Past Projects
The EPA Climate Showcase Communities Project
The URI Outreach Center collaborated with four Rhode Island municipalities to assist in achieving target reductions for energy consumption and greenhouse gases. The EPA Climate Showcase Communities Project had a goal to create replicable models of cost-effective and persistent greenhouse gas reductions that will catalyze broader local government actions to stabilize the climate and improve environmental, health, and social conditions. URI Energy Fellows benchmarked energy consumption for each municipality to prioritize locations for implementing showcase projects that will yield cost-effective reductions and to educate municipal employees, officials, and residents on sustainable energy consumption behaviors.
URI Energy Fellows drafted Municipal Energy Management Guides to assist these towns in the development and implementation of energy policies, procurement of energy resources, and to provide information on best practices to measure and verify the success of energy efficiency projects.
National Grid Community Initiative Pilot
The objective of this project was to provide grassroots public education, outreach, marketing and public relations services to National Grid in order to increase awareness and measurable participation in specific National Grid residential and small commercial energy efficiency programs. Building on our outreach goals for the EPA project, we focused our efforts on the City of Warwick and the Town of South Kingstown. We have drawn upon the wealth of knowledge and expertise at the URI Outreach Center, as part of the Land Grant system, in the design and implementation of an outreach program that has achieved true behavioral change among stakeholders. The training programs, including the specific messages, audience segments, educational methods and methods of delivery was shaped by survey and interview results and employed well-established social marketing tools and techniques. Social marketing uses the principles of commercial marketing and social psychology to influence behavior, often in the realms of environment or health. Social marketing tools include: providing opportunities for commitment, use of social norms, multiple modes of communication and incorporation of incentives to promote change.
Rhode Island Public Energy Partnership
Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, RIPEP is a 3-year collaborative effort to achieve deep energy savings in municipal and state facilities and build a sustained, effective infrastructure for ongoing savings. Led by the RI Office of Energy Resources, RIPEP brings together key state agencies, municipal governments, utilities, and state university partners to:
- Create a comprehensive inventory of energy consumption in the public sector;
- Help approximately 100 facilities implement energy efficiency projects and measures to attain an average of 20% energy savings; and
- Identify and mitigate barriers to efficiency improvements in the public sector.