Three-Bar Neighbor Comparison
The Three-bar Neighbor Comparison is designed to motivate customers to save energy based on how they see themselves in relation to their neighbors. It compares the customer (“You”) to two groups: Efficient Homes” and “Similar Homes.” The results are displayed in a horizontal bar graph. An insight statement on the right indicates whether the customer falls in one of three states:
- Great
- Good
- Fair
A brief message indicates how the customer compares to efficient homes in the area. An informational section below the bar graph explains that "Efficient Homes" represent the 20% of similar homes in the customer's comparison group that used the least amount of energy in the billing period and provides information about how the graph works.
The neighbor 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 neighbor comparison, see Digital Self Service Energy Management Neighbor Comparison.
Appears in: Progress Report, Welcome and Announcement Report, Limited Income Report, Time of Use Report, Solar Report, Electric Vehicle Report
Note: For most report types, utilities have the option of including either the Three-Bar Neighbor Comparison module or Efficiency Zone in their report.
On this page:
Requirements
Utility Requirements
|
Category |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Required Cloud Service |
Energy Efficiency Cloud Service |
|
Scale |
Less than 100,000 per week |
Customer Requirements
|
Category |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Billing Frequency |
Monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly. |
|
Data Delivery Frequency |
Monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly |
|
Data Requirements |
Billing data and third-party data (GIS and parcel data). |
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Data History |
A minimum of one historical bill. |
|
Data Coverage |
Not applicable. Billing level data is used. |
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Supported Fuels |
|
Limitations
- Neighbor Selection: A minimum number of neighbors (the default target is 100) must be selected for the customer. See Neighbor Selection - Detailed for more information.
- Home Energy Reports vs. Web: HER v3 customers receive an Efficiency Zone user variation in the web product which differs slightly from the Efficiency Zone in the reports. See the Neighbor Comparison section of the Oracle Utilities Opower Digital Self Service - Energy Management Cloud Service Product Overview for more information.
- Third-Party Data: Third-party data (GIS and parcel data) is needed to identify neighbors for the neighbor selection process.
User Experience
This section describes the user experience for each report type.
Three-Bar Neighbor Comparison
This section describes the user experience for the Progress Report, Welcome and Announcement Report, Limited Income Report, and Time of Use Report.
Heading: The heading notifies the customer that the neighbor comparison gives them a comparison of their energy use to similar homes.
Bar Chart: The bar chart displays how much energy each group in the comparison used. Typically, the bar with the smallest value is on top and the bar with the largest value is on the bottom.
- You: This bar indicates how the customer is doing. This is often a color that corresponds to the utility brand color.
- Similar Homes: This bar indicates how all the customer's neighbors are doing. It is usually a gray or neutral color. The energy use data that is shown is the mean energy use value.
- Efficient Homes: This bar displays a usage value for the most efficient 20% of the customer's similar homes. It is usually colored green because green is commonly associated with energy efficiency. Note that the efficient homes value that appears in the module is not an average of the top 20% of similar homes. A threshold value—the 20th percentile of similar homes—is used to determine the efficient homes value. Efficient homes are not chosen in advance.
Normative Message / Insight Statement: The normative message appears below and to the right of the bar chart and provides an insight (for example, "29% more electricity than efficient homes") about why the bar chart appears the way it does. Specifically, it displays a percentage for either how much more or less the customer used compared to their "efficient homes," or how much more or less the customer used compared to "neighbors" (that is, all neighbors, including efficient neighbors).
- Efficient Homes Description: The neighbor comparison module includes an efficient homes description that defines efficient homes that the customer is being compared to as the 20% of similar homes in their comparison group that used the least energy.
- Fuel units: The fuel units used in the comparison are defined below the efficient homes description.
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.
Solar Three-Bar Neighbor Comparison
This section describes the Solar Three-Bar Neighbor Comparison user experience for a solar customer with a positive comparison state. The module accommodates the net zero and excess generation (negative) reads of solar customers. The graph varies based on the benchmark state, fuel type, neighbors and similar homes language, and whether the customer has positive, negative, or net zero energy use. See User Experience Variations for more information.
Note: In the Solar Report, ‘energy use’ is replaced with ‘net energy’ to capture both use and production.
This image is an example of the Solar Three-Bar Neighbor Comparison that appears in the Solar Report.
Heading: The heading identified the customer as a solar customer and indicated that they will be compared to other solar homes or neighbors:
- Similar Homes: This bar indicates how all the customer's neighbors are doing.
- Neighbors: How the customer's net energy compares to other neighbors with solar.
Bar chart: The bar chart shows a customer's net energy compared to other homes with solar. The comparison groups are informed by the same logic as the standard experience but only include other homes with solar. A net zero indicator and three increment indicators are included on the graph to help orient the customer. Bar graph categories include:
- Efficient homes with solar: This bar displays a usage value for the most efficient 20% of the customer's similar homes.
- Similar homes with solar: This bar indicates how all the customer's neighbors with solar are doing.
- You: This bar indicates the customer's energy use.
The appearance of the bar graph varies depending on whether the customer has positive, negative, or net zero energy use. Possible comparison states include:
- Positive comparison state: In a positive comparison state, all graph bars show positive readings, meaning that the customers used more energy than their panels produced.
- Straddle comparison state: In the straddle comparison state, the graph shows a mix of positive and negative reads.
- Negative comparison state: If the customers used less energy than their panels produced, all graph bars show negative readings.
Explainer Text: The explainer text section of the solar three-bar neighbor comparison module includes definitions of net energy, comparison groups, and fuel used in the insights. See User Experience Variations for more information.
Electric Vehicle Three-Bar Neighbor Comparison
This section describes the Three-Bar Neighbor Comparison user experience for a solar customer with a positive comparison state. The Electric Vehicle Three-Bar Neighbor Comparison is adapted to show the impact of electric vehicle charging on home energy use. The graph varies based on the benchmark state, fuel type, and whether the customer has similar homes or neighbors language. See User Experience Variations for more information.
This image is an example of the Electric Vehicle Three-Bar Neighbor Comparison that appears in the Electric Vehicle Report for an electric vehicle customer with a good comparison state and similar homes language.
Heading: The heading indicates that the customer will be compared to other homes.
Bar chart: The bar chart shows a customer's energy use compared to other single family homes that may or may not have electric vehicles. The comparison groups are informed by the same logic as the standard experience but includes the customer's electric vehicle charging. Bar graph categories include:
- Efficient homes: This bar displays a usage value for the most efficient 20% of the customer's similar homes.
- Similar homes: This bar indicates how all the customer's neighbors are doing.
- You: This bar highlights the home energy use in relation to Efficient and Similar homes. It includes the customer’s home energy use, electrical vehicle charging, and total energy use, but excludes EV charging
The appearance of the bar graph varies depending on the customer's comparison state. Possible comparison states include:
- Fair: Home energy use, excluding electric vehicle charging, was more than efficient homes or average neighbors.
- Good: Home energy use, excluding electric vehicle charging, was more than efficient than similar homes or average neighbors.
- Great: Total energy use was less than efficient homes or average neighbors.
- Near: Within more or less than five percent of the average efficient homes or average neighbor value.
Explainer Text: The explainer text defines the comparison group and efficient homes. The explainer state and text is determined by the available customer data. For example, square footage, heating source, home type, and fuel type data.
Insights: The purpose of the normative message and insight statement are to provide information about why the bar chart appears the way it does.
Insight Statement: The insight statement appears to the right of the bar chart and provides information about why the bar chart appears the way it does. The insight states are related to the Benchmark module states of Great, Good, and Fair. The insights states are related to the Benchmark state. See the Benchmark module for more information.
- Top insight: The top insight displays a percentage for either how much more or less the customer used compared to their "efficient homes. The percentage color changes depending on whether the customer's usage is Great, Good, and Fair.
- Bottom insight: The bottom insight tells the customer how their usage compared to compared to all neighbors, including efficient neighbors.
User Experience Variations
Three-bar Neighbor Comparison
This section describes variations applicable to the Three-bar Neighbor Comparison.
Gas-only, dual fuel
Gas-only and dual fuel customers see a variation in the units of energy displayed in the Three-bar Neighbor Comparison module. The electricity unit “kWh” is replaced by “therms” for gas-only customers and “units” for dual fuel and solar customers.
Explainer Text
The explainer text varies by the available customer data, including:
- Square Footage
- Heating Source
- Home Type
- Fuel type
For example, the words "heating source" and "square footage" will appear in the explainer text for customers with confirmed square footage and heating source data, but not for others.
Fuel Units
The fuel units definition varies by customer fuel type:
- Electric-only: "A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the standard unit used to measure electricity use".
- Gas-only: "A therm is a standard unit of measurement used to calculate gas use."
- Dual fuel: "Units represent a combination of electricity (kWh) and natural gas (therms)."
Insight Statement
The insight statement insights that provide the customer with a summary of their energy use compared to efficient homes or average neighbors. The insight statement is impacted by the customer's Benchmark state and fuel type.
The following table is an example of how the insight statement varies by fuel type for customers with a Great benchmark state.
| Fuel Type | Benchmark State | State Edge Case | Top Insight | Bottom Insight |
| Electric-only and Dual fuel | Great | Near but more than efficient homes | Nice! You used about the same as efficient homes. You’re in the most efficient 20% | You used less energy than similar homes. |
| Gas only | You used less gas than similar homes. |
Solar Neighbor Comparison
This section describes variations applicable to the Solar Neighbor Comparison.
Explainer Text
The explainer text includes content explaining net energy, the solar comparison group, and fuel. These explainers vary by fuel type, whether the customer receives similar homes or neighbors language, and home type. For example, "electricity" is used in reports for customers with net energy / dual fuel, and "energy" is used for customers with net energy / electric-only reports. "Efficient homes" or "Efficient Neighbors" appears depending on the neighbors language selected for the utility program. The following example of solar explainer text is for a solar customer with net energy / duel fuel enrolled in a program with similar homes language.
"Net energy is the difference between the amount of electricity your solar panels produce and the amount of gas and electricity you use. Efficient homes with solar are the 20% of homes in your comparison group with the lowest net energy."
Comparison Group Explainer Text
The comparison group explainer includes home type data. For example, if a customer's home type can not be confirmed, the text states that the comparison group is made of, "100 similar homes with solar in your area." If the customer data confirms that the customer lives in a single-family home, the text mentions that they were compared to other single-family homes, "100 single-family homes with solar in your area."
Fuel Explainer Text
The fuel explainer defines the unit used to measure the customer's fuel type.
- Duel fuel: A unit is a combined measurement of electricity (kWh) and gas (therms) use
- Electric: A Kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the standard unit used to measure electricity use.
Solar Comparison States
The appearance of the bar graph varies depending on the graph comparison state:
Positive Comparison State: In a positive comparison state, all graph bars show positive readings, meaning that the customers used more energy than their panels produced. This image is an example of a positive comparison state.
When the large number in the sidebar reaches a value of 101% or more, a positive alternate insight without a percentage is displayed to avoid comprehension issues. For example, "Nice! Your net energy was lower than efficient homes!"
Straddle Comparison State: In the straddle comparison state, the graph shows a mix of positive and negative reads. The module varies based on fuel type, language type, and whether the customer's "You" bar is positive or negative.
Negative Comparison State: If the customers used less energy than their panels produced, all graph bars show negative readings. The module varies depending on the customer's benchmark state and fuel type.
The following image is an example of a negative comparison state in a Good benchmark state.
The following image is an example of a negative comparison state when the You value is rounded up or down to 0.
Welcome and Announcement Report
This section describes variations applicable to the Three-Bar Neighbor Comparison in the Welcome and Announcement Report.
Neighbor Comparison Placement
Utilities have the option to swap the placement of the Quadrant Module with the Neighbor Comparison or Efficiency Zone. See the Welcome and Announcement Report for more information.