1. Identify an operations officer. Babylon appointed a DPW defcom who had supervised 100 workers, was a licensed master electrician and union member who had worked as a contractor and understood the nature and needs of homeowners. Most municipalities are likely to have qualified staff who are eager to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the evolving energy efficiency sector.

2. Meet with contractors and workforce reps. Babylon requires BPI certification and Suffolk licensing for participating contractors. Feedback from the contractors helped set the $250 audit fee (which is subtracted from the final cost of the job). Unions were privy to the process. The Power Authority did an effective job of training the contractor community for this work. With the GreenHomes pilot fulfilling its target, other substantial contractors are acquiring the accreditation to qualify to work in the program.

3. Program uniformity. GreenHomes has been a demonstrative success through the pilot stage. LIPA has suggested that it would like towns, in developing their own programs, to strive for as much uniformity as they are able. So, for example, Babylon has generally strived to cap the total work at $12,000, but makes exceptions. Babylon has, however, limited the payback period to ten years. Each town will want to determine the jurisdictional confines of their pilot, i.e. residential. A functional wheel has been invented here so most municipalities might only need to modify the tire pressure.

4. Code conformity. Babylon’s town council passed a resolution to expand the definition of solid waste to include energy waste by dint of its carbon component in order to access the town’s solid waste reserve to finance the programs revolving fund. New York has affirmed this principle legislatively and now any municipality in the state, that does not have one, can create a waste district to administer a GreenHomes program. Criteria for contractor qualification, i.e. BPI certification and county license, were established. Furthermore, DOE has stipulated that to qualify for the competitive “Retrofit” grant, participants must satisfy must have “a building energy code (or codes) for residential buildings that meets or exceeds the most recently published International Energy Conservation Code, or achieves equivalent or greater energy savings.” 10 of 13 towns on Long Island qualify owing to the Energy Star standards for new home construction. In addition, DOE requires “a building energy code (or codes) for commercial buildings that meets or exceeds the most recently published ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, or achieves equivalent or greater energy savings.” Babylon’s required LEED certification for commercial construction makes it compliant.

5. ID a billing system. Babylon is using it existing software-based, solid waste billing system. After the town pays the contractor for the completed work, the homeowner’s obligation is assigned as a monthly benefit assessment. These payments are generally structured to be slightly less than the monthly savings realized from reduced energy consumption. Should the homeowner move before the term of the obligation, the balance is assigned to the property then assumed by the next homeowner. Should the homeowner be delinquent, the outstanding amount is assigned to the property tax.

6. Retain or repurpose support staff. Second hire should probably be an FTE to do customer intake, info processing and contractor work orders. Start w/ a PTE, perhaps from the communications department, to handle marketing and outreach. Once the program is up and running and the operations manager is going full-tilt, the hiring of a field lieutenant to do M&V, contractor and homeowner interface, plus data-basing program performance would be in order. Expand when and where needed. Babylon took full advantage of seasonals at parks & events in promoting GreenHomes.

7. Stake out space and equipment. Babylon has large dedicated room for staff, customer walk-ins and contractor contact. There is a dedicated Smart Car festooned with Green Homes logos; all public safety vehicles are comparably appointed. Babylon first equipped M&V with a camera and, subsequently, added blower door equipment and an infrared camera (these items as well as administrative expenses can be covered by town EECBG formula grants).

8. Set up web-site. www.TheBabylonProject.org web-site was built by our dep. communications director using SquareSpace software. At this site as well as www.ligreenhomes.com, there are home page videos that give potential participants a sense of the process. Babylon is allocating a portion of its formula grant to develop robust software that will wake up homeowners and tuck them in at the conclusion of work all while processing the work scope and structuring the financing. We would hope to share the results with other programs as they go to scale.

9. Stir & add homeowners.