APS Home Performance with ENERGY STAR
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- Uplight Workflow Automation
- Uplight Energy Assessment
- HPXML
Tech Stack
- Workflow Automation
- Energy Assessment
- HPXML
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Customer Satisfaction
- Productivity Improvements
- Employee Satisfaction
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
- Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries
- Utilities
Applicable Functions
- Facility Management
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Building Energy Management
- Energy Management System
- Predictive Maintenance
Services
- System Integration
- Data Science Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
About The Customer
Arizona Public Service (APS) is Arizona’s largest and longest-serving investor-owned electric utility, serving more than 1.1 million customers. APS has been recognized annually by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DOE) with an ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award for its Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HPwES) program. The utility has consistently exceeded program goals, completing thousands of audits and retrofitting homes to improve energy efficiency. APS is committed to enhancing its performance and scalability through technological investments, aiming to better serve its customers and stakeholders while reducing costs and administrative overhead.
The Challenge
In recent years, trade ally and customer expectations have risen while the utility’s cost-effectiveness tests have become more challenging to meet. It has become a strategic imperative for APS to invest in technology to enhance performance and scalability of the program. In 2012, the utility embarked on an effort to improve access to program data to better serve customers and other stakeholders, reduce manual processes to cut costs, and cut administrative overhead for trade allies that had been limiting their participation. Residential energy accounts for 21% of U.S. energy consumption and 60% of America’s housing stock was built before modern energy codes. Historically, most efficiency activities focused on new construction and single-measure improvement strategies. Administered by the DOE in conjunction with the EPA, HPwES takes a whole-house approach to address the opportunity for the greatest energy savings. Despite the enormous benefits of HPwES, the DOE has admitted, “it’s complicated.” There are a number of important stakeholders, including: the utility and its customers, auditors, contractors, QA, third-party evaluators, regulators, and others. Additionally, managing the complexity of consumer awareness, program workflow, financing, and appropriate incentives present challenges requiring innovative program solutions, like modern software, to help organize and simplify program implementation.
The Solution
APS searched for a more dynamic software platform for the program. In early 2013, APS released a request for proposal for an independent software platform to organize, manage, and automate their HPwES program. They needed HPXML, an open standard that enables different software tools to easily share home performance data. After an extensive search, APS selected Uplight’s Workflow Automation to automate program delivery and Energy Assessment to better target, recruit, and communicate with customers. Through direct access to all program data and visibility into project workflow, APS now has the operational control to help plan, manage, and fuel the growth of its program for years to come. APS sees DSM as an opportunity to enhance value provided to customers. Modern customer experiences, visibility into projects, clear and concise communication, and decreased time-to-rebate all contribute to greater customer satisfaction. By any metric – cost effectiveness, trade ally performance and satisfaction, customer experience – Uplight’s Platform has been integral to the utility’s program delivery capabilities.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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