Five A’s: Barrier Classification and Market Transformation Program Design for Energy Efficient Technologies

Katherine N. Delve and Anne Wilkins, Office of Energy Efficiency, Natural Resources Canada
Federico Garcia-Lopez and Michael J. Scholand, Navigant Consulting, Inc.

Keywords

Abstract

This paper presents a methodology developed by the Canadian federal government and Navigant Consulting to evaluate barriers and design market transformation programs for energy efficient products. This methodology, called the 5A’s framework, is used successfully in Canada to design effective market transformation programs for residential, commercial and industrial products. The 5A’s framework enables governments, utilities, efficiency advocates and other stakeholders to identify and characterize market barriers. Building on the foundation of market transformation research and programs developed to date, the 5A’s framework enables participants to rank barriers and design effective market solutions.

The 5A’s framework considers all the steps in the value chain from manufacturer to enduser: Availability - does the technology exist? Awareness - does the market know about the technology? Accessibility - does the market have easy access to the technology? Affordability – is the technology affordable? Acceptance – are the form, fit and function of the technology acceptable? Each “A” in the framework represents a critical step along the path of new technology adoption in the market place.

Once barriers are classified, programmatic solutions are developed to overcome the barriers to a particular product or technology. Drawing on the wealth of market transformation programs in North America and Europe, solutions to the 5A’s barriers were reviewed – identifying the best programmatic solutions for each of the 5A barriers. The second half of this paper will discuss how the barrier analysis shaped program development for specific products.

The 5A’s method has proven to be a sound, workable framework in Canada, and has facilitated market transformation program design and evaluation.