Franklin Energy
Understanding Cultural Barriers in Energy Efficiency Programs for Small Businesses in Low-Income Neighborhoods
Role: UX Researcher
Time: Jan - May 2018 ,
Location: Chicago, IL
Problem Definition
While most residential and small business owners can benefit from adopting energy efficiency and energy management efforts, a number of factors become barriers. Small businesses lack the financial capital, staff resources, and economies of scale needed to take full advantage of energy efficiency investment opportunities. This pattern has been observed especially in low income communities. Adoption of a number of energy efficiency programs doesn’t come naturally, and often requires additional investment which can be a burden. Adoption is often influenced by rebates and incentives offered by utilities. Our focus is on identifying the inherent barriers to driving energy efficiency marketing efforts in low-income communities.
Goals
- To understand the awareness level of the target users about the EE programs.
- Learn more about the structure and layout/ step of equipments in small business
- To realize the market opportunity between the small- business owners and for efficiency as-a -service providers.
Why Small Businesses?
Commercial sector consumes about 60% of the total energy produced in the US. In the commercial sector, space heating accounts for about half of total natural gas consumption.
Small Business consumes about 5 times the gas consumption when compared to a single Household. If we can influence and convert one small business that is equal to converting 5 independent household
Key question
What are the inherent barriers in driving energy efficiency implementations for small business in low income communities?
Mapping the Contextual Landscape
My main focus was to get a better understanding of the mindset of the low-income small business owners, what they think about the EE programs, and how they choose types of equipment for their business.
To understand the key business problem, my research was primarily focused on restaurants and laundromats in low-income communities in Chinatown, Devon, and Uptown.
I have used design frameworks to understand the key problem.
Why Is Improving the Efficiency of Small Businesses So Challenging?
Small-business owners often do not have the expertise, time, or capital to invest in efficiency measures for their business. Although energy use can account for up to 20 percent of the expenditures of a small business, many business owners do not have the expertise themselves or within their staff to identify and manage energy savings projects.
Current Services of Franklin Energy
Free Energy Assessments
Franklin Energy provides onsite assessment to small business business. They will receive a customized report summarizing free energy-saving installation options, upgrades, rebates and a cost-benefit analysis for future improvements
Free Energy - Saving Products
Through the Small Business Energy Jumpstart program, businesses can save energy, reduce utility costs and improve tenant retention by installing free energy-efficient products, including shower heads, faucet aerators, programmable thermostats, pipe insulation and pre-rinse sprayers at absolutely no cost.
Rebates
Rebate Programs for qualifying projects. Work with preferred contractor to implement selected improvements to save money on energy bills.
User Research
Purpose
Understanding the cultural and implementation gaps in energy efficiency programs for small businesses in low-income neighborhoods around Chicago.
Objective
My main focus is to get a better understanding of the mindset of the low-income small business owners, what they think about the EE programs, and how they choose types of equipment for their business. What’s the value exchange?
Survey Design
Designed the questioner for Franklin Energy Stakeholder and Small Business Owners (Users), for gathering information about the Organization, Awareness Program, Technology, Low Income community, while constructing a quantitative description of the attributes in order to better gain a better understanding of the business and the user
QUESTIONS FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
-Can you provide general information about the energy consumption behaviors in your business?
-What importance you place on energy efficiency relative to other concern about managing your home, business, or organization?
-How well do you understand your energy bill and your energy supplier ?
-What importance you place on energy efficiency, maintaining equipment's and doing regular assessments of energy consumption
-Will you be interested in upgrading equipment for high efficiency? if rebates are provided?
-Do you believe in saving energy? Will you be interested to contribute if your community participates in the energy saving program?
-In the commercial sector, space heating accounts for about half of total natural gas consumption. Do you know that you can lower your monthly energy costs?
QUESTIONS FOR INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS
About organizations
-How does Franklin cooperate with utilities?What’s the value exchange?
-Does franklin cooperate with banks? What’s the formal application process for financial aids?
-How does Franklin partner with Trade Ally?
About awareness and on-boarding
-Among all the approaches to let user know and engage with EE,
-what are the general feed-backs? What works well? What not?
-How did the small business know about the program?
-Reinstallation Cost if sold equipment
-Detail info about rebate
-Will the equipment can be resold
About new technologies
-If smart tech can improve efficiency?
-Do you use big-data to track energy consumption?
About low income community
- How do you leverage with community leaders/organizers to promote the project?
-How do you to find out its local community partners?
About customer feedback
- What are major feedbacks you get from small business owners who refuse to join EE program? How do you interpret those feedbacks?
About the program
- How often have you seen the rebound issue from EE program customers? How do you encourage them to follow their previous best practice
Interviewing and shadowing
Interview Map
Field Observation
To understand the current Energy Efficiency Programs and to learn more about structure and setup of gas equipment in small businesses?
How can we open a market opportunity between the small business owners and energy service providers?
Card Sorting
Redefining the problem?
Key Barries of Energy Efficiency Adoption
When asked about the equipments "she replied saying these equipments are as old as the building. They constantly breaks but we just get minor fixes when every it does brakes but never considered to change for new equipments."
We took our research back to the board and started mapping out with insights to dissect the problem and understand there are 4 key problem.
Survival
Cultural
Burden
Resistance
Cultural Barrier
-Defensive attitude in culture based communities
-Reputation in local areas is one of the key factors
-EE equipment's may not be suitable for some styles/cuisines in different restaurants
-Local small business already have their own networking to provide the equipment's and place to run business
Survival
-Survive by the day and look to get the work done for that specific day.
-Aware of uncertainties, they tend to avoid all the uncertain factors
-Use their own energy saving methods to cut costs.
-They look for short term discounts rather than long term.
Burden
-Energy bills and consumption is not their top priority
-Handle Higher repair costs and Equipment breakdowns but don’t consider to change.
-Wear multiple hats and multitasking.
-Role conflict, cannot make decisions.
-Time Conflict
Resistance
-EE programs makes profit for themselves and not really help owners save energy.
-EE programs mostly share the reputation with other related or similar programs
-Prefer to use the existing equipment's owned by landlord
-Uncertain about the success of the EE programs
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How to bridge the gap between Service Providers and Small Business?
Design Principles
-Create a platform to engage local residents, landlords and business owners within the community.
-Be proactive, utilize the local connections to overcome cultural barriers
-Provide suggestions and recommendations based on their preferences for the Energy Efficiency program.
-Use Energy Efficiency programs to enhance the experience of the customers in small business so they can maximize their profits
-Visualize energy saving process and profits in terms of dollar and time value for small business owners
Reframe the role of Franklin Energy
Apart from just being a provider of energy efficiency programs to small business Franklin should consider becoming an energy consultant to small business owners in low-income community. Educating the small business owners about the value and benefits associated with the program will help them to implement the program. Customized programs that can cater to each individual business types can also help them identify the opportunity for the small business owners to save energy.
User Journey
Activity System Map
Prototyping
Concept Proposal
A service that combines an app, website, and face-to-face consultant function. This service aims to help small business owners to embrace energy efficiency programs as part of their business. By reducing their extra burden, overcoming the cultural barriers and resistance, can empower sustainable energy efficiency initiatives within a community.
- ECOBond is a service that aims to help small business owners to embrace energy efficiency programs as part of their business.
- ECO Bond service is focused on being more proactive to reduce the extra burden on small business owners, overcoming the cultural barriers and resistance.
-ECO Bond goal is to strengthen the bond with small business owners to empower green initiatives within a community.
App
Online Platform
Storyboarding
How can this service be implemented?
In this context we made an assumptions of two scenarios. The first scenario walks you through the process of how an energy consultant can help small business owners saving cost on energy bills.
Service blueprint of EE programs for Small business
This map shows the complete in depth interaction between owners, landlords, vendors, Franklin Energy and touch points during the interactions. It also provides an overview on how the service will be provided by Franklin Energy to the small business owners, while specifying the different stakeholders, support systems / infrastructure needed to deliver the service across the different channels in the whole system.
Summary
To summarize the role of Franklin Energy. In the beginning, the company only focus on providing the energy efficiency service and majorly relies on their own resource. But after the company starts to have the function of energy consultation, they start to reach out to the community and learn from the community in terms of their equipment, people and the mechanisms. After they successfully cultivate a group of clients in the 2nd phase, they start to make use of them and comes to the 3rd phase: build up a long-term relationship in the community. In that phase, the clients will also be used by Franklin energy to promote the program and reach out to more users.