Case Study: Energy Specialist Services for City of Hartford
By Ruby Ranoa, Earth Forward Group
Published April 12, 2024
EFG Community Outreach at the annual Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association Green Energy Family Festival
Engaging the Community
As part of the City of Hartford’s ambitious Climate Action Plan, the City aims to improve quality of life for its residents through environmental stewardship, advancing the local economy, improving public health outcomes, and promoting social equity. This project was designed to address current gaps in the community by improving resident access to resources that stabilize utility bills, reduce energy burden, make homes more comfortable, address health and safety barriers, and improve home values. By doing so, the project aimed to facilitate the uptake of residential projects related to energy efficiency, weatherization, and building performance.
Project Design and Planning
The Energy Specialist services project involved developing a community outreach and engagement campaign on the benefits of energy efficiency programs. To accomplish this, we designed and delivered physical and digital marketing materials, educational webinars, and community technical training sessions, including building performance industry certification classes for the Mayor’s Youth Corps.
Initial planning focused on program design, goal setting, stakeholder engagement, and partnership and demographics research. Stakeholders included residents and those equipped to speak on the needs of residents such as neighborhood and community groups, and local businesses. When designing the campaign, it was important to establish a sense of security for residents to explore energy efficiency programs by presenting technical information in an approachable manner and meeting customers at their comfort levels.
Teach-in and training session with Our Piece of the Pie
Outcomes
In 2021, we conducted 27 outreach events, including teach-in and training sessions, organized 26 partner meetings to engage other organizations and align goals, and coordinated 7 days of neighborhood canvassing, ultimately reaching over 440 Hartford residents. Additionally, we used surveys to gather insightful data such as community members’ interest in energy topics and concerns around energy bills. Due to the pandemic, many outreach events were canceled, postponed, or quickly transitioned to a virtual environment.
Recognizing the importance of providing education and building trust with residents, we prioritized collaboration with local organizations to increase awareness of the campaign, community teach-in sessions to provide opportunities to learn about the program and hear testimonials from past participants, and training community leaders on how best to communicate with residents about the programs. Our marketing and promotional efforts included the use of social media platforms, conventional print media, direct-to-customer communications, and communications through local authority and community organization networks.
Project Collaborators
This project was in collaboration with the City of Hartford, Operation Fuel, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Exchange Community Development Block Grant, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the City of Hartford’s Energy Improvement District Board, local utilities, other state agencies and external stakeholders, and the community.
