Commentary

Driving Demand For Home Energy Retrofits. Ooh Yeah, Baby!

Here's a marketing challenge: How can we make attic insulation sexy? (If you have an idea, please contact me ASAP, as, together, we could make a lot of money, solve a decades' old marketing dilemma and -- let's not forget! -- help save the planet.)

Governments and utilities everywhere have been struggling for decades with how to cut residential energy consumption and stimulate deep home energy retrofit work. Billions of dollars have been spent on incentives and awareness campaigns to change attitudes and behavior. Yet, the Department of Energy reported last year that there are still up to 4 billion incandescent bulbs in sockets in the U.S. And, despite cash incentives to spur deeper retrofit work -- such as air sealing, insulation and furnace upgrades -- only 100,000 homes in the U.S. have had work done (work that generates a minimal 20% improvement on the efficiency of a home).

Meanwhile, the home renovation market is booming -- with only 30% of the non-energy retrofit work (such as granite counter tops, new bathrooms, etc.) being financed. A recent review of the home energy retrofit market by Vermont-based energy consultant Chris Granda revealed that there are up to 17 million stand-alone residences in the U.S. where the homeowners likely have the resources to retrofit their homes without backend incentives. Yet, they aren't doing it.

Why? First of all, a high level of pervasive pessimism and disengagement still exists. So many people just don't believe that their simple actions matter, so they simply don't act. Secondly, energy conservation remains an abstract notion for most people. We within the industry may understand what a Kw/h or a DSM program is, or what "Home Performance with Energy Star" is all about. But by calling them "programs," we distance ourselves from real people and what they care about. What folks really want is a nice deck. They don't have the same sense of desire for invisible batting between the floor joists.

Perhaps most significantly, the deep home retrofit incentive model is broken -- and everybody knows it. Dangling cash incentives in front of homeowners to get them to blow insulation into their attic just doesn't work effectively enough. I might like the idea that I could get $5,000 back for improving the efficiency of my home, but study after study shows that people just don't stay motivated as they travel the long road from energy audit to contractor engagement to submitting the rebate forms. It's too much work, especially if you already feel cynical and haven't even done the simple stuff, like changing light bulbs.

What we need to do is change the dialogue about energy efficiency so that people will understand its benefits. In addition to "savings" let's use words like comfort, security, health, safety and warmth. Instead of using cash at the backend to drive and sustain demand, let's use the little, cheaper things upfront to stimulate conversations between neighbors that lead to a deeper understanding of the importance of this work and drive a sense of common purpose that overcomes the cynicism and the barriers.

There's still that matter of how to pimp the attic insulation. Let's get working on that.

3 comments about "Driving Demand For Home Energy Retrofits. Ooh Yeah, Baby! ".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Lynn Conaway, April 6, 2011 at 10:42 a.m.

    With the pervasive, almost dominant influence that Under Armor has had on sports marketing, if, somehow you could get them to pony up some eco-consciousness and allow their name to be used in a marketing campaign to the effect of "Insulation; it's Under Armor for your home" may play for a public buy-in of concept.

  2. Chris Corbett from KMA Direct Communications, April 6, 2011 at 11:05 a.m.

    Here are some clues as to why eco-retrofitting may be a problem:

    1. Opinion surveys continue to show that more of the population thinks, with good reason, that global warming, whose message has branded green marketing, is bogus.

    2. As consumers recognize that many of the expensive home improvements being pushed on them are driven by a false crisis, they become passively resentful. No one likes to be scammed.

    3. Almost every contractor I've talked with hates retrofitting with a passion, even if they are making money on it, because they believe it's a scam and their customers agree with them. I recently paid $200 for a part to an AC condenser that my contractor said used to cost $15, until the government decided that the internal parts were melting the polar ice caps and outlawed the cheaper materials. Worse, I've known people who have actually been forced to SELL THEIR HOMES and move into apartments due to the rising cost of AC units--fixes that once cost less than $500 are now costing $10,000 or more; again, due to environmental regs that are unnecessary.

    Bottom line: the nanny state coercion and finger-wagging of green marketing, driven by global warming hysteria, has created a toxic market for may green upgrades.

    I think there are many other reasons for the slump, but these are definitely factors. In the middle of a recession, green police are heaping unwanted costs on consumers and tainting the whole brand.

  3. Andrea Learned from Learned On, LLC, April 6, 2011 at 1:18 p.m.

    First of all - I'd love to join a group of interested parties (marketers, communications pros, sociologists) in MAIS (Making Attic Insulation Sexy). There's got to be a non-profit/for-profit hybrid that'd work for such a model.

    And, this is the human behavioral puzzle of the times, isn't it? Homeowners just are not motivated by long-term payback, so yes - emphasizing universal pursuits like warmth and comfort will continue to be key. I also believe that we need to at least make it *perceived to be* a social norm (everyone's retrofitting!) and along the way it might become such. Great piece, Stuart!

Next story loading loading..