The four Energy Corps Members (Robert Abraham, Christian Bodnar, Kelly Maurer and Crystal Cordova) serving with The Commission on Economic Opportunity (CEO) have been forging ahead in a new area known as Community Based Social Marketing (CBSM).
CBSM is the study of what it takes to get people to join a movement or social program, and in most cases one with an environmental cause. This ranges from using public transportation and recycling to conserving energy in the home. It asks the question “What motivates behavior change?”. It seems there is no one magic formula, and the best approaches, use a variety of different strategies.
They are applying these principles to a Weatherization Innovation Pilot Project (WIPP). The project is evaluating whether additional energy savings can be achieved in weatherized homes through the use of in-home display devices that help households manage their energy use. It will also demonstrate the use of carbon credits and energy efficiency certificates as an innovative financial sustainability strategy for weatherization activities.
The project will install a total of 2500 devices over a 2 year period, or 312.5 devices/member! The members are traveling all over Pennsylvania installing the devices into households and providing education that focuses on how to get the most out of the real-time feedback it provides.
This project is on the edge of new technology in energy conservation and behavior science, and is an exciting opportunity for the members to help develop the emerging market of both the Energy Displays and Social Marketing.
