Working with PA Home Energy

For the past couple weeks, I've been working in downtown Meadville for a company named PA Home Energy. In partnership with the EPA's Energy Star Program, the group is committed toward improving the energy efficiency of both new and existing homes--as a sort of reference point, consider that 16% of carbon emissions can be traced to the residential housing sector, and also that the sorts of carbon-cutting improvements available for housing are much more affordable than investments in better vehicles or energy supplies.

From an experiential standpoint, I have briefly witnessed the training of many of the local and regional contractors (for those wondering, I found the Crawford County handymen to find energy efficiency much more fascinating, whereas Allegheny County contractors were, with exceptions, less personally engaged). To me, the position is a study in economics in the pure sense; how do completely independent, unlicensed business owners respond to state and federal incentives that are intended to align social interests with private entrepreneurship. As I mentioned to a handful of you at the past dinner meeting, the driving force in change has been pressure from consumers. When the public rallies behind a service, and that service has positive externalities, then education is truly the "limiting reagent" of the whole solution. As students we are quick to offer information as the silver bullet, but once the foundation is set within a market of sorts, then education is paramount.