The National Energy Leadership Corps:

A Case Study of Student Engagement in

Home Energy Assessments

David Riley

Michael Whelton

Penn State University

Alfred State Sustainability Conference June 2013

Presentation Outline • Residential Energy Efficiency Value Chain

• Challenges in Energy Assessments

• NELC Program Overview

• Focus on Homeowner and EEM Opportunities

• Servant Leadership Principles

• Pilot Developments

• Final Takeaways

Residential Market - Energy Use 22%

Multiple Delivery Channels

Audit Types?

Comprehensive Audit

Challenge: Home Energy Audit Skills

Traditional home energy audit programs focus on characterizing the physical features of home and are expensive to deliver:

Require trained auditor who is experienced in multiple home settings to:

1. Engage homeowner in audit process

2. Collect house fact data

3. Conduct diagnostic tests

4. Apply variable types of analysis methods

5. Make recommendations to homeowners in report

Traditional Training Perspectives

Energy Assessment as a Technical Process

A Socio-technical Process

Alleviate Homeowner In-Decision and In-Action

Challenge: Home Energy Audit Process

Shortcoming of traditional home energy audit process: – Time consuming: Average time required for audit is 2-3 hours

in home plus time to analyze data and summarize results

– Cost / scalability: Subsidy or sale of upgrade needed for delivery method to be profitable / sustainable

– Demanding: Skills and experience required to conduct whole house energy audit/analysis are extensive and need to be developed over time period

– Short-lived: Focus is on one-time intervention rather than long term engagement of homeowner

– Impersonal: Omits formal assessment homeowner and applications of behavioral science / leadership

– Fractured: Tools and methods to address these challenges are highly variable and disjoint

National Energy Leadership Corps Integrated Education, Research, and Service program

Mission: Empower America’s Energy Independence through Leadership, Service, and Economic Development

Value Proposition: Homeowners get free or low cost personal home energy assessment and connection to a community

Participants gain energy literacy and

leadership skills

Strategy: Integrate program as a service element of energy and sustainability courses at colleges and universities

Research Goals

Integrate homeowner assessment into process Interview homeowner to assess priorities, concerns, world view so recommendations can be customized for resonance

• Consider homeowner market segmentation and world view in engagement and feedback methods

• Initiate long term engagement of homeowners rather than a one-time intervention / retrofit

• Enable social networking and continuous learning of homeowner

Research Goals

Define a taxonomy of home energy interventions: Characterize defining features of variable forms of home energy evaluation programs that help link homeowners with appropriate information, advice, and services

• Self Audit: Conducted by homeowner; promotes DIY actions

• Assisted Audit: Supported by a coach; engages homeowner, targets priority actions

• Tradition Audit: Performed by professional; included whole-house diagnostics

• Deep Audit: Performed be specialist; explores advanced measures/technologies

Research Methods

Develop Value-chain model Test model through cross-cutting study of: • Homeowner engagement methods • Homeowner characterization research • Audit process maps • Home energy analysis tools • Audit-upgrade hand-off process • Training programs

Experiment with • Alternative audit delivery processes • Homeowner engagement/ and characterization practices • Energy analysis information mapping • Audit delivery models

Engagement of Homeowner /

Community

Home Energy Evaluation

(Audit)

Characterization of Data

Upgrade Energy-economic

Analysis

Delivery of upgrades

Engagement of Homeowner /

Community

Home Energy Evaluation

(Audit)

Characterization of Data

Upgrade Energy-economic

Analysis

Delivery of upgrades

Procedures Practices

Situational - Utility - Climate - Family -

Homeowner - Beliefs - Skills - Motivation -

House condition - Age - Systems - Construction - Hazards - Deterioration -

Performance. Data - Electricity - Heating fuel - Water use -

Monitoring data - Kw - Run time - Use pattern

Upgrade ECM / EEM

Solution Package

DIY - Self Engaged - web - DIY - repair Marketing - direct mail - advert. - display WAP program - utility - NGO - SEP Housing Authority - contractual - scheduled - repair Community outreach - home assoc. - NGO - school district

Interview

Survey

Blower Door

Infar. Cam.

Duct blast

Walk- through

Combust. Analyzer

Data mine

Utility bill analysis

Monitor device

Community Evaluation

Self Evaluation

Screen tool

Assisted Evaluation

Traditional Evaluation

Renew. Assmt.

Deep Evaluation

Window replace

Repair

Auto-mation

HVAC upgrade

Insulate

Behavior

Seal

HW Heater

Applien. replace

Solar Therm

Solar PV

10% Savings

15% Savings

30% Savings

50% Savings

100% Savings

Specialty Contractor -

- General Contractor

- Whole-House Energy Services Contractor

1 2 3 4 5

Entry Points Profile Action

National Energy Leadership Corps Program Design

• Objectives – Create a trusted network of 3rd party energy coaches

– Delivery fundamental energy literacy for citizens

– Enable scaled delivery infrastructure at low cost to homeowner

– Provide an on-ramp to credentials and careers in building energy efficiency and management

• Tiered approach to home energy survey and analysis – Core content supports survey of homeowner and home

– Deep content supports advanced interaction and analysis

– Expert content supports coaching and professional credentials

• Continuous learning infrastructure – Online modules created to support portability and capacity

– Flipped classroom model enables independent learning and skill building

– Continuous learning platform supports access, updates, and continuous improvement of curriculum

Key energy assessment value chain variables

Credibility of auditor with homeowner

Credentials of audit professional

Level of analysis

World view and market segment view of homeowner

Channels of upgrade delivery services

Third party Professional builder

Surveyor Whole house analysis and coach

Course: Align with checklist

Detailed: Energy and economic analysis of packages

Targeted action, product, service

Phased implementation of whole-house upgrade

Rational Emotional

National Energy Leadership Corps Home Energy Assessment

How it works:

• Personal and facilitated with tech support

• Collects information about owner attitudes and interests

• Gathers readily accessible home facts

• Utilizes technology to create a personal energy profile and actionable priority list

• Follow-up encouragement/assessment

National Energy Leadership Corps Home Energy Assessment

Curriculum Design:

• Online content videos and exercises

• Active classroom activities

• Hands-on training

• Mentoring by experienced students

• Internships for most passionate, top performers

• Support pursuit of professional credentials

National Energy Leadership Corps Home Energy Assessment

Curriculum Content:

12 core modules cultivate:

• Home energy literacy

• Building materials and methods

• Confidence in homeowner interaction

• Data collection and interpretation skills

• Time management / problem solving

Narrated 3-8 minute videos with integrated anticipatory questions, learning checks, and pre + post confidence questions

Produced videos of detailed systems and home

assessment scenarios

How to spot potential problems

World View Assessment

Four market segments with different value sets regarding home energy efficiency (Shelton Group):

• Working Class Realists(22.1%)

• True Believers (22.4%)

• Cautious Conservatives (25%)

• Concerned Moms (30.5%)

National Energy Leadership Corps Home Energy Assessment

Practicum (in class and hands-on):

• Review key technical and safety issues

• Discuss active learning assignments

• Role play interaction with homeowner

• Mentored sequence of assessments

National Energy Leadership Corps Home Energy Assessment

Support tools:

• Support website for scheduling and communications

• IPad application to support data collection, image management,

• EEM Database – case based support

• Customized report generator

Engagement of Homeowner /

Community

Home Energy Evaluation

(Audit)

Characterization of Data

Upgrade Energy-economic

Analysis

Delivery of upgrades

1 2 3 4 5

Ho

me

ow

ner

N

ELC

Ad

min

. St

ud

en

t A

sse

sso

r

Learn about NELC

Apply for visit

Approve Applica-

tion

Schedule visit

Complete training

Provide avail-ability

Complete pre-audit

survey

Conduct prelim.

research

Conduct home visit

Host home visit

Mentor visit

Submit data

Filter data ID

Questions

Answer questions

EEM/ECM calc.

Estim. Saving

potential

Format report/ profile

Review report/ profile

Digest report/ profile

Follow-up contact

Take action

Track progress /

update

Review data

Clients’ prior concern &

Building value

Interview with the client

Finding EEM opportunities with building walkthrough

Data evaluation and Report generation Top 5 EEMs

are commended with detail

descriptions and benefits

Calculation of energy cost &

saving of implementation

Taking actions toward energy

independence

Student Energy Assessment Process

National Energy Leadership Corps Home Energy Assessment

EEM Database Design

• Energy Efficiency Measures

• Worldview and Human Factors Design

• Customized Report Design

EEM Database View

• Benefits customized to worldview

Customized Homeowner Report

• Templates customized to worldview

• Experimenting with Cognitive Styles

Current State and Future State Pathways

Developing Servant Leadership Skills in Energy Assessment Practice

Ten Principles of Servant Leadership By Robert Greenleaf

Listening

Empathy

Healing

Awareness

Persuasion

Conceptualization

Foresight

Stewardship

Commitment to the Growth of People

Building Community

Energy - Listening

Energy - Empathy

Energy - Healing

Energy - Awareness

Energy – Persuasion

Energy - Conceptualization

Foresight

Energy – Foresight

Stewardship

Energy - Stewardship

Commitment to the Growth of People

Building Community

Energy Community

2009-2011: Two pilot projects and Building America Research Program

Spring 2012 & 2013: University of Pittsburgh Pilot Goal: Evaluate curriculum Experiment with community partners Demonstrate portability Demonstrate scalability Results: Completed assessments Larimer, PA Curriculum and activity improvements Tracked student efficacy Support tool specifications Change energy modeling approach

Expected results

• Value chain map providing guidance to advancement of audit delivery practices

• Taxonomy of energy evaluation methods defined by defining characteristics

• Portable and scalable curriculum model for peer adoption and adaptation

• Recommended applications for audit delivery channels with expanded integration of homeowner characterization

Goal: AASHE Workshop next year on how to integrate NELC program in to your school’s sustainability program portfolio

NELC Takeaways • Program Focus

– “Assisted” Audit Level

– Homeowner Worldviews - Values, Interests, Motivations, Skills, Servant Leadership Principles

• Identifying and Acting on Energy Efficiency Opportunities

• Ongoing Refinement of Curriculum – Tools – Support Systems

• Welcome Collaborative Interest in Future Pilots 2014

Thank you

Questions: David Riley www.cfs.psu.edu driley@psu.edu