Main St., Nevada City: 1866 Victorian Energy Upgrade

The home energy upgrade video story, Main Street, Nevada City is the first to be produced for the collective project “See A Home Like Yours”.

Video stories are one of the most effective ways of conveying complex topics.  Home energy upgrades are often complex.  Short video stories can help home-owners connect-the-dots, envisioning what it might look like for them.

See A Home Like Yours (.org, currently in development) will host a searchable collection of mobile-ready, home energy upgrade videos. With both home performance and real estate pros as its client base, See’s mission is to be a resource for those with influence to home owners, supporting their effectiveness in conveying the benefits of energy upgrades.

Home performance pros will be invited to upload their own video stories.  See’s goal is to facilitate easy access to a representation of the diversity of homes of various climate and architectural types, ages, sizes and performance challenges.  We’re better together!  The more HP participants, the more videos will be available for a greater resource for all.

Video test drive: In home performance, there is no test drive opportunity. When we see video stories of others going through the process, it’s the next best thing to a test drive.   It provides context that is often missing from abstract messaging. 

While out at a house site exploring its energy upgrade potential with a client, home performance pros will be able to quickly access SEE’s site to search for video stories of similar homes.  They’ll be able to share a relevant story in just a few minutes that will resonate emotionally, answer technical questions and help their clients visualize themselves with similar experience and results.

Home energy upgrade projects can typically be illustrated in a 2-5 minute video, a length that works well for mobile anytime, anyplace.

I laugh to admit that Main St’s 16 minutes is way over our suggested parameters of 2-5 minutes.  I’m learning that every story has a life of it’s own & sometimes it’s best to let it speak.  Main St may end up being the most extensive project story SEE ever tells. It’s yet to be SEEn.

Watch “Main St Nevada City” and see why Gavin Healy and Dan Perunko of Balance Point HP opted not to insulate the original wall in this 1866 Victorian in CA’s Sierra Foothills!

See A Home Like Yours is a project in partnership with the nonprofit www.SmartEnergyPlanet.org