Efficiency First

CHICAGO

Last week the Home Performance Resource Center and Efficiency First joined the Clean Economy Development Center to host recipients of the DOE Better Building Program and additional energy efficiency grant winners. There are hundreds of millions of dollars in grant funding that the attending organizations will need to allocate and spend over the next three years. Matt Golden and I attended on behalf of the Home Performance Resource Center (our nonprofit research and publication entity) and Efficiency First.

The three days were a great success. This was a chance to highlight the work of the Resource Center. In total 27 award winners were present and thrilled to have a copy of our Case Studies in hand. Word of the Case Studies has spread and as a result, we have requests for copies from the DOE to the Ohio Utility Commission (who was not even present). Most importantly Efficiency First’s White Paper entitled Best Practices for Residential Energy Retrofit Program Design and the accompanying four sets of recommendations received excellent feedback as program managers were hungry for the road map which was put together by over 50 contractors.  We also received positive reviews for the Green Jobs in Residential Energy Efficiency Industry report, along with three requests for local presentations of the Webinar version of this publication.

Several regions asked Efficiency First to help educate contractors in their area about whole house retrofit, aiding in the transition from serving as single measure contractors. Meanwhile, we were pleased to discover that several of the California based entities from New York, Michigan and Washington were familiar with Efficiency First chapter members. In addition, California attendees had previously seen the Green Jobs report at the regional California Energy Committee (CEC) summits.

Efficiency First hosted both program attendees and Efficiency First members from Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. The reception was successful as we signed several new Efficiency First members, as well as upgraded memberships to the Supporting Sponsor level. Furthermore, it created a stepping stone to launching the Chicago Area/IL Chapter of Efficiency First.

This event was a major achievement for the Resource Center and Efficiency First. It gave us much needed recognition throughout the country. Furthermore, it shows the growing strength and demand for the efforts of our ten working groups and twenty state/regional chapters.

Other organizations attending the conference: PS-D, M-D Building Products, BPI, Clean Edison, Green Fiber, CSG, EGIA and many others.

As the research arm of the national home performance trade association Efficiency First, the Resource Center is dedicated to bridging the information gap between the public and private sectors as government policymakers, residential energy program managers and industry stakeholders work to reduce energy waste and greenhouse gas emissions in American homes.