I wanted to share with you all an email exchange that took place earlier this week that I believe goes to the heart of NESEA’s role as a membership organization.
Earlier this week we sent the following invitation out to all of our Green Buildings Open House hosts and prior years’ entrants to the NESEA Zero Net Energy Building Award:
“Greetings Green Buildings Open House hosts!
I wanted to take a moment to pass the information below to you all, as I know that many of you have indicated that you would like other opportunities to share your knowledge. If you would like to participate in this program offered by Energy Sage, feel free to contact them using the information below. Thank you for your time, and have a wonderful day!
Would you like to help others make the move to renewable energy?
EnergySage.com is an online resource that helps people to navigate the clean energy system research and purchase process. They are interested in showcasing case studies on their website of home and business owners who have already purchased clean energy systems. They would include information about your specific system, why you decided to make the investment, your decision process, your costs / benefits and any advice you might have for potential consumers.
EnergySage’s research suggests that while most consumers are interested in clean energy systems, they don’t actually make the move because they feel they have incomplete or inaccurate information.
By participating, you will be helping others make the move to renewables. If you are interested, Please contact Energysage at: info@energysage.com or at 617.398.0045. They will follow up with a questionnaire and by phone or email.”
We received feedback from several recipients asking why we were promoting the services of a for-profit company, and whether it was appropriate for us to endorse the services of one provider over another. In the interest of transparency, I’d like to share my response — because I feel like this type of member promotion is exactly what we should be doing:
Dear _____,
Thanks for your email. I wanted to respond directly to the concerns you addressed about the request we sent out on behalf of Energy Sage.
Energy Sage is a for profit business that is a NESEA member. As a membership organization, part of our mission is to connect our member – who are primarily practitioners in sustainable energy – to each other, to the ideas and information that they need to improve their practice, and to consumers. And we routinely share member news and/or help them make the types of connections you see here.
I’m sorry if the email below came across as an endorsement of Energy Sage’s products and services. It was not intended to be that. But Energy Sage is looking to develop case studies of consumers who have successfully adopted renewable energy features. They will, of course, use these case studies as part of their marketing. But NESEA may benefit as well, because as they build the online platform for these case studies, we may be able to use the platform for our Green Buildings Open House program. In other words, this is a first step in potentially co-developing a new online platform for GBOH.
I’m sorry you found the original email upsetting. Hopefully this helps shed some light. I acknowledge we could have been clearer and more transparent. Thanks!
Jennifer
As always, I welcome feedback from the NESEA community – what do you think?
About Jennifer M.
