The meeting consisted of two days of presentations and break out sessions. On the third day there was an optional site visit to go through the ENERGY STAR inspection process. Discussion topics included marketing, utility rebate program design, data collection, transition to version 3.0, and builder and contractor participation.
I don’t think it can be understated just how important utilities are in the growth and success of ENERGY STAR for New Homes. 39 states have active utility rebate programs and over 80% of all ENERGY STAR certified homes are participating in an utility program. Clearly this was group is one of the EPA’s most valuable stakeholders!
This year the mood was overwhelmingly positive. In the past attendees openly voiced concerns about anticipated builder participation drop off under the new specifications. For the most part program sponsors have now accepted ENERGY STAR v3.0 and understand why it’s an improvement over v2.0. Although most utilities are still committed to ENERGY STAR, many are developing tiered rebate structures. This means that instead of having rebates only for ENERGY STAR certified homes they also have incentives for homes that are above energy code, but below v3.0.
One of the main emphases of the meeting was the marketing of ENERGY STAR. The EPA has developed new marketing collateral for program sponsors. Marketing needs to connect emotionally with viewers. The goal is sell feelings, ideas, dreams, and hopes, not technology. Although we were talking about homes, the same can be said for any marketing campaign from cell phones to automobiles.
The new ENERGY STAR marketing material down play the technology and construction details of the home. Image from the EPA.
All of the presentations from the meeting are available online.
No Faux Green 