Engaging the small commercial sector: new approaches for solving market barriers

This paper examines how effectively working with students and contractors can engage small commercial businesses in energy efficiency measures. Small commercial businesses are an underserved and hard-to-reach market for energy efficiency services. Yet, this sector comprises a significant percentage of all businesses and aggregate energy usage. Two main barriers to doing an energy retrofit in small businesses include getting the business to agree to participate and getting them to implement suggested measures. Student outreach addresses the first, and using a mechanical or electrical contractor as an ESCO is a great way to address the second. The Awareness for Community Energy (ACE) Program is currently being offered throughout the United States. ACE employs high school and college students as interns and trains them in small business energy auditing. The business more readily accepts the marketing of energy services by a student, since it is seen as an opportunity to contribute to a student's educational experience. In one case, ACE program participants audited over 150 small businesses in a three-month period. Electrical and mechanical contractors are prime candidates to both disseminate information on energy efficiency and carry out the necessary retrofits. The owners of most energy using facilities already have trusted mechanical/electrical service contractors. By diffusing ESCO concepts amongst existing service contractors, there is a far greater chance of upgrading the energy efficiency throughout the small business sector. Such diffusion activities will involve training and awareness programs for contractors, as well as encouragement of financial institutions to develop supportive financing products