Efficiency Zone
The Efficiency Zone module is designed to motivate customers to save energy based on how they see themselves in relation to similar homes. It reframes the Efficient Homes concept from the Neighbor Comparison to improve customer satisfaction without heavily compromising energy efficiency. The module is comprised of a bar graph that compares customer and similar homes usage against an Efficiency Zone, and insights that place the customer's usage in context. Usage below or up to the threshold is considered in the "efficiency zone." The Efficiency Zone threshold is the average use of the most efficient 20% of similar homes during that bill period and might change with each report.
Note: Utilities have the option to replace the Efficiency Zone module with the Neighbor Comparison module.
The normative comparison in Digital Self Service - Energy Management mirrors the customer's report experience. For example, a customer that receives the Efficiency Zone in their report will also see an Efficiency Zone in Digital Self Service - Energy Management. For more information about the web version of the Efficiency Zone, see Digital Self Service Energy Management Efficiency Zone.
Appears in: Progress Report, Welcome Report, Limited Income Report, Annual Report, Time of Use Report
This image shows an example of the Efficiency Zone module.
Heading: The title reads, "How you compare to others." It invites the customer to explore their normative comparison and learn about their energy use in more detail.
Threshold: The label above the graph introduces the maximum Efficiency Zone threshold (for example, Up to 500 kWh). The threshold is the average use of the 20th percentile of similar homes during that bill period. A light green tinted rectangle and darker green vertical line indicate the range and threshold of the Efficiency Zone, enabling customers to quickly see whether they are in the zone. The threshold is recalculated and changes with each report.
Graph: The bar chart displays how much energy the customer (You) used in comparison with Similar Homes. The Similar Homes bar indicates the average use of the customer's neighbors.
Hero Insight: The hero insight is the large colored numeric percentage which displays the customer's status relative to the Similar Homes. The color of the large number and percent sign varies, depending on whether they are above or below similar homes. If the customer is within the Efficiency Zone, the large number is green to visually correspond with the "Great" state of the benchmark. If the customer is not within the Efficiency Zone, the large number is orange to signal warning to the customer visually correspond with the "Fair" state of the benchmark..
The hero insight has three primary states:
- Great: In the Efficiency Zone
- Good or Fair: Outside the Efficiency Zone
- Fair: Higher than Similar Homes
Explainer Text: The explainer text explains what data goes into the comparison graph and provides the customer with a way to improve or correct these details in the Home Energy Analysis.
Secondary Insight: The secondary insight is displayed below the hero metric and varies depending on the customer's energy use. If the customer is using less than similar homes or in the efficiency zone, the secondary insight will either display a green check. If the customer is not in the efficiency zone, the secondary insight will display an orange 'x' indicating that the. There are several possible states:
- Great: In the Efficiency Zone
- Great: Near the Efficiency Zone
- Good: Lower than Similar Homes
- Good: About the same as Similar Homes
- Fair: Not in the Efficiency Zone
Customer Bill Alignment: Occasionally, the customer's previous bills do not coincide exactly in time with the previous bills of the customer’s efficient homes. In order to arrive at the similar homes averages, it is necessary to align the similar homes energy use amounts with the customer's energy use amounts. In these scenarios, the application pro-rates, or "time-shifts," the similar homes bills to align with the customer bills by determining and adjusting for the amount of overlap. The time-shifted neighbor bills are then used to determine the neighbor averages.
Requirements and Limitations
Fuel: Electric, gas, and dual fuel.
AMI Data Required: N/A.
Data History: A minimum of one historical bill.
Billing Frequency: Monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly.