Rising Sun – Home Water Energy Audit

Increasing water, energy & cost saving behaviors in the home

Root Solutions partnered with Rising Sun Energy Center and its California Youth Energy Services (CYES) Program to infuse their home audit process with best practices for lasting behavior change.​​ Through shadowing outreach efforts and Green House Calls, and reviewing the material that is left with clients and sent post audit, we were able to find opportunities to improve the likelihood that clients will follow through on energy and water efficiency recommendations.

We redesigned the post audit survey material that Rising Sun distributes to its clients. We are assessing the effectiveness of these changes in regards to greater open rates, greater response rates, and more complete survey responses.

We delivered a tailored, day-long training to Rising Sun employees. As part of the training, Rising Sun employees explored how behavioral design could be integrated further into company practice. Through this training, we gave Rising Sun the tools that they need to continue using behavioral design to maximize the impact of their programs over the long-term.

Rising Sun Energy Center’s California Youth Energy Services program, employs and empowers youth, addresses climate change and providing valuable no-cost home energy and water auditing services to thousands of local residents each year. This is accomplished by training and employing local youth in 20 cities throughout the 5 Bay Area counties and putting them to work providing our Green House Call service to local residents. The program serves all residents, regardless of income, renter, or owner status.

“I feel like anyone working in environmental program design and implementation should receive this training, especially if they have a goal of changing peoples’ behavior. The training was interesting, engaging, and relevant; we came out of it with specific steps we can take to improve our programming to make it more relevant and effective.”
Julia Hatton
Director of Youth Programs, Rising Sun Energy Center