The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) provides more than just energy savings. It also provides energy security, cost savings, and—maybe most importantly—an opportunity for a personal connection between the home’s residents and the WAP agency staff members.
This opportunity is something that can be overlooked. Home residents—or “clients,” a term commonly used for the individuals and families which WAP serves—are too often looked at as secondary to the actual weatherization work. After all, it is the home that is being weatherized, not its occupants.
Efficiency Coaches in Vermont’s WAP see things differently. “I think it’s most important to genuinely focus on the individual you’re meeting with and listening to what their concerns are,” says Brian Keith, an Efficiency Coach at NETO, a community action agency that provides WAP services in northeastern Vermont. Vermont’s WAP has taken a unique and effective approach to client education through its Efficiency Coach program. Efficiency Coaches provide personalized, in-home coaching that helps clients maximize energy savings, improve health and safety, and connect with vital community resources.
Starting Out
Energy Coaching in Vermont started as a pilot initiative about 15 years ago but has now become an essential component of Vermont’s weatherization process, enhancing energy savings, streamlining service delivery, and empowering clients. Geoff Wilcox, Vermont’s State Weatherization Director, shared that the concept of Efficiency Coaching began with a Sustainable Energy Resources for Consumers (SERC) grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) in 2010. The program was originally a collaboration suggested by a Vermont WAP agency—Capstone Community Action—to Vermont’s grantee WAP staff.
The results were so compelling that even after federal funding ended, Vermont’s State Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) committed to using state weatherization funds to continue the program. These funds come from the Weatherization Trust Fund, a tax on home heating fuels, which generates about $10 million annually to support WAP efforts across the state. “We decided to continue it with our state funding because it was just a really good thing for the clients and the program,” Mr. Wilcox explained.
Despite its success, Vermont’s Efficiency Coaching program faced initial skepticism from auditors and field staff. “Some [energy] auditors wanted to do the coaching themselves and felt it was unnecessary to have a dedicated coaching role,” Mr. Wilcox recalled. “But once they saw how it allowed them to focus on completing their energy audits, they became the biggest supporters.”
Another challenge was staff turnover. Early retention was difficult because the role was not always valued. However, after improving pay and training, the position is now recognized as a key part of the weatherization team and process in Vermont.
The Process
Efficiency Coaches are the first weatherization staff members to enter a client’s home. They go to the client’s home after the client has been qualified for WAP services, but before the energy audit is started. Their role is multifaceted, blending technical expertise with client education and human services. According to Mr. Keith, his work begins before arriving at a client’s home. He reviews client files, anticipates potential challenges, and prepares referrals for additional resources. He also analyzes their energy bills, screens for efficiency upgrades, and identifies other assistance opportunities.
During the visit, the Efficiency Coach:
- Explains the weatherization process and sets expectations.
- Identifies health and safety concerns, such as moisture problems, carbon monoxide risks, or inadequate ventilation.
- Conducts a basic energy efficiency assessment, screening for high-energy-use appliances, inefficient heating systems, and potential baseload electric efficiency upgrades.
- Provides a behavioral coaching approach, talking to clients about their homes and teaching them how to properly use new equipment, like setback thermostats and ventilation fans, to optimize savings.
- Installs basic equipment like LED lightbulbs, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide sensors.
- Uses the One Touch Referral System to connect clients with home repair, financial assistance, and health programs.
Mr. Keith emphasizes the relationship building aspect of the role, noting that clients are often initially wary of home visits but become more engaged when they feel heard and understood. “If you cannot engage with that homeowner in a meaningful way, all you’ve done is gone in and filled out some paperwork. You haven’t really left that homeowner geared up for the next stages,” he explained. “I do think it makes a difference if you can advance the weatherization process by having a coach steer things in a positive direction.” The Efficiency Coach sets up the rest of the WAP project, and the client, for success.
Impact and Benefits
The positive impacts created by the Efficiency Coach are clear and wide-ranging, starting with increased client engagement and education. One of the biggest challenges in weatherization is ensuring that clients actively participate in energy-saving practices after their homes have received services. Efficiency Coaching directly addresses this gap. “A lot of times, people don’t know why they have to run their bathroom fan after we insulate their home,” Mr. Wilcox noted. “The coaches help explain that. They talk about moisture, air circulation, and overall home health.”
Because Efficiency Coaches assess homes before the energy auditor arrives, they can identify obstacles early in the weatherization process, such as: non-weatherization repairs that need to be completed and accessibility issues that could hinder crews. This proactive approach prevents unnecessary delays for the energy auditors and installation crews. Mr. Wilcox highlighted how the program eases the workload of energy auditors and installation crews by shifting client education and intake responsibilities to dedicated Efficiency Coaches. This allows energy auditors to focus on technical assessments and installation crews to maximize productivity.
Adding Efficiency Coaching has also allowed more effective partnerships with energy efficiency programs outside of WAP. Efficiency Vermont is a WAP partner which funds electricity saving measures identified by Efficiency Coaches during their visits. Working across the entire state, Efficiency Vermont is an organization focused on saving energy and money for Vermont individuals, families, and businesses. Electricity and cost savings are created through rebates, workforce development, financing options, strategic partnerships, and technical advice. To fund these efforts, Efficiency Vermont charges electricity customers in the state an Energy Efficiency Charge based on electricity consumption.
As part of Efficiency Vermont’s electricity savings programs, Efficiency Coaches will directly install LED lightbulbs and engage subcontractors to install other items like cold climate heat pumps. Having the Efficiency Coach as part of the overall WAP process allows this partnership with Efficiency Vermont to integrate seamlessly with weatherization tasks while delivering greater benefits to WAP and its clients.
Going beyond energy efficiency, Vermont’s One Touch Referral System (“One Touch”) allows Efficiency Coaches to connect clients with additional services. One Touch relies on a simple list of programs outside of weatherization for which clients may qualify. The Efficiency Coach identifies which programs may benefit the client prior to the visit and develops additional suggestions during conversations with the client while coaching. Common referrals include home repair programs, financial assistance, and health-related services. Mr. Keith described One Touch as a bridge to valuable resources, noting that even longtime social service professionals that he has coached during his visits are often unaware of the other available programs.
The Future of Efficiency Coaching
Vermont has fully integrated Efficiency Coaches into its WAP model, but Mr. Keith sees more opportunities for enhancement. The first opportunity he identified is state-standardized training for all Efficiency Coaches. When Vermont trained its first coaches, the focus was on behavior change coaching. Over time, Efficiency Coaches at each WAP agency took on the task of training newly hired Efficiency Coaches within their organizations and some of that behavior change focus has been lost as training was primarily done by each individual agency rather than centrally by the state office. Mr. Keith would like to see standardization of Efficiency Coach training at the state level with a renewed focus on behavior change.
The other area he sees as an opportunity is more direct engagement between Efficiency Coaches and Efficiency Vermont. Having this direct connection would facilitate more streamlined and transparent sharing of information and ideas about how Efficiency Coaching and Efficiency Vermont’s programs can better interact. Mr. Keith also mentioned that he would like to have a better understanding of how to talk with clients about their energy bills and disaggregate individual energy end uses to better identify opportunities for saving energy.
Vermont’s Efficiency Coaching program provides a successful model for integrating client education into weatherization services that could be used for WAP nationally. Both Mr. Wilcox and Mr. Keith see Efficiency Coaching as an essential component for successfully delivering WAP services and they’d like to see more states integrate Efficiency Coaches into their own WAP models.
The Efficiency Coach takes a significant amount of burden off the rest of the WAP staff by setting client expectations and owning many of the client-focused portions of the WAP process. By placing clients at the center of the process, the program ensures that weatherization is not just a one-time service—but a long-term transformation. “If other states want to implement Efficiency Coaching, they need to commit to it fully,” Mr. Keith said. “You have to engage with clients, build trust, and make sure they’re ready to interact with their ‘new’ home. We can do a lot of good things to a home, but in the end, the residents have the greatest impact on the effectiveness of any weatherization measure we install.”
