2434ss49 Energy Star Justification

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 2010-0042)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Survey of 2016 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award Meeting Participants

PURPOSE:

ENERGY STAR is the simple choice for energy efficiency. For more than 20 years, people across America have looked to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program for guidance on how to save energy, save money, and protect the environment. Behind each blue label is a product, building, or home that is independently certified to use less energy and cause fewer of the emissions that contribute to climate change. Today, ENERGY STAR is the most widely recognized symbol for energy efficiency in the world, helping families and businesses save $362 billion on utility bills, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more 2.4 billion metric tons since 1992.

The program has approximately 16,000 partners working to protect the environment through greater energy efficiency, including manufacturers, retailers, public schools, hospitals, real estate companies and home builders. Each year, EPA recognizes less than one percent of its partner base with ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year awards.

Under this ICR request, EPA’s ENERGY STAR program seeks to solicit feedback from participants at the program’s 2016 awards meeting. Results of the survey will facilitate improved product/service offerings offered by EPA’s ENERGY STAR program. The EPA expects that among the 973 attendees of the April 13, 2016 awards meeting, approximately 729 attendees (e.g., 75% of attendees) will participate in the survey. It is expected that many, if not all, of the attendees have direct experience with the EPA ENERGY STAR program.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Participants attended the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Awards meeting that was held in Washington, DC on April 13, 2016 from organizations across the United States, including:

• Manufacturers, retailers, public schools, hospitals, real estate companies, and home builders from public and private institutions.

• A mix of male and female participants with a variety of ages, ethnic and educational backgrounds.

• The majority of respondents will be sustainability managers or chief executive officers from the aforementioned institutions.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [X] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Kristinn Leonhart, EPA ENERGY STAR Program, Leonhart.Kristinn@epa.gov

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X ] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [X] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [X] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No

Participation will be voluntary. Participants will have already attended the 2016 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Awards meeting, and will have to expend minimal additional time and effort to participate in the indicated survey.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Survey about 2016 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Awards	729	5 mins	60.75 hrs

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government to execute the survey is $700. The survey shall be administered with applicable survey questions relative to each workshop topic segment (e.g., policy, financing, and RFP/contracts). EPA and contractor support will be used to solicit effective and efficient results during the survey collections.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [x ] Yes [] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them.

EPA has access to the registration list for the meeting, which includes their email addresses, and EPA plans to email them the link to the survey.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[x ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [] Yes [ X] No

EPA staff will explain in writing that if attendees fill out the voluntary survey, we will consider their feedback to improve future events. The survey instrument is not designed to require formal interviewers, facilitators or moderators.

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

*Please see the associated survey instrument with this request.

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