(Please note that all blog entries and comments are subject to review prior to posting.)
While we will do our best to monitor all comments and blog posts for accuracy and relevancy, Home Energy is not responsible for content posted by our readers or third parties. Home Energy reserves the right to edit or remove comments or blog posts that do not meet our community guidelines.
It’s that time of year again! Time for family get-togethers, secret Santas, and of course, New Year’s resolutions. For many people, this means working out, starting a new hobby, or quitting smoking. While these make great personal resolutions, we’d like to help you explore professional resolutions for next year. The team at The Energy Conservatory put together three New Year’s resolutions every energy rater should make in 2016 ... [continue reading]
The Home Performance Coalition (HPC) is celebrating 30 years of conferences in 2016, marking a major milestone anniversary for our organization. [continue reading]
Marge Anderson is the Executive Vice President of Seventhwave, a non-profit that advances environmental and economic sustainability. Her passions include empowering practitioners through education, scaling energy efficiency, and making sustainability real for the under-served. [continue reading]
Much like the race to build a better mousetrap, it often seems like there’s an endless stream of new product news announcing the latest and greatest product that can take your project’s sustainability goals across the finish line. There’s something about the concept of sustainable products that leads many to believe that sustainability can only be found in a new product. [continue reading]
Most of us are aware that marketing greatly impacts the way consumers make decisions and ultimately make purchases or investments. Still, depending on the products or services you are attempting to market, the costs and complexity of executing a marketing campaign will vary depending on the product's marketability. Thus, if you are attempting to market energy efficiency as a package of services and products, then you need to focus on developing an in-depth marketing plan. [continue reading]
The idea of business transparency might seem antithetical to success and may frighten some companies. But collaborative efforts across businesses and sectors have shown that the triple-bottom-line benefits of transparency far outweigh the perceived risks. In fact, as more consumers demand proof that the products they buy fulfill the promise of the label, transparency is becoming a key differentiator that sets successful companies apart. [continue reading]
ACI California brought lots of good insights and opportunities for the home performance industry at large. The biggest buzz is the pay-for-performance concept, which is making progress in California, New Jersey, and New York. It was also great to see so many contractors presenting, sharing their wares and experiences with their peers. That’s really what ACI is about—sharing, collaborating, and re-energizing those in the trenches. [continue reading]
Hawaii is notorious for leading the nation in aloha spirit—and solar power. Up to 53% of Hawaii's system peak load is powered by solar, a whopping penetration level that dwarfs the rest of the country. [continue reading]
Andy Nelson is the CEO and president of San Diego-based Willis Allen Real Estate. Joining the firm in 1977 as the youngest team member, Nelson drew on his leadership experience and training as a former naval officer to implement his innovative ideas and became CEO four years later. Nelson continues to grow the business by researching new high-end companies throughout the world to partner with and advancing technology and tools to service today’s homeowner. ... [continue reading]
Last year I moved into a house that needed some work. So far I’ve replaced the foundation, installed seismic upgrades, added central heat, repainted, and much more. (Anybody know a good fireplace guy?) [continue reading]