Energy Efficiency Program Support through US EPA ENERGY STAR

ESG supported the EPA ENERGY STAR Small Business and Congregations program for nineteen years and during this time, supported congregational communities, gaining the trust of denominational and inter-faith groups throughout the country to increase energy and water efficiency and reduce utility bills. ESG also supported the ENERGY STAR Small Business program, including individual and U.S. corporate franchisees. ESG provided the EPA a comprehensive range of services including data analysis on energy and water use trends, technical tools to assist partners increase energy and water efficiency, and state-of-the-art energy and water benchmarking trainings using Portfolio Manager. ESG created specialized informational documents, tools, trainings, and systems targeted to the congregations and small business communities. Specific support that ESG provided to ENERGY STAR included:

1. Assistance with Walk-Through Low Cost/No Cost Energy Audit Checklists: Due to the potential high cost of energy audits for congregations and small businesses, ESG supported the EPA produce energy savings checklists that provide users a step-by-step property walk through. These help users prioritize where to spend time and money for efficiency upgrades prior to undertaking any type of energy audits.
2. Energy and Water Benchmarking Training and Support with Portfo­lio Manager: ESG provided customized technical support and training for the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager benchmarking software. As part of this support, ESG developed materials to assist ENERGY STAR partners and participants create organization-specific energy and water benchmarking programs and benchmark their properties.
3. Coordination with Utility Programs: ESG worked with energy and water utilities to ensure data interoperability between monthly utility bills and users’ Portfolio Manager accounts. ESG also helped partners access utility-provided energy audits.
4. Training and Outreach Support: ESG worked with several programs across EPA to ensure that the ENERGY STAR Small Business and Congregations programs utilize resources and expertise already available for events like webinars and other trainings.
5. ENERGY STAR Action Workbooks: ESG developed, wrote, reviewed, and maintained the 80+-page, instructional ENERGY STAR Action Workbook for Small Business and ENERGY STAR Action Workbook for Congregations which were distributed to numerous groups throughout the country to expand and extend EPA’s critical ENERGY STAR program.