From the Classroom to the Construction Site: Packing the Pipeline with Energy Efficiency

In 2009 ComEd developed their Smart Ideas for Your Business ® New Construction Service and broke ground by integrating technical education and training into a technical assistance and financial incentive program. The goal of this strategy was to support achieving short-term savings goals while also encouraging building owners, designers and architects to exceed standard new construction, renovation and lighting practices. The ComEd New Construction Service has been successful in meeting and exceeding its short-term savings goals with its technical assistance and incentives, but how successful has its training component been on changing building practices? To begin to answer that question, the Energy Center of Wisconsin collaborated with ComEd to conduct targeted research exploring the impact of individual training workshops on the implementation of energy efficiency strategies on new commercial construction and/or major renovation projects. Attempting to quantify these impacts is important as energy efficiency program managers face increasing pressure to deliver energy savings. Being able to tie training directly to possible energy savings gives program managers support for continuing to include training in resource acquisition programs. Results of this research show that a small group of training attendees have had both the opportunity to work on projects since attending the training and have implemented some of what they learned on those projects. While the sample in the research is small, it is encouraging to see the connections between training and implementation of energy efficiency technologies and strategies. This research represents a small step in showing the value of training in a resource acquisition program and highlights areas for further research as well as presents suggestions for tying training more directly to the savings component of an energy efficiency program.