EPS Toolkit

The EPS Toolkit for residential energy efficiency programs is designed to boost the rate of homeowner participation in energy upgrades while delivering data on energy savings and carbon emissions. This modular set of tools is applicable for energy efficiency programs managed by utilities, states, local governments, non-profits, and for-profit entities.

The Toolkit uses the EPS label, the EPS Auditor software, the HOME Portal, and our program partner trainings to create a natural market to engage home owners, create jobs, and secure buy-in from partners like contractors, real estate professionals, and lending and insurance companies.

Benefits of the EPS Toolkit include:

• Reduced administrative costs
• High conversion rates from audit to retrofit
• Scalability

Reduced Administrative Costs

EPS Auditor software is faster and more accurate than many other tools – allowing for fewer hours in the field. Additionally, the HOME Portal guides homeowners through the process from audit to retrofit to follow up, removing the need for costly administration. Finally, our EPS software provides robust program data in real time, allowing program managers to pinpoint successes and barriers and to respond quickly.

Contrast this with traditional program management with deep administrative oversight, which can cost upwards of $500 to $1,000 per home. This cost increases with additional program participants and is unsustainable without outside funding.

High Conversion Rates

Traditional energy efficiency programs deliver conversion rates in the single digits while programs using EPS have posted conversion rates upwards of 40-50%. When an EPS scorecard and in-depth report are combined with a one-stop shopping process that walks consumers through the process, the result is a higher uptake rate of retrofit work. 

	* “Studies suggest the least-cost path to meeting climate goals requires averaging a least 5% annual market penetration of whole-house residential retrofits, yet no jurisdiction is currently reaching even 2% per year.” Residential Efficiency Retrofits: A Roadmap for the Future. (May 2011)

Scalability

With a number of options in configuration, Earth Advantage Institute has tailored numerous EPS solutions to meet the specific needs of individual utilities and state energy offices. And once an EPS system is in place, it’s easy and affordable to add program participants.

The modular components of the EPS Toolkit include:

• Training of auditors to conduct EPS audits and automatically generate reports and scorecards.
• Quality assurance of energy modeling.
• Education of market "champions" including real estate brokers and appraisers.
• Customization of a HOME portal providing homeowners with a "one-stop shopping" approach that can:

- Match them with auditors,
- Deliver them the audit report, upgrade recommendations and EPS scorecard,
- Enable them to receive competitive bids from a pool of vetted contractors, and
- Enable them to receive financing information from approved program lenders.
- Allow for seeing and providing feedback on professional program partners,
  like auditors and contractors.

• Real-time access for energy efficiency program managers to the energy savings and carbon emissions database, as an accountability and measurement tool.
• Third-party energy label that engenders homeowner trust in the process and in program partners

For a list of energy efficiency programs using the EPS Toolkit, please click here.