Public Power - July/August 2008 - (Page 32)

Gainesville Crowns a Conservation Idol Home Energy Makeover Contest winner’s family home, located in Gainesville, Fla. All photos courtesy GRU. BY VICKI GERVICKAS “We have found that the easy part is designing the energy efficiency programs, but getting them on the radar screen of average customers and convincing them to implement the energy savings is more difficult.” the Gainesville City Commission directed Gainesville Regional Utilities to wring all it could out of energy efficiency programs, the Florida utility needed an innovative way to entice all of its 90,000 customers to embrace energy conservation. The utility’s solution: a local reality TV program, with a prize of a $100,000 home energy makeover. “Our City Commission has directed us to do maximum cost-effective energy conservation,” said Karen S. Johnson, GRU’s adviser to the general manager. “We have found that the easy part is designing the energy efficiency programs, but getting them on the radar screen of average customers and convincing them to implement the energy savings is more difficult. This contest was a fun way of raising the awareness that everyone has opportunities to do energy conservation.” The makeover was designed to promote GRU’s program “Home Performance with Energy Star, which encourages homeowners to implement multiple home energy efficiency upgrades simultaneously. With research showing that this whole-house approach can trim up to 30 percent from a home’s energy usage, GRU began offering more than $1,500 in rebates to customers who implement more efficient systems us- When ing a GRU partnering contractor. To publicize this program, and generate a little excitement, the Home Energy Makeover contest kicked off last November. “Given how popular reality shows are these days,” Johnson said, “it seemed like a natural fit to use this format to help customers understand how they can save energy.” Gainesville, located in the north central region of Florida and home to the University of Florida, is experiencing rapid growth, with a wealth of new residential and commercial developments. But about half of the area’s housing stock was built before 1980 and needs energy efficiency upgrades. Slab-on-grade, central air-conditioning units, concrete block construction, single pane windows, metal ductwork and single or two-story elevations with R-19 insulation are all typical of older Gainesville-area residences. Studies suggest that almost 1,000 residential HVAC units are replaced each year in GRU’s service territory. “We do see a lot of need in our community and, when designing the contest, we wanted to demonstrate the positive impact that installing these energy-efficiency upgrades can have on a customer with high energy consumption,” said Josie Binion, PUBLIC POWER 32 JULY-AUGUST 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - July/August 2008

Public Power- July/August 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions Solar Energy Rising Sacramento's Solar Shares Gainesville Crowns a Conservation Idol By the Numbers Curbing Costs of Outages Reliability Green Energy Hometown Connections Customer Service Parting Shot

Public Power - July/August 2008

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