child walking through a manufactured homes neighborhood

Advance energy equity

for everyone.

Clean energy solutions designed for and with frontline communities

Imagine a clean energy future. What do you see?

We see safe and healthy homes for all people. Affordable housing without unfair energy burdens. Electric vehicle charging infrastructure in all communities. Indigenous communities with control over their own energy future. Resilient communities rooted in care. Diverse people with good green jobs.

Historically underrepresented groups do not participate in energy-efficiency and renewable energy programs for many reasons. High energy burdens. High debt-to-income ratios. Low credit scores. Mistrust of the organization offering programs. We listen to impacted communities and collaborate to find solutions that will ensure they too benefit from the clean energy economy. Let’s scale inclusivity together.

Affordable multifamily housing units

The affordable housing shortage forces people to make impossible financial choices and causes harm to their health and well-being.

Our approaches improve health, safety, and resilience while building community wealth. We facilitate energy efficiency and renewable upgrades to make occupants more comfortable and save them money. Our new construction programs find energy savings and get buildings to near-zero energy.

Manufactured Homes

Manufactured homes are built to HUD code standards, which have not been updated for more than 25 years. Energy efficiency programs are often inaccessible to manufactured homeowners due to high upfront costs, and many efficiency programs ignore manufactured homes altogether.

We provide technical support for retrofits that make clean energy solutions accessible and make the available homes safer and more comfortable. We understand the unique outreach opportunities in mobile home parks. Our expertise fills program knowledge gaps, improves comfort, and reduces energy costs for residents who need it most.

Weatherization improves home health and resilience

Weatherization lowers energy bills, improves home health and comfort, and helps put money back in the hands of people who need it. Our technical assistance, training, and quality assurance services give weatherization professionals the confidence they need to do impactful work. Our research proves the relationship between weatherization and positive health outcomes.

Financing for a Fair Clean Energy Future

Money is the largest barrier to program participation. Our financing programs help drive home energy retrofits for people with low and moderate incomes. We’ve proven that inclusive underwriting approaches bring the health and economic benefits of clean energy to more people. Let’s implement equitable finance solutions in your market.

Pay as You Save (PAYS): An inclusive, debt-free alternative for clean energy upgrades

Utilities invest in clean energy upgrades at a customer’s home or business. The customer’s project is qualified based on expected energy bill savings over a defined period. PAYS requires no credit check, no upfront payment, and no consumer debt and helps overcome the challenges that face typical energy efficiency programs.

Pathways to residential electrification in Indigenous communities

Slipstream will develop a case study to demonstrate cost-effective pathways to electrifying homes with Indigenous communities in Minnesota.

December 12, 2023

Green Bay gets greener with new clean energy plan

The city and its partners aim to adopt 100% clean energy and carbon neutrality by 2050.

November 30, 2023

Simple duct and air leakage test for new manufactured homes

A simple protocol being developed by experienced field practitioners allows installers and inspectors to identify significant envelope and duct leakage issues so they can be fixed before they lead to occupant comfort complaints.

October 30, 2023

Slipstream and partners receive Buildings Upgrade Prize to design and launch Cream City Climate Challenge in Milwaukee

Funded by the prize from the U.S. Department of Energy, the new Cream City Climate Challenge aims to inspire weatherization and electrification and improve health and safety outcomes for the City of Milwaukee's historically disadvantaged communities (DACs).

August 28, 2023

Meet the principal of Wisconsin's first net zero energy school

The principal of Forest Edge Elementary shares her experiences leading a school where every hallway is a lesson in sustainability.

July 28, 2023

Rural Michigan cooperatives set the standard for carbon emissions reporting

A set of rural Michigan electric cooperative partners track and report their programs' impact toward lower carbon emissions, making progress toward Michigan's climate and clean energy goals and meeting their members' needs.

July 27, 2023

Program spotlight: How one rural Michigan co-op invests in their community by serving non-profit businesses

PIE&G's successful Non-Profit Business Bonus proves the power of programs that understand a community and its needs.

May 30, 2023

How I learned to listen while researching ways for utilities to support Indigenous food sovereignty

We started a research project with good intentions. History spoke more loudly. The work was a reminder that communities we want to serve know what they need and that we can support best when we listen first.

May 30, 2023

Slipstream and partners to initiate the first energy potential study in Puerto Rico

The energy efficiency market baseline and potential studies will help Puerto Rico transform its energy sector.

April 12, 2023

We can make commercial buildings safer in the post-pandemic future

Better building operation can help us optimize both energy use and people's health — but we need to know more.

December 12, 2022

Slipstream, IREC to develop energy resilience plan in Castañer, Puerto Rico

The firms will coordinate to assist the local utility in developing tools to restore power faster after extreme weather events.

September 29, 2022

Integrating health and energy to serve households with low incomes

CenterPoint Energy's Integrating Health and Energy Efficiency Research project investigates new approaches to reaching utility customers most in need of energy efficiency improvements by exploring how to integrate energy efficiency and healthcare services to serve income-qualified families.

September 27, 2022

Lessons on Listening: What utilities can learn from grassroots organizers

Slipstream launched a utility funded pilot program in 2019 to explore how a trusted community-based organization (CBO) could increase energy efficiency program participation. We started with the best of intentions. But every engineer knows intentions don't matter when the building falls. Through hard, honest reflection we realized where our intentions and our actions didn't align.

September 26, 2022

Assessing the cognitive benefits of weatherization programs

Led by researchers at the University of Michigan and funded by the National Institutes of Health, this study is designed to estimate the health impacts of weatherization programs

September 1, 2022

Community-driven weatherization and decarbonization

Through support of the Pembroke-Hopkins Energy Efficiency Project, we hope to understand what it really takes to support rural community members in the clean energy transformation.

August 19, 2022

Heat Pump Clothes Dryers

Heat pump clothes dryers can potentially save energy in both single– and multifamily homes. But do heat pump dryers have a place in energy efficiency programs?

August 15, 2022

Slipstream staff presented papers on climate solutions at ACEEE Summer Study

Slipstream staff presented papers on topics such as advancing electrification, boosting community resilience, and making decarbonization work for all.

July 28, 2022

Microgrids can be a building block to more resilient communities

Microgrids can help cities achieve their clean energy goals while maintaining essential services in a crisis—but only if a city fully understands the needs of its residents.

July 26, 2022

Healthy, affordable housing for all: It's the right thing to do

The Principles of Environmental Justice (EJ) and the Jemez Principles of Democratic Organizing can guide us to build affordable housing solutions with impacted communities.

July 6, 2022

An Exploration of Privilege

I am driving through the panhandle of Western Oklahoma towards the barren oil fields of West Texas. Fatigued from listening to music and podcasts for the past few hours, I decide to turn off the stereo and let my mind wander.

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Advance energy equity for everyone.