HEEDING THE NEEDS OF HOME IMPROVEMENT DECISION-MAKERS

摘要

Over $7,500,000,000 in Building Permits for Residential Alterations and Additions are issued to Californians every year. A least double this amount of work is done without a permit by do-it-yourselfers and informal subcontractors. Nationally this represents over $300 billion in economic activity annually. If this huge group of homeowners can be shown the economic benefits of investing even a tiny fraction of these funds in energy efficiency improvements, the potential impact on our nation's energy consumption could be immense. The problem is how to reach this particular group of consumers, and how to answer their questions that apply to their own specific home. They need a decision-making tool that shows exactly how much money they will save with each different option in their own unique situation. This paper analyzes the huge economic leverage of this particular group of homeowners, discusses the kinds of decision-making tools they need, describes a software tool that meets their specific needs, and proposes a simple strategy for homeowner-initiated deployment that will be much less costly than trying to drive this market to higher efficiency through regulation, legislation, or rebates.