How Did a Small Voluntary Program Transform the $.3 Trillion U.S. Housing Industry?

摘要

The quick answer is it didn’t; not by itself. The team of professionals at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) working on ENERGY STAR? Qualified Homes had the privilege to be part of a broader effort promoting energy efficiency to the housing industry. This includes effective dissemination of knowledge and marketing outreach by building science experts; other federal agencies; state and local governments; utilities; product manufacturers and their associations; and national and regional housing associations. Nonetheless, with over a million labeled homes on the ground and over one-in-five homes nationwide earning the ENERGY STAR in 2009, many industry experts acknowledge ENERGY STAR Qualified Homes has had a profound impact transforming the housing market to high-performance homes. Compared to homes built fifteen years ago, new homes utilize substantially more building science technologies and practices including more effective thermal envelopes with tight construction, properly installed insulation, complete air barriers, and high-performance windows; substantially improved HVAC systems including tight ducts, high-efficiency equipment, and right-sizing; and quality assurance with a nationwide infrastructure of Home Energy Rating System (HERS) raters. Without getting distracted by the impossible and nonproductive process of trying to attribute credit among all the players, now is a good time to examine how a small program with six staff and a $1.7 million annual budget program substantially contributed to such impressive change, and what lessons are transferrable to other market transformation efforts. This paper will examine five critical lessons learned regarding corporate culture, technology diffusion, development of technical specifications, leveraging the right people and message, and continual improvement. These lessons continue to inform program decisions as ENERGY STAR targets transforming the nation's housing industry to net zero homes.