The Pyramid of Conservation: Measuring Green Investment

Bob McLean, CEO at Hunt Utilities Group, has created a new interactive graphic that can be used by anyone about to embark on the project of greening their home – whether it’s a personal residence or an investment.

The conservation pyramid starts (at the bottom level) with the least expensive investments you can make towards improving energy efficiency and, step by step, rises to projects that are more costly and labor intensive.

What’s most useful about this graphic, which you can check out below, is that it shows you where to start and how to get where you want to go, in a project management hierarchy that moves in logical stages.

For example, an in-home energy audit lies on the bottom rung, while solar sits at the very top. It makes sense: there’s no use spending big on solar if your home is losing most of its energy efficiency through an attic and walls that haven’t been properly sealed and insulated.

Since government tax and rebate programs are currently targeting the categories at the top of the pyramid, the smart investor will also take into account everything below, to make sure efforts toward energy efficiency actually perform, and aren’t merely window dressing.

The Pyramid of Conservation is an excellent tool, but not one size fits all. As Martin Holladay from Green Building Advisor notes: “The rules displayed in the energy conservation pyramid are not set in stone; every house is different, and different climates dictate different strategies. But it’s hard to quibble with the pyramid’s basic hierarchy.”

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