Each year, the campaign recognizes organizations that have facilitated adoption of energy-efficient window attachments.
Getting Recognized
The campaign is recognizing organizations in the following categories in 2024:
Program Pioneer
Honoring utility and program providers offering incentives and other innovative programs that include efficient window attachments.
Air Sealing Advocate
Honoring organizations for their work in highlighting the often-overlooked air sealing benefits of storm windows and insulating panels.
Software Superhero
Honoring program developers (e.g., energy audit programs) that include window attachments as an energy efficiency measure in their software.
Affordability Accelerator
Honoring organizations (e.g., property managers and Weatherization Assistance Program agencies) for their work in making window attachments and other window retrofits more affordable and accessible to underserved communities.
*Energy Justice and Equity
The campaign seeks to recognize organizations or programs that purposefully incorporate Energy Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (EJDEI). Some examples include:
- Installing window attachments in underserved or disadvantaged communities
- Making program resources and consumer marketing available in other languages
- Designing an energy efficiency program specifically targeted at including window retrofits in low-income and multifamily communities
Organizations Recognized in 2023
The campaign recognized 10 organizations for their impactful and innovative commitment to energy efficiency and environmental responsibility. The organizations received recognition for their programs aimed at facilitating the adoption of storm windows and other window attachments. The organizations were recognized on October 10, 2023, by Katie Cort of the campaign team during an Energy Efficient Building Association (EEBA) Summit session on high-performance building envelopes.
Storm Window Programs
Benton Rural Electric Association
Benton Rural Electric Association (REA)—a consumer-owned, electric cooperative serving portions of Benton, Yakima, and Lewis counties in Washington State—was recognized for its new storm window rebate program. With the goal of helping its residential customers reduce their electric bills (while also contributing to the reduction of regional energy use), the utility offers $2 per square foot of window space covered by ENERGY STAR Certified storm windows (and up to $10 for income-qualified customers). Analyses guided by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Regional Technical Forum, an advisory committee that develops standards to verify and evaluate energy-efficiency savings, helped REA select energy-savings measures and rebate levels. Offering residential rebates for energy-savings measures is part of Benton REA’s mission to provide affordable and reliable power to its members.
Chelan County Public Utility District
Chelan County Public Utility District (PUD) in north-central Washington State was recognized for its storm window rebate program, including its creative outreach efforts to bring energy efficiency to lower-income households and a local historic homes district. Historic buildings often present a dilemma: they tend to be energy inefficient due to their age but are usually subject to modification restrictions. Determined to help local historic homeowners and other customers lower their energy bills, Chelan PUD found a storm window solution that meets a variety of needs. Today, the utility offers up to $8 per square foot of window space covered by eligible storm window attachments.
“We were looking for a way to save energy in our historic home without changing the architectural integrity of the home,” one customer said. “We had an energy audit done with Chelan PUD, and they encouraged us to look at storm windows. They were much more affordable than full window replacements. A side benefit we did not expect is that our home is much quieter with these storm windows installed, as well.”
Con Edison
Con Edison was recognized for its commercial secondary window (CSW) program. As the utility that provides energy to New York City, Con Edison serves some of the largest commercial and industrial buildings in the country. These massive buildings have huge windows, which are significant challenges for energy efficiency—but also a seemingly endless opportunity. This is why the utility offers a $200 per MMBtu incentive for energy savings their customers achieve by installing CSW. These window inserts improve the thermal performance of existing windows through an additional layer of glazing—and are far easier and less expensive to install compared to full window replacement.
Energy Resource Center
Energy Resource Center (ERC), a nonprofit organization that provides energy-efficiency upgrades to income-qualified residents across 27 Colorado counties, was recognized for its innovative storm window program. After a vendor started experiencing supply chain issues, ERC partnered with a window insert manufacturer on a unique solution: an interior storm window kit that can be assembled on the jobsite, which reduces shipping costs and associated carbon emissions. The solution has significantly improved comfort and utility bill savings for ERC clients.
Xcel Energy
Xcel Energy, an electric and gas utility that powers millions of homes and businesses across eight states, joined a storm window replacement pilot initiated by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the Center for Energy and the Environment (CEE) to test energy savings and comfort improvements of storm windows in Minnesota. During the pilot, six properties within Xcel Energy’s service territory will receive modern, energy-efficient storm windows to replace old, leaky storm windows. Xcel Energy included three income-qualified multifamily buildings in the scope. At the end of the pilot, data will be collected to test the improvement of air leakage between the old and new storm windows, which will be used to model energy savings.
“In Minnesota, storm windows are already common, but some customers have not upgraded them for 20-30 years, so they no longer provide the same level of insulation they once did,” said Isaac Smith, senior manager of market transformation products at CEE, a community-based clean energy nonprofit working closely with Xcel Energy on this project. “We’re still in the early phases of the pilot, but our goal is to better understand the costs involved and gather data to help quantify the potential energy savings of such a measure.”
Window Attachment Programs
Baltimore Gas and Electric
Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) in Maryland was recognized for its window shade automation pilot program—an initial step to help the utility understand the potential energy savings this measure could bring to its customers. In partnership with the Attachments Energy Rating Council (AERC) and manufacturers who provided the materials and installation, the utility offered the upgrade to 15 residential customers with south- and west-facing windows that did not have a fixed shading solution such as awnings, patio covers, and large trees. The automated opening and closing of the shades followed an AERC-developed schedule designed to minimize solar heat gain during the summer months, and pilot participants reported a noticeable improvement in comfort. The pilot participants were surprised and impressed that such a simple and convenient solution could have such a significant impact on their utility bill, with some reporting a bill decrease of up to 14%. Participants were also pleased with the added comfort, convenience, and aesthetics that resulted from the automated shade installation in their homes.
Minnesota Technical Reference Manual
The team that developed the Minnesota Technical Reference Manual (TRM)—which puts forth standard methodologies and inputs for calculating the savings impacts and cost-effectiveness of energy conservation improvement programs (CIP) throughout the state—was recognized for analyzing and including insulating cellular window shades in the TRM’s CIPs. Inclusion of this technology in the CIP enables Minnesota utilities to offer incentives for customers to install cellular shades, which can help achieve significant heating- and cooling-related energy savings for homeowners by decreasing heat loss in winter and solar heat gain in summer.
This result is the culmination of more than four years of collaborative work with the AERC and DOE national laboratories (i.e., Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) for analytic support. An Oak Ridge National Laboratory field study also supported and validated the value of AERC-rated cellular shades in homes and buildings, demonstrating that cellular shades achieved up to 24% heating energy savings compared to generic venetian blinds, and that carbon emissions could be reduced up to 3 million tons on the national level.
Orlando Utilities Commission
Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) was recognized for providing rebates for window technologies that prevent solar heat gain, including solar screens and solar films, through its Rebate and Efficiency Delivered program that provides a range of incentives for customers to improve their buildings’ energy efficiency. The utility offers 55 cents per square foot of eligible screen or film installed on customers’ east-, west-, and south-facing windows. OUC customers who have benefitted from the program have reported improvements in both comfort and energy efficiency. The utility is gearing up to expand promotion of their program—and recommends that other utilities that are considering similar incentives to start thinking about their audiences and promotional tactics early in the process for maximum customer impact.
United Cooperative Services
United Cooperative Services, a Texas electricity distribution cooperative, was recognized for its 2023 solar window screen program, which helps residential members reduce their utility bills by minimizing solar heat gain. For every 15 square feet of east-, south-, or west-facing window space a member covers with a screen product that blocks at least 70% of solar heat gain, United provides $5 (up to $50 total). Depending on the material used, solar screens have the potential to block up to 90% of solar heat gain before it even reaches the window. Many United members who have benefited from the solar screen incentive learned about the program and other rebates during the free home energy audits that the cooperative offers to all members.
Xcel Energy
Xcel Energy was also recognized this year for the impact of its cellular shade rebate program available to the utility’s Colorado customers. In 2020, Xcel Energy began offering a rebate of $1.33 per square foot of window space for qualifying single-family homes to install AERC-rated insulated cellular shades. According to DOE, such products can lead to significant heating- and cooling-related energy savings for homeowners by decreasing heat loss by 40% or more in winter and solar heat gain up to 60% in summer. The rebate has been very popular among customers, and uptake has more than doubled.
“We are now offering our customers more energy solutions than ever to help them keep their energy bills low and meet their environmental and sustainability goals,” said Tyler Petersen, program manager at Xcel Energy. “For other utilities looking to implement similar programs, we recommend following an existing rating system, such as AERC, to simplify program execution for customers and utilities alike.”