I have been struck by one significant difference between the Energy Retrofits for Houses Conference I am attending in Toronto, and the Affordable Comfort Conference (ACI) we attended in Kansas City a few months ago: Folks here don’t talk about home energy audits.
I first noted this when John Hockman noted that an early home performance program in Manitoba figured out that home owners were reluctant to participate in part due to a fear of “audits.” “They thought we had something to do with revenue Canada,” Hockman says. “Taxes.” Rather than explain on a case by case basis, the program began referring to the home assessment step as “home evaluations.” Hockman didn’t have numbers to reflect the difference in participation before and after the name switch. It was just an easy, obvious change to make.
A quick stroll among conference exhibitors established that the shift from “audit” was not limited to Manitoba. Both Energuy (energy advisors) and Amerispec (ecoEnergy retrofits for homes) offer home energy services nationally. Both provide initial evaluations or assessments and follow up after work has been completed. Neither uses the word “audit.” The Energuy representative put it this way: “Nobody likes taxes.”
Amerispec’s representative hesitated. “Audit has never been the right word,” he said. “We don’t go into someone’s house and quiz them about what they’ve done, or yell at them for not doing something. It’s not an inspection either. We help people understand what’s going on in their houses and give them suggestions for ways to improve it, and then we go back, and let them know how effective the work they’ve done has been.”
I am a strong believer that words matter. Not long ago, Peter Troast mused that this field might be in need of a new terminology, and offered up that the word “hacker” might be a fitting moniker for those who dig into home energy in homes. But what of the word “audit?” Certainly it has baggage – both here and in the US. It shouldn’t. We’ve written extensively about home energy audits, and never once thought of them as punitive or threatening, because they are neither.
Do we need a better word? Does the word "auditor" make any sense in this context? Chime in. Would you rather have a home energy audit, or a home energy assessment? Does it matter? I suspect it might.
Comments
This post makes me think of the time when I interviewed the auditor of county government in a small South Carolina town. I wanted to write a profile on him for the newspaper I worked for at the time. I asked him how he was received by other county officials, and he explained that people definitely weren't warming up to him. So you know what he did? He had the county maintenance folks paint over the word "auditor" on the curb in front of his assigned parking spot. He said it was because he didn't like the perception that the word "auditor" had among his fellow employees. I suspect it was because he didn't want to make his car an easy target to department employees who received unfavorable audits from. Whatever the case, it's clear that the term "auditor" definitely has some negative connotations, at least among municipal government types.
Posted by ginnyskalski on Oct 28, 2009 1:42pmEnergy Efficiency Evaluation, that's what I tend to use. I have had too many people look at me and say "audit?".
Posted by SWenergyimaging on Oct 28, 2009 1:49pmHome Energy Inspection. It could become a branch of home inspection, and you'd get one before buying as part of the inspection. Inspectors can be trained in this new "branch" and would handle the issues the same way they talk about rot, etc.
Posted by alzwell on Oct 28, 2009 3:59pm"Home energy auditors", may as well be "dentist" -- a bad name indeed!
Insulators could have chosen "cavity filler", drain cleaners could have called themselves "sewer proctologist", plumbers would have been "wallet lighteners", electricians maybe "shockers", or for roofers, a tag line "moving leaks from your attic to your bank account for 50 years".
(None of this explains why we hire "Exterminators", however)
I'm not so sure about "Hackers" though (a name which I had considered for the company we hired to install a new window, but didn't put in a proper structural frame). I'm a computer guy, and even there, "hacker" is both a term of respect, but carries a little baggage.
The guy-formerly-know-as-an-energy-auditor who came into my house and found all the things I could do to make it have fewer holes (less holy?) was my savior of money. And he made our house downright more comfortable (down comforter?) and pleasant -- "House Cozy".
Did I mention that I'm a computer guy. This is why they have people that specialize in marketing :-)
Posted by tomharrisonjr on Oct 29, 2009 5:01amTom, excellent points, painfully delivered. (I ricochet between sewer proctologist and cavity filler for most bracing image). I am keen on "Energy Advisor" although maybe that implies hands-off - "I see that cavity, but I'm not going to do anything about it..." which is not always the case. I accept your point on "hacker" however - advisor beats that by a long shot.
Posted by Peggy on Nov 5, 2009 8:32amHome Energy Inspection has merit, (and in fact, I've proposed in the past forgoing the home inspection and replacing it with a home energy audit as a prospective home owner - a position that brought on some interesting conversations): http://www.energycircle.com/blog/2009/06/23/skip-the-home-inspection-hav...
Posted by Peggy on Nov 5, 2009 8:37amThat said, One of the many benefits of a home energy assessment/consultation/audit is that it is not time -specific. It's useful to have an audit done after you've lived in a house for a while, and especially after you've had a bit of work done. It would be a shame if assigning the term "inspection" had the unintentional effect of making home energy (blanks) a time-specific act.
I like evaluation. Is your advertising also "evaluation?" I wonder if there are people who simply don't call because of "audit" - very hard to assess, I warrant.
Posted by Peggy on Nov 5, 2009 8:38amThanks, Ginny. Great story. It's certainly my experience that semantics matter - when we forget to take that into account, I think we miss opportunities (to preserve the sanctity of our car tires ... or to grow an essential business like energy evaluation.
Posted by Peggy on Nov 5, 2009 8:40am"Auditor/audit" never seemed that negative to us old-timers in the energy efficiency business, but it may be time to shift to another word. To me "Assessment/Assessor" does not quite capture the detective skills needed for this field, plus it's not in the average vocabulary of our customer base. "Inspection/Inspector" seems like a better choice, and could be a way to align the EE field with regular home inspectors. With the public fascination with crime investigation, maybe we grow the brand with "HSI" or "BSI".
Posted by Gloria Fultz on Nov 4, 2009 7:31amGloria, thanks for your comment. I noticed several professionals used the term "energy advisor" I like that - rings of expertise and helpfulness. There is some cache to HSI however....
Posted by Peggy on Nov 5, 2009 8:21amPeggy