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Case Study: Utah Home Performance with ENERGY STAR
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Executive Summary
The Challenge: Driving Engagement and Follow-Through for Whole-Home Retrofit Program
Utah HPwES had an aggressive goal for the number of retrofits they needed to achieve in a short period of time. The whole-home retrofit program was conceived as a savings-qualified system: retrofit rebates were set generously at $2,000 per homeowner, but in order for homeowners to qualify, they needed to achieve at least a 20 percent energy improvement in their homes. Furthermore, significant test-in audit subsidies were offered to defray the cost of the audit to homeowners. The program administrators, PECI, knew they needed to be careful in designing the program to ensure great engagement and follow-through for high-potential homeowners while limiting ineffective subsidies for low-potential homes.
"Program Optix offers the simplicity of a single platform that allows us to streamline our program administration processes and easily communicate with our partners and homeowners. EnergySavvy's team has been responsive to our needs and a great partner to work with."
PECI partnered with EnergySavvy for help with homeowner pre-screening using EnergySavvy Online Audit, and for program workflow management and tracking with EnergySavvy Program Optix. The Online Audit user experience, embedded in the consumer-facing Utah HPwES website, acted as the main intake point for homeowners applying to the program. Applicants went through the online analysis tool themselves (or in some cases, aided by program contractors) and were screened by the software for program eligibility before ever engaging with program personnel. Qualifying applicants were able to proceed to in-home assessment and then retrofit, while others were off-ramped to relevant utility programs in their area.
Program Optix was deployed as a program management system to enable customer service representatives, contractors, analysts and QA reviewers to coordinate seamlessly and ensure a quick, efficient homeowner experience. PECI's program administrators then had a comprehensive single view into the program's performance, with real-time reporting and analytics to make optimization decisions.
The Results
The benefits of this innovative software-driven approach to program administration were quickly realized:
| Metric | Before Program Optix | After Program Optix | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit to Retrofit Conversion Rate | 48% | 70% | 46% Increase |
| Average Audit to Test-Out Time | 103 days | 62 days | 40% Decrease |
| Contractor Satisfaction | 15% | 89% | 6x Increase |
Study includes a time-based sample of 1,834 completed in-home assessments from homeowners that started the program before August 7, 2011. Overall program conversion from audit to retrofit is 55% (2,167 total in-home assessments).
Program Savings from Online Audit: 16 percent of applicants were disqualified for low energy savings potential or not meeting other program requirements before ever talking to a program customer service rep, resulting in a significant savings to the program -- in-home analysis subsidies that couldn't have led to qualifying retrofits. The accuracy of these online self-assessments was comparable to the results of the in-home audits.
Conversion to Retrofit Boost: The in-home-audit-to-retrofit conversion rate boost from the deployment of Program Optix meant that fewer in-home audit subsidies were paid out to homeowners that didn't convert to retrofit.
Customer Satisfaction: Customer satisfaction for those disqualified applicants was an important consideration—while they did not get to participate in the program, they also did not have to spend $100 (the unsubsidized portion of the in-home analysis) to find that out. Instead, they were guided to other utility-sponsored programs they could qualify for.
Contractor Satisfaction: Trade ally positive satisfaction ratings with the program portal jumped from 15 percent to 89 percent after the introduction of Program Optix.
The net impact: Real program savings in non-productive rebate dollars, a better customer and contractor experience and higher conversion rates. More savings per program dollar.