In April and early May, Energy Trust of Oregon’s commercial and industrial programs hosted three trade ally forums, which were held in-person for the first time in several years. Existing Buildings and Production Efficiency staff shared program updates and hosted breakout sessions on topics requested by trade allies.

One of the breakout sessions covered refrigeration incentives for 2024, including items such as retrofit doors on freezers or refrigerated cases and vertical reach-in freezers and refrigerators. However, collaboration on measure development was the bigger part of the story, since distributors and trade allies helped the commercial team inform development of a new measure for advanced controls for walk-in coolers and freezers.

Seeing an unmet incentive need in the market, Energy Trust’s Existing Buildings team worked with a trade ally specializing in refrigeration, along with their distributor, to determine what products/brands are available, what typical inventory levels are needed to meet market demands, typical estimated installation costs, and other items the commercial team should be aware of when creating a new incentive. This collaboration will hopefully result in a new incentive for release to the market in 2025.

These are the types of relationships Energy Trust’s Existing Buildings team is looking to develop as we gain a deeper understanding of the evolving market. We need input and collaboration from our trade allies to continue being successful.

If you and/or your distributor have an exciting new technology, or something that is being overlooked for incentives please reach out to the Existing Buildings team. We want to take some time to hear your thoughts and see if there is something we can work on together.

For further information, please reach out to Heath Heiberg, Existing Buildings Trade Ally Manager, at hheiberg@trccompanies.com.