Sunday, January 30, 2011
The Missing Link?
Here's the questions of the month, year maybe. We have the tools, equipment, knowledge and expertize to upgrade every home in our country by 2020. Why is no body interested? And; Where do we find the language to engage home owners in a convincing way to make their homes more efficient? There is the Technical Assistance Program (TAP) at one of the Left Coast labs that is looking for words that might key in a home owner's interest. Mostly- don't use words like "Audit", "Test", "Analysis", "Rater"or "Investigation." Better are words that relate to "Home", "Savings", "Healthy", "Guidance" and "Smart." Still, we have yet to find the communication tools to effectively connect with home owners in a way that promotes willing engagement in the whole house retrofit process. Until we do, this industry will continue to tread water. A recent survey monkey from RESNET looking for rater approval on a tag line is just lame. We need to break away from our common language. We are building scientists looking for a way to sell our products. Using our common language/terminology will only serve to confuse and alienate our customers. I would like to see us invite the CEO's of a couple of top rate PR/Ad companies to our conference in Orlando to explore why the common sense of a well financed whole house retrofit is not on the horizon for every home owner in the US! I think that we are essentially invisible to the average Joe because we have not engaged with first rate quality marketing strategies. Would that we were selling chocolate or trucks, something people want without being told why. Our product is complicated and fairly expensive (though a whole hose retrofit is usually less than a good used minivan), not simple to understand. Most people would rather spend $20K on a 4 year old F150 than improve their energy efficiency. Find me a pickup truck that will save me money, improve my family's health and increase in value over time! We have a great product, good skills and terrific personnel, what we are missing is effective marketing.
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1 comment:
Remodel may be the key word. In the HVAC business you have be in front of the customer when they get ready to change out their unit. Otherwise, it is going to be another 10-15 years for you to have a chance at helping them with a high efficiency unit.
Most people don't see any more need or opportunity in going green than building blast walls around their homes to guard against domestic terrorism. Once you spend all that money (on blast walls or going green) you don't get to "play" with what you purchased.
Even though most don't see a danger in unlimited energy usage, it has become accepted that making your house more efficient is a smart thing to do when you remodel. Unfortunately, this may not happen without the right knowledge, even if they do pay for upgraded materials.
"Remodel Right" has a nice ring to it. Every homeowner remodeling should have the opportunity for help and guidance from a building science professional with support from the utilities and codes officials.
I know this doesn't cover the whole housing stock, but the window of opportunity when someone is going to remodel anyway, should have strong focus. Everyone getting a building permit should get information about the opportunity they have to do it right.
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