Social Networking Site Launched for Energy Professionals

A new social networking website, HomeEnergyPros, offers energy efficiency professionals an online space to network, swap ideas and stay tuned to home energy performance news. The website, which launched Nov. 1, already has more than 655 members.

The HomeEnergyPros website is sponsored by Alliance Associate Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Home Energy Saver audit tool, in partnership with Home Energy Magazine, the main publication for the home energy rating, performance and weatherization communities.

Online Community Shares Stories, Best Practices

As homeowners turn to performance experts and engineers for direction on reducing residential energy use, those experts and engineers are now seeking advice and ideas from their peers through online channels.

The HomeEnergyPros website is one of several social and informational sites that energy professionals use to network with each other. But unlike general networking sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook, Home Energy Pros is designed for people who are directly involved in improving residential energy efficiency programs, including building contractors, HVAC equipment installers, architects and realtors. But unlike energy-specific online networking resources, such as GreenHomes America or RESNET, Home Energy Pros is a user-generated, non-association online community managed by the home energy performance experts themselves.

Membership: Free & Open

Membership to HomeEnergyPros is free and open to anyone. Members create a profile, recommend tools and resources, participate in and create blogs, and post pictures and videos. Members also can receive weekly email updates on the latest blogs and discussion topics. Those interested in just browsing the site can access all of the content but cannot contribute to discussions or blog posts, or modify general site information.

The level of community engagement has surpassed the expectations of its developers.

“The groundswell of activity within HomeEnergyPros indicates that there was a real need for this kind of community in the energy efficiency industry," said Evan Mills, who leads the Home Energy Saver project at Berkeley Lab.  "Our hope is that the community will be a lively, valuable and expanding resource for energy efficiency professionals to interact, share experiences, learn and collaborate,” Mills added. 

For more info

Access HomeEnergyPros at http://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/, and check out another social and informational site for energy professionals at the Online Code Environment & Advocacy Network.

Alliance Intern Julia Sendor contributed to this report.