Client Name: Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Project Name: The Chapel Hill Homes and Building Program
Project Description:
CESI’s relationship with the Town of Chapel Hill began in late 2010, when we met John Richardson, Chapel Hill’s Sustainability Officer. Chapel Hill had received formula EECBG dollars, and was also applying for competitive Better Buildings funds. We worked closely with John, Chapel Hill Town staff, citizen advisory groups, and the Town Council to write a plan for the formula dollars and receive approval on this plan. This involved:
Identifying target markets to be served
Specifying energy efficiency measures to be targeted
Collaborating with potential community partners
Developing a budget and plan for formula funds
Creating performance targets and metrics for assessing progress towards these targets.
After a highly collaborative writing and planning process, this plan was approved in Winter 2011.
CESI also worked with Chapel Hill and Carrboro to write their applications for competitive Better Buildings funds, which would allow significant expansion of the program described in the formula grant plan. We were successful in winning $20M to be shared between Chapel Hill and 12 other southeastern municipalities. Chapel Hill and Carrboro, instead of hiring a new employee to manage and implement the Towns’ energy efficiency programs, asked CESI to “insource” an employee to work specifically on the Chapel Hill and Carrboro program implementation.
In close partnership with the Towns, CESI implemented the program vision described in the Better Buildings application. This involved:
Working with the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA), the umbrella grant recipient, to meet reporting requirements to DOE
Identifying target sectors to be served and criteria for eligibility to participate in the program
Creating an incentive schedule and maximum incentive limits to target certain energy efficiency measures over others
Naming the program – The Chapel Hill Homes and Building Program
Identifying and pre-qualifying contractors to participate in the program
Contracting with a local firm to provide QA
Marketing the program through existing community channels, an online campaign, community events, and the Towns’ websites
Managing homeowner and business-owner requests and questions
Working with the Towns to meet various administrative, contracting, and reporting requirements
Implementing a software solution for homeowners, contractors, town administrators, and program participants
Overseeing the first residential and commercial applications and retrofits, which were in high demand.
Our partnership with Chapel Hill and Carrboro is an excellent example of a public-private partnership that allowed CESI to oversee early program implementation, while giving the Towns the opportunity to learn alongside CESI staff. We are proud of the resulting WISE program, and its impact in North Carolina.
Relevant Expertise: Local Economic Development