Key to Selling Energy Efficiency: Make it Visible

How can people be convinced to engage in energy efficiency projects for their homes? One of the conclusions of the Shelton Group’s recent Energy Pulse 2011 survey is that in order to inspire people to be more energy-efficient, the problem with not being efficient needs to be more visible. This is difficult, as energy efficiency—even energy waste—if often not visible. It’s something that happens behind the walls, or under a hood of a car, or elsewhere. So how can you make it visible? Hybrid car companies have done a good job of this by putting displays on their dashboards that not only show your mileage, but change as you drive more efficiently. You literally see how you can save gas and money. The same happens with energy monitoring systems in the home. People see how much energy they’re using in real time, then tend to run around the house shutting stuff off. As a result, studies show that people save 5 percent to 15 percent just by having this realtime feedback. They see it. That’s how you can make the case for energy efficiency improvements or technologies in the home. You can do a basic energy or electricity audit—even using […]