Efficiency Vermont's Campaign Helped Residents, Town Mitigate Energy Burden
From 2022-2023, Efficiency Vermont collaborated with the Town of Brattleboro for a Focused Community Campaign. This effort involved bringing technical assistance, focused attention, and special incentives for Brattleboro residents and businesses across a two-year timeframe. The focus of the campaign was reaching rental property owners, renters, businesses, and others experiencing a high energy burden. The Town of Brattleboro was initially selected for this program because Brattleboro experiences a higher energy burden than most communities in Vermont.
During this effort, Brad Long of Efficiency Vermont (pictured below) and the Brattleboro Energy Committee assembled a number of outreach tools, including direct mailings, a public service announcement on BCTV, flyers, tabling events and workshops, social media posts, and more. After two years of work, the Town of Brattleboro is excited to share the resulting statistics from Efficiency Vermont on the Brattleboro campaign.
In total the campaign:
• Performed 48 Virtual Home Energy Visits in Brattleboro.
• Performed 14 small-to-medium business energy assessment walkthroughs.
• Performed two door-knocking campaigns along the downtown and Putney Road corridors.
• Sent a mailing to over 150 rental property owners.
• Produced a BCTV public service announcement for the campaign.
• Supported nonprofits in the Brattleboro community with some bonus funds to help them complete projects.
• Supported multiple organizations that were owned by either women or BIPOC parties in Brattleboro with a special ‘Social Equity bonus’ to help them complete some energy efficiency projects.
• Distributed 13 appliance coupons in Brattleboro.
• Distributed 764 Energy Savings Kits in Brattleboro.
• Organized and performed 15 in-person events. Events included tabling, presentations, open offices, and energy savings kit giveaways.
• Performed 5 multi-family property walkthroughs. This is a similar service to the Business Energy walkthrough assessment.
• Established new working relationships with organizations serving underserved people living in Vermont.
Click here to view Efficiency Vermont’s entire report on key findings of the Focused Community Campaigns.
In the eyes of Efficiency Vermont, this was a very successful campaign. The Town of Brattleboro’s Sustainability Coordinator agrees, “Nearly 60% of Brattleboro residents rent their homes, so reducing energy costs requires both renters and property owners to work together,” said Dotson. “Efficiency Vermont helped us undertake a multifaceted approach that successfully engaged both groups. Now, multiple property owners are working with their tenants to make their buildings more energy efficient and more weather resilient, all while increasing comfort and security for the occupants. This is a path to a more sustainable future that benefits everyone in Brattleboro.”
Beyond assisting through this focused community campaign, Efficiency Vermont was also helping the Town of Brattleboro more directly during this time. Recent major capital projects have enjoyed the support of Efficiency Vermont through custom incentives that encourage the Town to take steps toward addressing climate change. Projects such as the upgrade of the water treatment plant, generational improvements at Living Memorial Park, and a Town-wide upgrade to LED lighting across 6 departments all received funding assistance from Efficiency Vermont. The Town of Brattleboro thanks both Efficiency Vermont and the Town of Brattleboro’s Energy Committee for their support in these accomplishments.