Employers to offer home energy efficiency as job benefit

Employers offer health and wellness care as benefits. Could adding energy efficiency to employees’ homes be considered a benefit as well?

The city thinks maybe it could.

Kansas City is one of six national locations trying out a Home Energy Affordability Loan pilot program. The city describes it as blending quality of life with corporate environmental responsibility.

The pilot program was designed by the Clinton Foundation’s Clinton Climate Initiative and has been underway for more than four years in Arkansas with employers like hospitals, manufacturers and municipalities participating.

The pilot program is funded and implemented by the City of Kansas City, Mo., and managed by the Metropolitan Energy Center.

“This program is among the first of its kind in the United States,” said Dennis Murphey, the City’s chief environmental officer, said in a press release. “Its goal is to motivate companies to view home energy efficiency analysis and upgrades as a benefit for employees.”

Several local employers are participating in the pilot program, which is funded with $400,000 from the City’s EnergyWorks KC program.

Under the program, the Metropolitan Energy Center will provide a home analysis and plan for improving a home’s energy efficiency, and if owners choose to make improvements, they can be financed through a payroll deduction.

Employers interested in participating in this pilot program are advised to contact the Metropolitan Energy Center at 816-531-7283 as soon as possible, as funding for additional participants is limited.