DOCUMENT ,RESUME ED 166 035 SE 026 364 AUTHOR Spak, Gale Tenon; Shelley, Edwin F. TITLE How to Operate an Energy Advisory Service, Volume I: Report and Recommendations. Final Report. INSTITUTION New York Inst. of Tech., Old Westbury. SPONS AGENCY Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. Div. of .-1 Buildings and Community Systems. ,- REPORT NO HCP/W-2977-05/1 PUB DATE Jun 78 . ) CONTRACT EY-76-S-02-2977 NOTE 137p.; For related documents, see SE 026 365-366; Contains occasional light type A EDRS PRICE MF-$0.83 HC-$7.35 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Building Improvement; CaS'e Studies; Communications; *Energy 'conservation; Environmental Education; Extension Education;' Information Dissemination; *Information Services; *Outreach Programs; *Program Evaluation; Public Education; Technical Assistance IDENTIFIERS *Center for Energy Policy and Research; *New York Institute of Technology ABSTRACT This publication is the first of a three volume set summarizing the Energy Advisory Service operated by the New York Institute of Technology. The project reported here was an information dissemination service on energy conservation techniques in the New York,.New Jersey and Connecticut area. The Energy Information Center, ' Energy Referral Service, Energy Hot tine, and Energy Management Seminar program are described andevalhated in this volume. Case studies of the referral serv.ice/hotline complex and the seminar vrogram are presented as are an overall program evaluation and a recommendations sectidh. Intended audiences of this report are groups considering energy outreach programs and those interested in evaluation research and policy analysis. (MR) to *****************************************************.****** ********* * * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. *********************************************************************** ooey 130 U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION L WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HCP/W2977-05/1 Eyp UCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEENREPRO- EXACj.Y AS RECEIVED FROM HE PERSON OR ORGANIZAT,ION ORIGIN- ATINt IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATE.D'DO NOT NECESSARILY REpRe SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY HOW TO OPERATE AN ENERGY ADVISORY SERVICE Volume J. Report and Recommendations FINAL REPORT June 1978 Prepared For U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Assistant Secreta6 for Conservation and Solar Applications Division of Buildings and Community Systems Under Contract No. EY-76-S-02-2977 cn ti O HCP/W2977-05/1 uc95d HOW TO OPERATE AN . ENERGY ADVISORYSERVICE Volume I.Report and Recommendations FINAL REPORT^ June 1978 Prepared by Dr. Gale Tenen Spak in association with Edwin F. Shelley New York Institute of Technology Old Westbury, New York For U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Solar Application's Division of Buildings and Community Systems Washington, DC 20545 Und& Contract No. EY- 76 -S -02 -297 am NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. Neither the United States nor the United States Department of Energy, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, mark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY An experimental Energy Advisory Service was created and operated by the New'York Institute of Technology to test the effectiveness of various channels of communication in the dissemination of energycon- nervation information and technical assistance to homeowners, archi- tects, engineers, builders, contractors, business persons, public officials and the media. A telephone Hot Line, a comprehensive Energy Information Center, dnd a broad gauge Referral Service were operated as a unified complex and serviced more t an 5,000 Hot Line inquiries from-homeowners .(67%) and others (33%). ore than half the homeowners who called the Hot Line then spent an average of $1,280 each to retrofit their homeson the basis of information learned. Approximately 487 ptofessionals and others used the_information and research services df the Energy Information Center, in addition to those using the Hot Line. Overall benefit/cost ratio was greater than 11:1. An innovative Interactive Television Seminar series serviced` 2,200 professionals directly and indirectly with videotaped material and live, discussion on all aspectsof energy conservation, at a cost of $32.00 per participant. Follow-up surveys indicated that the large majority of all users believed the Energy Advisory Service was valuable, reliable and unique as a comprehensive, easily accessible source of information and tech- nical assistance on energy conservation and alternative energy systems. k TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME I INTRODUCTION 1 Abbut this- Report (3) SECTION ONE. THE NYIT ENERGY ADVISORY SERVICE: PROGRAM SUMMARY 5 Objectives (5) Program Elements (6) Geographic Area (6) Target Audiences (6) Energy Topics Disseminated (8) "Staff (8) Program Milestones (8) . SECTION TWO. CASE STUDY: THE NYIT tNERqy INFORMATION CENTER/. REFERRAL '5ERVICE/HOT,LINE.0 MPUX 13 Part A. Introduction (13) General Description: .NYIT Energy Information Center and Referral SerVice (14), 'Establishing the Energy Information Center and Referral. Service (14) 1' Energy Information Center Resources (17) Accessing Energy Infbrmation Center Resources (20) On -going Energy InforMation Center/Referral Service Activities and Staff Requirements (21) Energy Information Ceiter Operating Statistics (22) General Description: New York Tech Energy Hot Line (28) Establishing the Hot Line (28) On-going Hot Line Activities (31) New York Tech Energy Hot Line Operating Statistics (32) Part-, B. Methodology (46) Wave One Analysis: Questionnaires (47) , Wave Two Analysis: Follow-up Telephone Interviews (56) Summary (61) Costto=Savings Ratio (61) ' SECTION THREE. CAST STUDY: THE ENERGY MANAGEMENT SEMINAR PROGRAM 63 Part A. General Description: The Energy Management Seminar Program (63). Organizing the Energy Management Seminar Program (64) Conducting the June'77-EnergyManagement Seminars (71) Energy Management Seminar Program Spin-off (73) Part B. Methodology (76) Wave One Analysis: Questionnaires (77) Wave Two Analysis: Follow-up Telephone Interviews (89) Wlimmary (93) Cost-to.ISavings, Ratio (93) SECTION FOUR. ',''tOMPARATIVE ANALYSIS: NEW RK TECH'ENERGY HOT LINE AND JUNE 197Z NYIT/USERDA ENERGY AGEMENT SEMINAR SERIES... 95 Hypothesis (96) Procedure (97) VA Data (97) Conclusions (99) SECTION FIVE. OVERALL PROGRAM EVALUATION 101 Management and Staff Structure (101) Publicity Program and Activities (106) Staff Activities,(114) External Relations with Other. Programs, Agencies. and Institutions (120) Time and Resource Allocations (121) General Observations and Recommendations (121) SECTION SIX. FORMAL RECOMMENDATIONS 126 SEPARATELY BOUND d AND REFERRAL SERVICE VOLUME II. NYIT ENERGY INFORMATION CENTER RESOURCE MATERIAp VOLUME III. NEW YORK TECH ENERGY HOT LINE RESOURCE MATERIAL 6 LIST OF TABLES, , NYIT Energy Information Center Users 22 a 2. Sources of Energy Information Center Awareness , . 3. Geographic Origin of Energ Information Center Requests 24 ' 47 Frequency of4ersyInformation Center.Requests.on Various Topics 24 5. Employing Energy Information Center Resources to Process' Information Requests 26 ( 6. Amount of Time to CoMplete Processing oi tnergyjnformation Center Requests 27 7. New York Tech Energy Hot Line Users 33 /8. Usage of Hot Line by TiMe of Day 34 9. Geographic Origin of Hot Line Requests... 35. '10. Frequency of HOt Line Requests on Vdrious Topics 37 11. Percentage of Most Frequent Topics of Inquiry by Hot Line User Category 38 12. Fluctuation Over Time of Hot Line User Interest in Residential\Conservation'and Solar Energy 39 13. Sources of Hot Line Awareness 40 1 -14. Relationship,Between Residential and Nonresidential Hot Line User Categories and Sources of Awareness 41 15. The Suitability of,Question and Answer Cards Related to Topic of Hot Line Question fee 42 16. Amount of Time to Prepare Mailing to Hot Line Users 43 17. Popular Hot Line Pamphlets 45 J JO 18. 'PerceAages'aad Rank Order of Hot'Line Respondents -Who Gave Highest Rating to Various Energy Sdlutions 48 19! Percentage of Respondents Who Gave Various Hot'Line Features.Highpst Ratings ' 49 20., Percentages and Rank Order of Hotline Respondents Who Gave Highest Credibility Ratings to Various Sources of Energy Information 54 21. Improved Knowledge Attributed to Hot Line 55 22. Hot Line Respondents'Energy Conservation Intentionsf Behavior 55 23. Hot Line Interviewees'Action Status 57 24. Hot Line Interviewees Reasons for Inaction 57 25. Examples of How Hot Line Helped Homeowners to Act 58 26. Area of Action Taken by Hot Line Interviewees 60 27. Videotaped Energy Experts 66 28. Live Panelists and Hosts 67 29. Organizations Who Viewed "Sblar Energy Today" 74 30. Sources of Seminar Awareness, 78 31. Reasons for Attending, 78 32. Percentages and Rank Order of Seminar Respondents