Utility Marketing Success Stories developed by 
Intermountain Energy, a DMEA subsidiary

Home Energy Makeover Contest



By Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA)

Utility rates are climbing and some homeowners believe that there is nothing to do but pay the bigger utility bills.  However, energy-related home improvements are a one-time cost that can save homeowners money every month for as long as they own 
their homes.  DMEA conducted a Home Energy Makeover Contest to dramatically demonstrate how people with higher-than-average home energy costs could save by making the “right” home energy improvements.  This taught all 
interested DMEA members how best to improve their homes in ways that reduce their overall energy bills. 

 

Goals:

  • Show homeowners how to reduce energy bills on their own without a free on-site utility audit

  • Benchmark what is a high home energy (not just electricity) bill and most cost-effective ways to save

  • Demonstrate measures that a homeowner could do that have a positive cash flow for energy savings

  • Demonstrate how to conduct a comprehensive whole house energy analysis

  • Maintain utility’s leadership position as trusted energy savings information broker

Program:

In 2005, Intermountain Energy developed and implemented for DMEA a Home Energy Makeover Contest that partnered DMEA with the Colorado Energy Science Center and 14 area businesses. The Contest offered up to $45,000 in energy-related home improvements. Contest entry forms and rules are distributed in local newspapers.  Two local banks placed entry forms in their lobbies as well.  Contest details were available online at www.homeenergymakeover.com with links to www.dmea.com and www.energyscience.org.

Ten DMEA members with higher-than-average home energy bills were chosen from among contest entries received online and via mail. Each Contest Finalist home received an extensive energy use analyst with a blower door test and data input into the TREAT software application.  The software allowed Intermountain Energy to model the home’s total energy use based on the building shell and appliances, then “true up” the model using the homeowner’s 12 months of actual use and local weather data.  Then, we input local contractor bids to determine which cost-effective improvements that we might “package” into good
(up to $2,500), better (up to $10,000) and best (up to $25,000) groupings.

Each of the 10 Contest Finalists received a customized report titled “Home Energy Performance Analysis with Improvement Package Recommendations.”  The member with the greatest potential to demonstrate home energy savings was awarded over $25,000 in energy-related home improvements.  The two runners-up received up to $10,000 in energy-related home improvements.  The seven remaining members received a comprehensive energy analysis of their home with specific recommendations on how best to cut their utility bills. 

A Home Energy Savings workshop was presented with direct invitations to all the contest entrants as well as the general public.  The workshop was a group presentation by contest co-sponsors who discussed how they improved the Winners’ homes and what they recommended as improvements in the other Finalists’ homes.  At the workshop, DMEA introduced the 

Home Energy Makeover Guide, a web-based suite of self-audit tool. 

Results: 

  • 14 home improvement product and service providers participated with in-kind

  • Donations of promotional support, home analysis expertise and contest prizes

  • Identification, installation and training for DMEA staff and contest co-sponsor representatives of a state-of-the-art home energy analysis software tool

  • Launching of a Home Energy Makeover Guide of web-based tools to help DMEA members conduct their own analysis of potential home energy improvements

  • Workshop attendees expressing interest in paying $150-$300 each for a “Home Energy Performance Analysis
    with Improvement Package Recommendation” similar to that conducted for the Contest Finalists.

-end-
Click here for full-size article.    

Program Update as of February 15, 2006

Delta-Montrose Electric Association 
Home Energy Makeover Contest

From Ed Thomas, Market Development Group

Program Description:

The immediate, measurable achievements are: In 2005, Intermountain Energy developed and implemented a Home Energy Makeover Contest to educate Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) members about the value of "whole house" home energy improvements by awarding packages of improvements to selected DMEA members.  All DMEA members were eligible to enter, and the 10 Contest Finalists with 3 winners were selected by criteria approved by a DMEA Peer Review Ad Hoc Committee comprised of DMEA staff and Member Advisory Committee representatives.  



DMEA’s Program Goals were:

  • Demonstrate measures that a homeowner could do that have a positive cash flow for energy savings

  • Demonstrate how to conduct a whole house energy analysis and communicate the results to homeowner, contractor and financier.

  • Model a collaborative process for a home performance general contractor supported by other energy-related product/service providers. 

The immediate, measurable achievements are:

  •  30,000 newspaper inserts distributed in all area daily and weekly newspapers and shoppers.

  • 130 contest entries

  • 10 contest finalists with 3 winning homes

  • 14 home improvement product and service providers participated with in-kind donations of promotional support, home analysis expertise and contest prizes

  • 1 workshop co-presented by DMEA and contest co-sponsors that was attended by about 50 DMEA members

  • Identification, installation and training for DMEA staff and contest co-sponsor representatives of a state-of-the-art home energy analysis software tool

  • Launching of a Home Energy Makeover Guide of web-based tools to help DMEA members conduct their own analysis of potential home energy improvements

To implement the Contest, Intermountain Energy partnered DMEA with the Colorado Energy Science Center and several area businesses to present a contest in which DMEA members had the opportunity to win up to $25,000 in energy-related home improvements. Ten DMEA members with higher-than-average home energy bills were chosen from among 130 contest entries received online and via mail.  The member with the greatest potential to demonstrate home energy savings was awarded over $25,000 in energy-related home improvements.  The two runners-up received up to $10,000 in energy-related home improvements.  The seven remaining members receive a comprehensive energy analysis of their home with specific recommendations on how best to cut their utility bills. 

The home improvement bundles were determined based on an extensive energy evaluation of the home and other criteria.  

Contest entries were accepted from July 1 to August 31, 2005.  The finalists were selected by a Review Team comprised of DMEA Energy Use Dept. staff in consultation with the Colorado Energy Science Center and the contest co-sponsors.  Consideration was based on an analysis of the homeowners’ total energy bills (i.e. electricity, gas and propane) over the last 12 months, and other criteria such as which homes would provide the best showcase of a complete, cost-effective energy efficiency retrofit.   

  • Outreach to ENERGY STAR, Building Performance Institute and other national providers of whole-house energy improvement advice and certification

  • 9 workshop attendees expressed interest in paying $150-$300 each for a “Home Energy Performance Analysis with Improvement Package Recommendation” similar to that conducted for the Contest Finalists.

Contest entry forms and rules are distributed in local newspapers on July 1 and 6.  DMEA, Alpine Bank, West Star Bank and other local businesses distributing the entry forms and contest information in their lobbies as well.  Contest details were available online at www.homeenergymakeover.com with links to www.dmea.com and www.energyscience.org.

Allies from the local home improvement industry were invited to co-sponsor the contest in return for promotion consideration. Intermountain Energy  recruited 14 reputable companies to provide in-kind donations for the winning homes.  Contest co-sponsors included:  Energy Outreach Colorado, Certainteed Windows with Whitey’s Home Improvement, Accent Windows, Climatemaster with Intermountain Energy, Marathon Water Heaters with Olathe True-Value, TCP Lighting with House of Lights, GTS Energy Star Home Sealing, Excellent Insulating Systems, Best Appliances, Alpine Bank, Master Touch Living Systems, Energy Seal Insulation and Dennis Hughes Insulation.

Each Contest Finalist home received an extensive energy use analyst with a blower door test and data input into the TREAT software application used by the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR programs in New York and elsewhere.  The software allowed Intermountain Energy to model the home’s total energy use based on the building shell and appliances, then “true up” the model using the homeowner’s 12 months of actual use and local weather data.  Then, we input local contractor bids to determine which cost-effective improvements that we might “package” into good (up to $2,500), better (up to $10,000) and best (up to $25,000) groupings.

A workshop on Saturday, November 12 was presented with direct invitations to the all the contest entrants as well as promotional announcements to the general public.  About 50 people attended, including the 2 contest runners-up and one of the other contest finalists.  The workshop turned into a group presentation as the contest co-sponsors who were present talked about how they are improving the Winners’ homes and what the Review Team recommended as improvements in the other Finalists’ homes. 

Before the workshop, each of the 10 Contest Finalists received a customized report titled “Home Energy Performance Analysis with Improvement Package Recommendations.”  At the workshop, DMEA introduced the Home Energy Makeover Guide, a web-based suite of self-audit tool developed by Apogee Interactive and made available to DMEA through a master licensing agreement with Tri-State Generation and Transmission.  It doesn’t take the place of the much more extensive site visit, but it was intended to introduce the value of home energy use analyses that could lead to the exploration of a comprehensive Home Performance with ENERGY STAR initiative using TREAT software and Building Performance Institute certification on the Western Slope in the future.   

The Home Energy Makeover Contest was approved by the DMEA Board for turnkey implementation by Intermountain Energy as 2005 Core Initiatives to support the “energy efficiency leg” of DMEA’s “3 legged stool” vision. The contest supported DMEA’s long-term goal first stated in 2000 to help members reduce their overall energy bills by 25% by 2010.

  04/08/2008