PECI's Innovative Program Design Spurs Utah Home Performance Success

Program hits milestone with 1,000th Home Energy Efficiency Retrofit.

PECI, a leader in the field of energy efficiency solutions, announced a major milestone in the Utah Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program it designed and implemented for the State of Utah. The program, which is supported through ARRA funding and provides home energy assessments and improvements for Utah residents, recently completed its 1,000th home energy efficiency retrofit.

Based upon initial program expectations, the Utah Home Performance program has been highly successful, upgrading more than 1,000 homes as of December, and projecting nearly 1,300 home upgrades by the time all funds are spent. So far, these improvements are saving homeowners a total of more than $500,000 in energy costs per year.

“It was an eye opener just knowing so much energy was going right up through the roof,” added Kerry Davis, a homeowner and Utah Home Performance participant from Riverton, Utah. “Working with Utah Home Performance, we’ve lowered our bills by 20 percent or more, which makes a difference for our family financially. I can’t say enough good things about the program.”

Utah Home Performance has achieved better results than similar programs across the country due to careful planning and innovative program design. Focusing on program partner support, an engaging marketing strategy, and leveraging technology the program has built awareness and surpassed participation goals. More than 85 contractor and analyst companies were trained and became program partners; 6,500 Utah homeowners participated in an online energy survey that set savings expectations and referred them to a program partner; more than 2,000 Home Performance Assessments were conducted of which 48 percent of those homeowners actually completed an energy efficiency retrofit. Modeled savings show an average energy savings of 28 percent per home.

An important program objective, tied directly to the ARRA funding, is workforce development. Although the program is scheduled to end in Spring 2012, Utah will continue to see benefit out of an expanded network of highly trained and qualified energy efficiency workers. To date, the program has trained 31 people to the Building Performance Institute certification. These green jobs will provide a boost to Utah’s economy, and homeowners can continue to take advantage of other energy efficiency upgrade incentives offered through their local utilities.