The marketing component of an ENERGY STAR program should be designed both to attract builder partners and to increase consumer awareness. A key ingredient of an effective marketing strategy is to develop compelling messages. For builders, it is important to emphasize the value of the program as it relates to their business objectives (e.g., market share, competitive advantage, reduced liability). For consumers, the message should be as simple as possible and convey compelling homeownership benefits (e.g., better homes for lower cost of ownership). Once messaging is developed, the marketing strategy should ensure frequency of messaging (e.g., multiple advertising placements vs. single events). Take advantage the marketing tools and materials from the national ENERGY STAR Certified Homes Program.
Incentives can 'jumpstart' program participation and, if strategically designed, can lead to a healthy, self-sustaining market even if they are phased out. Incentives can include direct monetary payments, such as rebates, indirect monetary assistance such as free ratings; or non-monetary assistance such as free training. The four most common utility program incentive structures, which can be used alone or in conjunction with one another, are:
- Tiered incentives. Several tiers of incentives are available to the builder based on the efficiency of the house. ENERGY STAR certification can be a prerequisite for all tiers or for the higher level tiers depending on the market conditions.
- Equipment incentives. In addition to building an ENERGY STAR certified home, incentives are provided for specific high efficient equipment such as HVAC equipment, lighting, or on-site energy.
- Rating incentives. The rating is either directly provided by the utility or raters can be directly paid to provide verification services to participating homes.
- Homeowner discount. A percentage or flat fee discount on utility bills is given to owners of ENERGY STAR certified homes.
The cash value of incentives offered for ENERGY STAR certified homes does not necessarily correlate with the market penetration of certified homes. Therefore, even though incentives can play a role in the success of a program, other factors, such as the development of healthy builder and rater competition and consumer education and demand, are equally if not often more important.
Effective training can help program implementers to establish a viable Energy Rating infrastructure, prepare various local subcontractors for success, set clear expectations and requirements for builders so they can become successful program participants, train sales agents and real estate professionals to communicate the benefits of energy-efficient homes, and educate buyers on the benefits of purchasing energy-efficient homes. By implementing an ENERGY STAR Certified Homes program, sponsors can leverage a powerful brand advantage, along with fully-developed technical specifications and associated training and technical support available from EPA at no cost.
In addition to builders and raters, trade allies play important roles in the success of ENERGY STAR home construction. HVAC contractors, architects, insulators, and roofing and foundation contractors in particular may need additional training to see the value in the enhanced practices required by ENERGY STAR and understand how to do them correctly. As a sponsor of an ENERGY STAR Certified Homes program, there are many ways that you can provide training support to your builders and their trade allies:
- Delivering individual mentoring or group training on program requirements;
- Facilitating local training events through industry-recognized trainers; or
- Directing partners and allies to ENERGY STAR training materials to use on their own.
Developing and nurturing strong relationships with all program stakeholders (e.g., consumers, builders, home energy raters, HVAC contractors, real estate agents, appraisers, and related home builder and trade associations) is a critical factor for success. This relationship-building begins by establishing procedures and expectations, including processes that involve stakeholders in important decisions and milestones, as well as periodic communication through newsletters and e-mails. It is particularly important to allow long lead times, typically at least six months, to educate partners about any upcoming changes to program requirements or incentives. To effectively manage limited resources, it is important to identify "champion" builders that can leverage the greatest growth through their own participation and ability to attract competitors to join the program.
Because program success is so dependent on homes consistently meeting technical specifications, quality assurance oversight for building and rating practices is critical. A robust quality assurance protocol serves to: ensure the integrity of the ENERGY STAR label; add an important additional layer of oversight beyond the quality assurance activities provided by the rating industry; promote a mature, self-sustaining high-performance building industry; and ensure that participants are meeting program guidelines, incentives are being properly awarded, and savings claimed are accurate. Key elements of a robust quality assurance protocol include:
- Participation agreements that clearly delineate expectations and requirements
- Incentive application review
- Data file review (including rating reports and inspection checklists)
- In-field inspections
- Corrective action process resulting in removal of non-compliant participants
- Training based on QA/QC findings
By incorporating evaluation practices into program design and putting tracking systems in place as soon as implementation starts, sponsors will have critical data needed to assess whether goals (e.g., actual energy savings, peak-demand reduction, cost effectiveness) are met. It can also help to facilitate continuous improvement in program elements like incentives, the home verification process, training, and marketing strategies. This will allow sponsors to demonstrate critical performance metrics to regulators, and to rebalance program investments to optimize future returns. The most successful programs evaluate their performance against key savings and peak load reduction targets. Metrics that assist in evaluating program success can include: the number of homebuilder and rater program partners, the number of ENERGY STAR certified homes constructed, measurements of peak energy use for certified vs. noncertified homes, and utility bills of certified vs. noncertified homes.
