The White House recently identified increasing sales of clean & efficient appliances as a core greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategy in the buildings sector. Shining a spotlight on energy-using consumer product markets is important, because efficient appliances are expected to reduce emissions more in this decade than rooftop solar or EVs, as Enervee pointed out in a recent blog.
The 1-time decisions that each of us make when it’s time to buy a new refrigerator or television will impact our energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions footprints over the lifetime of the products, over a decade, on average. That’s why it’s so important to tap into these natural replacement cycles and ensure that every purchase is as efficient as it can be. It also explains why this is such a big opportunity: We only need to influence a single buying decision now to get a lifetime of climate benefits – and Americans buy roughly 1 billion energy-using devices annually.
The Long-Term Strategy of the United States: Pathways to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050, published in November 2021, highlights the importance of driving better buying decisions:
“Buildings and their energy-consuming systems—electricity used and fossil fuels burned on site for heating air, heating water, and cooking—have long lifetimes. Therefore, the priority in this decade is to rapidly improve energy efficiency and increase the sales share of clean and efficient electric appliances—including heat pumps for space conditioning, heat pump water heaters, electric and induction stoves, and electric clothes dryers—while also improving the affordability of energy and the equitable access to efficient appliances, efficiency retrofits, and clean distributed energy resources in buildings.”
Enervee’s vision of Efficient Shopping for All is fully aligned with this new U.S. climate strategy, and we are seeing encouraging results from our ongoing efforts to orchestrate a growing and inclusive efficient shopping ecosystem, in partnership with other market actors.
In August 2021, we launched our new, consumer-facing online shopping experience, which makes choosing and buying efficient products simple and compelling. We do this by eliminating well known barriers that otherwise prevent people from following through on their desire to buy the most efficient products to meet their needs:
- Better choices through our Choice Engine® technology, designed with behavioral insights in mind to overcome a range of market, cognitive and psychological barriers. Our scientifically proven zero to 100 Enervee Score®, a daily updated energy efficiency index, for example, makes it quick and easy to identify the most efficient products.
- Efficient purchases are facilitated by offering Eco Financing® as one way to pay for energy efficient products, overcoming financial barriers. Shoppers apply and get approval for financing in a matter of minutes, converting a $1,000 price tag into manageable $25 monthly payments.
Our efficient shopping ecosystem brings together all of the public and private partners needed to support better consumer buying decisions on one online platform: major retailers, manufacturers, a fintech lender, government entities…As of early January 2022, Enervee’s new Commerce platform with Eco Financing has been deployed in cooperation with utility companies collectively serving 11 million residential customer accounts across 9 states, with more to follow in Q1 and beyond. 2022 will also see the launch of a statewide low- and moderate- income marketplace in New York, in partnership with the N.Y. State Energy Research & Development Authority.
Initial results are encouraging and show that we are able to reach underserved borrowers and renters, two hard-to-reach customer segments that were often unable to participate in traditional rebate programs.
We welcome any entity that wants to help their audience make better buying decisions and cut greenhouse gas emissions – states, cities, companies, non-profit organizations – and invite you to join our growing network and collectively advance a core pillar of the U.S. Long-Term Strategy to achieve net-zero emissions.
