Energy Coach Program

The City of Newton manages and tracks progress of an Energy Coach Program. Residents can sign up for  a 30-minute phone or Zoom consult on the City’s website. During the consults, residents receive  objective technical advice, resources, incentives, and/or project quote comparison help. Topics  frequently discussed in these coach consults include heating/cooling, appliances, solar, electric vehicles,  electricity bills, and insulation. 

To establish this program, we began by recruiting volunteers. Newton’s Energy Coach (now Climate  Action Coordinator), a full-time City staff person, began participation in the program by coaching and  managing volunteers. Many of the volunteers in Newton also serve on the Newton Citizens’ Commission  on Energy, and almost all have or had a career in the energy industry. Others have gained experience  and expertise through participation in other affiliated groups, such as the Newton EV Task Force and  HeatSmart Newton. 

With the volunteers in place, the next step was to build a website page with scheduling software built in.  To connect multiple coaches’ calendars and video conferencing accounts, we choose Calendly. Our  Calendly subscription (paid annually by the City) currently has eight seats available, meaning that up to  seven coaches and the Climate Action Coordinator are on the same team. As part of one team, coaches  can be assigned to a “round robin” of topics, so that they only receive coach consults for their areas of  expertise. An advantage of linking Calendly and Zoom, or other video conferencing software, is that the  meeting link is automatically created and sent to both the resident and the coach. Each coach can also  connect their personal/work calendars; therefore, their availability for consults is up-to-date. However,  if scheduling consults come up, coaches can directly reach out via email or phone to reschedule. 

The coach program is managed and tracked by the Climate Action Coordinator, who convenes the  volunteers quarterly to keep tabs on how the program is going, facilitate resource sharing amongst  coaches, and address any challenges that come up. Additionally, all coaching consults are tracked  through Calendly. The Climate Action Coordinator exports meeting data monthly from Calendly and uses  it to update a spreadsheet that shows the number of consults to date, topics of each consult, and  resident information. This spreadsheet is used to follow up with a sample of residents through in the  past, a survey, and currently, a phone or Zoom call to evaluate their experience with the program and  seek feedback. 

Another critical aspect of this program is spreading the word. In addition to the program being hosted  on the City of Newton’s website (with our Calendly sign-up embedded there), we conduct outreach to  share this program with residents. Outreach channels include the Newton Climate Newsletter,  reminders on our social media accounts, tabling at events (including our Earth Day Festival, Village Days,  Sustainable Streets Tours, library programs, and more), and partnering with local organizations. For  example, Green Newton also educates Newton residents about the Energy Coach program and links to  the sign-up page on their website. We continue incorporate the Energy Coach program into local events  and coaches often generously attend tabling events (wearing “Energy Coach” hats) to answer  questions/give advice on the spot. In the future, we’re considering additional opportunities for in person engagement with Energy Coaches and creating a comprehensive FAQ document.