About NESEA's Green Buildings Open House Tour

Make your plans now to join us on October 2nd for the annual Green Buildings Open House (GBOH). NESEA's Green Buildings Open House is the largest sustainable energy event in the Northeastern U.S., the six New England States, plus Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. It connects consumers with professionals who can provide the services and products needed to retrofit current buildings and build new buildings capable of deep energy reductions and the on-site generation of clean power. NESEA partners with the American Solar Energy Society's (ASES) National Solar Tour and holds the GBOH tour on the same day of the year as the ASES program in conjunction with the National Energy Awareness Month. We are passionate about expanding on the 14 years of success of the Green Buildings Open House program, that has inspired many thousands of individuals to learn about and implement energy efficient and renewable energy solutions. The goal of the GBOH event is to enable participants to see, firsthand, energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements in their communities and motivate them to adopt and invest in energy solutions.

At host sites, participants are able to talk with others who have implemented energy efficiencies and renewable energy technologies and see how these solutions are used in working homes and other buildings. GBOH also connects building owners and managers with professionals who can answer their questions and provide them with sustainable energy services.

In 2009, more than 15,000 people toured over 500 Green Buildings Open House host sites throughout the Northeast, including homes, businesses, and public buildings. 71 local volunteer organizers, including representatives from NESEA chapters, local and regional energy organizations, and municipal energy committees collaborated with NESEA to promote this event in local media and through organizations in their area. We build a database of host sites that can be searched by energy efficiency and renewable energy building features and by geographic area, providing participants with connections to buildings with the energy measures of interest to them. As host sites register, information and photos of the buildings' innovative energy features are made available in advance of the tour, providing an ongoing educational tool.

A study by the American Solar Energy Society found that participation in this program increased the likelihood that attendees would invest in energy efficiency and/or clean energy measures by 24%, from 54% to 78%, matching our goal of bringing these measures into everyday use and thereby increasing our region's adoption of clean energy and energy efficiency.