DOE HQ F 413.33 HPwES - Housing Innovation Award Application

DOE HQ F 413.33
(05/2015)

U.S. Department of Energy’s
2014 Housing Innovation Awards for Home Performance with ENERGY STAR
Participating Contractors
Applications due June 9, 2014
The Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program is proud to announce its participation in the U.S. Department of Energy’s
(DOE’s) 2014 Housing Innovation Awards. The Housing Innovation Awards are the premiere event for recognizing leaders in the
home performance industry. The Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program is proud to nationally recognize winners’
contributions to the home performance industry. These awards are presented to participating contractors who demonstrate
innovative business practices that make them leaders among their peers. The award winners take on challenges and apply
unique approaches to realize notable success in their local Home Performance with ENERGY STAR markets. They exhibit
outstanding professionalism, build strong customer relationships, and apply building science solutions to improve homes.
Last year, DOE honored four participating contractors for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the Program.
Go online to read about their accomplishments.

Award Winner Recognition
Housing Innovation Award winners will be announced in August 2014 and invited to attend an award ceremony luncheon
hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, in conjunction with the 2014 national Energy & Environmental Building Alliance
(EEBA) conference on Sept. 24, 2014, in St. Louis, Mo. Winners will also be invited to attend industry-specific networking and
educational sessions. Winners’ accomplishments will be featured in:
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National press and journal articles
DOE and Home Performance with ENERGY STAR websites
Home Performance with ENERGY STAR quarterly e-newsletter
National workshops and webinars throughout 2014

Eligibility Requirements
DOE will present Housing Innovation Awards to eligible participating contractors who are nominated by their local Sponsors and
demonstrate significant innovations in advancing the market for home performance in at least one of the following categories.
All nominees must be in good standing with their local Sponsors and adhere to program guidelines as set forth by the local
Sponsor and national Program.

Award Categories
Sponsors should nominate their contractor(s) in one or more of the categories below. Participating contractors who are
exemplary in more than one category will be viewed as stronger candidates for the Housing Innovation Awards.
Customer Relations
Nominees must be able to demonstrate an effective, systematic approach to building strong customer relationships including
established channels for customer feedback, consistently high customer ratings, and responsiveness to customer concerns.
Participating contractors with strong customer relations are able to anticipate and proactively manage customer needs.
Examples: testimonials, systematic customer feedback mechanism, excellent quality assurance results, high customer ratings,
etc.
High Energy Savings
Nominees must consistently achieve verified high energy savings for Home Performance with ENERGY STAR projects and be
able to demonstrate replicable and innovative approaches to achieve savings.
Examples: Verified energy savings could be determined based on measurement of actual pre/post energy consumption data or
verified through commonly accepted EM&V practices
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Industry Leadership
Nominees must provide evidence of leadership in their existing market by showcasing efforts to engage in local and national
policy initiatives, training and mentoring, industry trade groups and continuing education.
Examples: training, mentoring, and advocacy to advance the market for home performance services
Sales and Marketing
Nominees must provide evidence for innovative approaches to marketing Home Performance with ENERGY STAR services and
demonstrate success by connecting marketing activities to sales. Nominees may also consider highlighting unique partnerships,
community events, marketing campaigns, or uniquely efficient or effective approaches to the sales process.
Examples: marketing materials, systematic lead qualification procedure, testimonials, high conversion rate (assessment to
completed project), etc.
To nominate an eligible participating contractor for the Housing Innovation Awards, Sponsors and participating contractors
must complete and submit the application to homeperformance@energystar.gov by June 9, 2014.
All Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Sponsors are eligible to submit no more than two (2) nominations. Nominees are
encouraged to provide supplemental materials, such as marketing materials, customer testimonials, photographs, etc., to bolster
the application. For more information, visit http://www2.eere.energy.gov/buildings/residential/housing_innovation_awards.html.

Application
To nominate a Home Performance with ENERGY STAR participating contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2014
Housing Innovation Awards, Sponsors and participating contractors must fill out the following application form and submit it to
homeperformance@energystar.gov by June 9, 2014.
DOE is specifically interested in learning about how successful participating contractors distinguish themselves from other
companies. We offer the following defining characteristics as guideposts for ideas of what might distinguish one nominee
from another. We encourage nominees to include information about these characteristics as they see relevant to the specific
application questions.
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Delivery models (i.e. consultant or contractor, whole house or primary trade, vertically integrated or sub-contractor
dependent, etc.)
Depth of energy savings
Efficient, productive sales process
Efforts to advance the home performance industry at local and national levels
Project volume
Superior service and exceptional customer satisfaction
Verified and/or guaranteed energy savings

To be filled out by the Sponsor.
Nominating

Sponsor:

Sponsor POC:
Nominated Participating

Contractor

Organization:

Contractor Business

Owner:

Contractor POC:
Mailing Address:
Phone Number:
Email Address:

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Company is best described as:
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HVAC
Insulation
Pest Control
Plumber
Rater/Consultant
Remodeler
Whole-home
Other (please specify)

To be eligible, the participating contractor must meet all of these requirements:
(Please check boxes to verify compliance)
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Participating contractor is current and in good standing with the HPwES program.
Participating contractor actively contributed to the local HPwES program for past 12 consecutive months.
Participating contractor meets national HPwES Program’s qualifications for local participation.
Participating contractor accepts Sponsor’s nomination and contribution to application.

Complete the chart below to highlight the participating contractor’s accomplishments.
CY2013

CY2014 (To April 30)

Number of Completed Projects
Assessment to Upgrade Conversion Rate
Year-Over-Year Growth in Completed Projects (%)
Reported Total Energy Savings (Site MMBtu)
Average Energy Savings per Project (Site MMBtu)
Company involvement in home performance (% of workforce or sales)
Check the box(es) below to indicate the category(s) in which the participating contractor is nominated for their noteworthy and
innovative achievements.
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Customer Relations
Examples: testimonials, systematic customer feedback mechanism, etc.

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Industry Leadership
Examples: training, mentoring, quality delivery, and advocacy to advance the market for HP services

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High Energy Savings
Examples: verified energy savings could be determined based on measurement of actual pre/post energy consumption
data or verified through commonly accepted EM&V practices

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Sales and Marketing
Examples: marketing materials, systematic lead qualification procedure, testimonials, high conversion rate (assessment
to completed project), etc.

Describe how the participating contractor’s noteworthy success in your program is a result of innovation. Include what
distinguishes the participating contractor from his/her competition providing specific details pertaining to the criteria
selected above. (Limit your response to 400 words)

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To be filled out by the nominated participating contractor.
Describe how your company is exceptional in category(s) in which you are nominated. (Limit your response to 400 words)

Describe how the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR approach to improving homes is integrated into your company’s
delivery of home performance services. (Limit your response to 200 words)

Describe how your company uses the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR platform. Provide examples of marketing
materials as attachments to your application. (Limit you response to 200 words)

Describe why you believe your company is the most innovative, most successful, and/or highest achieving home
performance company in the U.S. and how it plans to advance the home performance industry.
(Limit your response to 200 words)

Nominated participating contractors are encouraged to submit marketing materials, customer testimonials, or other information
to support application. If contractor needs to send large files, please email your account manager and request access to a
Secure File Transfer application.
Go online to learn more about the DOE’s Housing Innovation Awards or to read about Home Performance with ENERGY STAR’s
2013 Housing Innovation Award winners.

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