Non-Energy Benefits Including Productivity, Liability, Tenant Satisfaction, and Others: What Participant Surveys Tell Us about Designing and Marketing Commercial Programs

Dennis Pearson, Seattle City Light
Lisa A. Skumatz, Skumatz Economic Research Associates, Inc.

Keywords

Abstract

Using detailed interviews and data on 130 commercial program participants we explored resource efficiency program benefits beyond bill or energy savings. As one component of the evaluation of a commercial audit program, we augmented the survey discussions of barriers, budgets, and program participation decisions. We also gathered detailed information on the array of benefits participants recognized from the program. Respondents were asked to rank these benefits, and provide associated dollar values to provide quantitative information on the “value” of the program’s non-bill benefits to the participant in the program. The presentation provides detailed information about:

The frequency of mentioned of types of benefits by participants
The types of benefits noted by business type and by end use or measure
Dollar valuations of the “net” benefits accruing from the program
Comparisons of the value of non-bill benefits with the estimated energy savings

The results showed that bill savings or energy benefits are important – but not necessarily the only important program benefit – to program participants. The research showed that a high percent valued benefits related to fewer tenant complaints and higher tenant satisfaction, safety issues, productivity increase, and other benefits considerably higher than the bill savings associated with the program. Most importantly, the project demonstrated that selling programs on “efficiency” or even just bill savings – even to the “bottom line-oriented” commercial sector – may not be the most effective approach because it ignores critical information on the benefits that participants value from these programs. We used this information to develop a variety of marketing and targeting recommendations for the program.