Addressing Contractor Challenges to Participation in Building Energy Upgrade Programs

A sufficient supply of qualified contractors is essential to the success of building energy upgrade programs. However, contractors often face barriers, such as a lack of access to capital, limited administrative capacity, and unmet training needs, that limit their ability to grow and develop their businesses to meet program demand. This resource highlights opportunities for energy upgrade program administrators to support contractors to address these challenges. These opportunities include bridge loans, lines of credit, insurance and bonding partnerships, contractor networks, streamlined program paperwork and requirements, shared administrative services, local training partnerships, and reducing contractor risk through incentives. This resource also offers examples of municipal, state, federal, nonprofit, and for-profit initiatives that are successfully meeting contractor needs

Residential Retrofits for Energy Equity (R2E2) provides deep technical assistance to state, local, and tribal governments as well as community-based organizations to jumpstart energy upgrades for single-family and multifamily affordable housing, especially in frontline communities. R2E2 is a partnership of the American Council for Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Elevate, Emerald Cities Collaborative, and HR&A Advisors. Learn more about the R2E2 initiative and discover more R2E2 resources.

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