Community Partner Participation Guide for 2017 Button Up Vermont Campaign

Participation Guide for Community Partners

September 2017

Summary

Button Up Vermont is a community-based, public outreach campaign to promote home energy efficiency improvements – particularly helping people reduce heating and cooling costs. Efficiency Vermont, in partnership with a broad group of statewide and regional organizations, plans to work with at least 25 Vermont communities to engage their residents around thermal efficiency. The campaign will focus on all Vermonters and is designed to provide opportunities for all individuals to take actions – from simple weather stripping to comprehensive home energy efficiency improvements.Button Up Vermont is designed to mobilize Vermonters to take action and help Vermont reach its statewide goal of 25% energy savings in 80,000 homes by the year 2020.

Efficiency Vermont will provide free LEDs to community partners working at the local level to engage residents in the Button Up Vermont campaign. Efficiency Vermont will also provide educational materials, media and social media support, and guidance to community partners, such as local energy committees. In exchange, community partners are asked to commit to implementing at least two community engagement activities of their choosing, such as organizing home energy parties, workshops, or tabling events. Residents in your community will be asked to commit to undertaking one or more measures to reduce their heating load and then record their actions on Energy Action Network’s Community Energy Dashboard.

In addition, Efficiency Vermont will place printed and digital ads to reach all Vermonters –with the majority of the paid media aimed toward directly supporting participating communities. Efficiency Vermont will be reaching out to its network of retail partners to promote weatherization and other energy efficient products during the month of November, as well as to Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® (HPwES) contractors to engage them around the Button Up Vermont campaign.

This Guide includes the following sections:

  • Background
  • Roles and Responsibilities
  • How to Participate
  • Timeline
  • Attachment A: Sampling of Community Engagement Activities

Background

Vermont has seen a groundswell of individuals at the local level who are interested in helping their communities promote energy efficiency and renewable energy. Today, there are over 100 town energy committees in Vermont along with another 50 town-appointed energy coordinators. These local energy committees and energy coordinators offer great promise for helping Vermont increase energy efficiency in their homes. Despite this inspiring wave of energy action, most Vermonters have not undertaken comprehensive action to fully weatherize their homes.

In 2008, the Vermont State Legislature set a statewide goal of improving the energy efficiency of at least 20% of the state’s housing stock by 2017 (about 80,000 units) and reducing annual fuel needs and bills by an average of 25% in the housing units served. Unfortunately, Vermont is falling significantly behind in this goal. This is where the 2017 Button Up Vermont campaign comes in.

Button Up Vermont is designed to encourage community partners, such as town energy committees, to work with their residents to encourage them to commit to making efficiency improvements in their homes. The campaign focuses on all Vermonters and is designed to provide opportunities for all individuals to take actions – from simple weather stripping to Home Performance with ENERGY STAR jobs.

The 2017 Button Up Vermont campaign is designed to:

  • Engage with at least 25 Vermont communities to promote thermal and electrical efficiency measures to their fellow community members;
  • Engage and raise awareness of 5,000 individuals directly through community partners around energy efficiency;
  • Stimulate at least 500 individuals to undertake weatherization measures in their homes and record their actions on the Community Energy Dashboard;
  • Raise general public awareness and literacy about energy saving benefits and opportunities; and,
  • Gain a better understanding of what community engagement tools or activities are most effective in engaging residents to take action.

Roles and Responsibilities

Efficiency Vermont, in partnership with a broad range of state and regional partners, will:

  • Provide informational materials on a wide variety of efficiency opportunities and services available, including checklists and educational materials;
  • Host the Button Up Vermont website;
  • Provide guidance on how to effectively participate in the Button Up Vermont campaign,
  • Provide speakers for community workshops;
  • Provide media and social media support; and,
  • Provide free LEDs to communities to directly engage residents in the Button Up Vermont campaign.

Community partners will:

  • Implement at least two community outreach activities to directly engage communities members, such as home energy parties, workshops, and tabling events;
  • Distribute free LEDs to residents in exchange for residents committing to undertake at least one new energy efficiency measure/action in their homes.
  • Record the names and contact information of all individuals who receive a free LED and provide this list to Efficiency Vermont; and,
  • Promote the Button Up Vermont checklist of energy saving actions that residents can undertake to reduce heating and cooling costs, and encourage residents to record their completed actions on the Community Energy Dashboard.

How to Participate

It’s easy to participate. Here’s how.

1)Register on-line: Go to this link and complete the on-line registration form. There is no limit to the number of communities who can participate in the Button Up Vermont effort.

2)Sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): Once you register, Efficiency Vermont will send you a simple two-page MOU that lays out our respective roles and responsibilities (see Respective Roles and Responsibilities above).

3)Efficiency Vermont will arrange for delivery of LEDs: Once you sign the MOU, Efficiency Vermont will make arrangements with our supplier to send you free LEDs to distribute to your residents. The first LEDs are expected to be delivered in early October.Efficiency Vermont will provide 9.5 watt ENERGY STAR A-Line LED – the most commonly used LED in homes (equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent). Community partners agree to distribute only one LED per household and to distribute LEDs only to Vermont residents.

4)Efficiency Vermont will send educational materials: Efficiency Vermont will send you an informational packet that will include the Button Up Vermont checklist, sign-up sheets, flyers on the Heat Saver Loan program, and other educational materials.

5)Community partners provide Efficiency Vermont with dates for community engagement activities: Efficiency Vermont will prepare a custom-made advertisement for one community engagement activity for each community partner, and will submit this ad to media outlet of your choice. All engagement activities will also be posted on the Button Up Vermont website. Efficiency Vermont will provide you with a link on where to submit this information.

6)Communities implement engagement activities: Once you have your LEDs, checklists, and educational materials, community partners will have the primary responsibility for home energy visits, home energy parties, Button Up workshops, door-to-door outreach, phone-a-thons, and more. Descriptions of these engagement activities can be found below.

7)Community partners distribute LEDs to residents: At each engagement activity, residents will receive one free LED per household. In exchange, they will be asked to put their name and contact information on a signup sheet provided by Efficiency Vermont. This sign-up sheet provides Efficiency Vermont and community partnerswith a record of who received an LED, and provides Efficiency Vermont will some quality assurance related to distribution of the free LEDs. Community partners are asked to submit a copy of the sign-up sheets to Efficiency Vermont where we will track participants over time to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.

8)Residents commit to take action: When a resident receives an LED, community partnersare asked to provide the resident with a Button Up Vermont Checklist, and ask the resident to commit to undertaking at least one new energy efficiency measure/action in their home. Once the individual has actually completed the action, they can record their actions on the Community Energy Dashboard and be eligible to win a prize, like a smart thermostat or $500 toward a HPwES project with Efficiency Vermont.

9)Community partners conclude outreach efforts: After undertaking your community engagement activities, community partners are asked to:

-Submit a short narrative report: All participating communities are asked to submit a short report summarizing the activities they implemented, their results, and an evaluation of the program.

Timeline

Below is the timeline for the 2017 Button Up Vermont Campaign.

Activity / Timeline
Community registration begins / September 6
Media campaign begins / September 13
Community partners register on-line and sign MOU / September 6 – 30
Community registration closes / September 30
Community partners receive informational packets (to distribute to residents) / September –October
Community partners receive LEDs from supplier / October 9-31
Community partners inform Efficiency Vermont about dates of community engagement activities / September - October
Efficiency Vermont prepares custom-made advertisement for one activity for each community partner and submits ad to media outlet of community partner’s choice / October – November
Community partners undertake engagement activities / October - December 15
Community partners collect names and contact information of residents who received free LEDs and submits sign-up sheets to Efficiency Vermont / October - December 15
Community engagement activities conclude / December 15
Community partners submit brief narrative report to EVT on their results and activities / December 31

Attachment A: Sample of Community Engagement Activities

Community partners are encouraged to be creative in reaching their residentsto help them reduce heat and cooling costs. To start you down the path, Efficiency Vermont has prepared a guide on specific community engagement activities, including:

Tabling: Community partnerscan table at a variety of locations, including farmer’s markets, town transfer station, or at any existing community gathering.

Workshops: Efficiency Vermont is offering free workshops for community partners and businesses designed to help Vermonters make energy improvements. Each workshop addresses how a particular technology works, associated economics, and available technical and financial resources. Efficiency Vermont will provide an energy expert to deliver the presentation, guidance on how to effectively organize a workshop, and educational and public outreach materials. Community partners and businesses are asked to take primary responsibility for getting the word out and securing the venue. To schedule a workshop, sign up here on the Efficiency Vermont website or call 1 888-921-5990. The following educational workshops are currently available:

  • Button Up Vermont: how homes lose energy and primary opportunities for air sealing and insulation
  • Cold Climate Heat Pumps: the latest in heat pump technology, the relative economics compared to other fuel sources, and successful case studies
  • Mobile Home Efficiency: improvements unique to mobile homes, with a focus on DIY opportunities
  • Modern Wood Heating: how wood pellet central heating systems work, and the relative cost and savings compared to other systems
  • Slash Your Energy Bills: introductory workshop on reducing energy bills through low-cost efficiency improvements, weatherization, and more
  • Zero Energy Homes: the path toward a zero energy home with energy efficiency, heat pumps, and solar

Home Energy Parties: Home energy parties can be an effective way to encourage residents to improve the efficiency of their homes. Based upon the Tupperware party model, homeowners who have recently completed comprehensive energy retrofits invite their neighbors and friends to their homes to share their experiences. The energy contractor who performed the work is also invited to attend and explain the energy audit and retrofit process.

Local Contractors: As noted above, Vermont has private contractors serving all areas of the state who do comprehensive weatherization work, such as air sealing and insulation. Community partners can reach out to local contractors to explore opportunities to collaborate, including organizing/participating in home energy parties with customers who have completed comprehensive weatherization work, offering to conduct free walk-through assessments (not full energy audits) for those interested residents, and more. Community partners can provide a real service to private contractors by helping them generate “warm leads.”

Door-to-Door Community Outreach: Door-to-door outreach efforts offer an effective method to reach a large number of people in a relatively short timeframe. Volunteers go door-to-door to share information about energy saving opportunities and resources and provide educational materials. Door-to-door efforts can also include providing energy saving kits to interested residents, and surveying residents about their energy usage and preferences.

Phone-a-Thons: Phone-a-thons present a relatively inexpensive method to reach a large number of residences in a relatively short-time frame. Simply, volunteers organize one or more phone-a-thon parties, obtain a list of residents’ phone numbers, and using a prepared script encourage them to move ahead with home energy improvements. Similar to the door-to-door approach, volunteers can offer energy saving kits, survey residents, and even offer discounted energy audits to qualifying residents.

1

HPwES is a statewide program of certified energy contractors who conduct energy audits and implement comprehensive efficiency improvements, such as insulation and air sealing. This program is managed by Efficiency Vermont with private contractors operating in Vermont. Click here for more information about HPwES. Information about Vermont Gas Company’s energy efficiency program that can be found here