Screening Questionnaire

Appendix B Screening Questionnaire

CASE ID

INTRODUCTION

[REACHED VOICEMAIL - DO NOT LEAVE A VOICEMAIL UNTIL THIRD CONTACT

ATTEMPT.] Hello, my name is [RECRUITER NAME]. I am calling on behalf of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, or EIA. We would like you to take part in a study we are conducting and would like your feedback on survey questions we are testing about energy use in nonresidential buildings. Please call me back at [RECRUITER TELEPHONE]. Thank you.

[REACHED PERSON:] Hello, my name is [RECRUITER NAME]. I am calling from Westat on behalf of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, or EIA. {IF NECESSARY: May I just check that I am speaking with the building manager or a person knowledgeable about the types of energy used in this building?}

Westat is working with the EIA to help develop some survey questions about energy use in nonresidential buildings that will be used on the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS). The survey has been conducted periodically for over 3 decades. Some of the ways that results from the survey are used, include to develop building codes, forecast energy consumption, and as input to the Energy Star models. EIA is adding new questions to the survey and would like to try them out and see if we need to make changes to them. Your feedback will help clarify new questions in the survey and reduce reporting burden for buildings that are in the sample. To participate, I would like to arrange for one of our interviewers to come to your office to talk with you about the survey questions we are testing. The interview will take no more than 60 minutes. Your participation in an interview is voluntary and your responses will be protected as confidential information. If you are willing, someone from EIA would also like to observe the interview.

Would you be willing to participate and help us with this study?

No – THANK AND END (“Thank you anyway for your time today, and have a great day.”)

Yes – Great, thank you. Now I just need to ask a few questions to make sure we will be testing the questions on the right kinds of people and businesses.

SCREENING QUESTIONS

ASK ALL

1. What is your job title?

JOB TITLE

FOR SCREENING PURPOSES SCREENER CODES:

1. Building Manager/Energy Manager

2. Other job title

ASK ALL

2. For how long have you been in this role with your organization?

Enter number of years [ ] Enter number of months [ ]

ASK ALL (IF NOT ALREADY KNOWN) OR INTERVIEWER CODE

2. What is the primary business or function of the building or buildings you are responsible for?

CODE ACCORDING TO DEFINITIONS PROVIDED BELOW

ALTERNATIVELY ASK: Would you say Hospital, Office, Lodging, Education, Food Service, Warehouse or some other type of business?

1. Hospital

2. Office

3. Lodging

4. Education

5. Food Service

6. Warehouse

7. Other

Describe other type of business

IF “OTHER TYPE OF BUSINESS” DOES NOT FIT THE DEFINITIONS PROVIDED BELOW - THANK AND END

Definitions:

Hospital – Healthcare inpatient diagnostics or care

Office – Buildings used for office space incl. medical offices, banks, administrative, sales, contractors, city hall.

Lodging – Buildings offer short and long term accommodation incl. motel, hotel, dormitory, retirement home, nursing home, shelter or halfway house.

Education – Building used for academic or technical classroom instruction including schools, colleges and universities.

Food Service – Fast food, restaurant or cafeteria, bar, catering service, coffee or doughnut shop, ice cream or frozen yogurt shop,

Warehouse – Buildings used to store goods products, raw materials.

IF Q3 = 1 HOSPITAL

2. Is the building, or are any of the buildings, you are responsible for used for diagnostics or treatment for inpatient care?

1. Yes

2. No

IF NO – THANK AND END

IF Q3= 1 HOSPITAL OR Q3 = 3 LODGING OR Q3 = 4 EDUCATION

2. Is the building, or are any of the buildings you are responsible, for on a campus?

1. Yes

2. No

ASK IF Q5 = YES (ON A CAMPUS) AND HOSPITAL OR EDUCATION

6. Is there a plant on this campus that provides district steam, hot water, or chilled water, or energy generation for multiple buildings?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Don’t Know

ASK ALL

7. May I just check, are you responsible for a single building or multiple buildings?

1. Single building

2. Multiple buildings

8. By what name is the building {or are the buildings} you are responsible for most commonly referred?

IF NEEDED: This may be the name of the building or the name of the largest business or organization within the building.

IF Q7 = 2 MULTIPLE BUILDINGS AND IF OFFICE, LODGING OR WAREHOUSE

8. Is the total square footage of any of these buildings over 10,000 square feet?

1. Yes

2. No

ASK ALL

10. Still thinking about the building or buildings you are responsible for, was any energy used for the purpose of heating at any time during 2017?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Don’t know

ASK IF = YES

11. Which energy sources were used for heating?

CODE ALL THAT APPLY

1. Electricity

2. Natural gas

3. Fuel oil/Diesel/Kerosene

4. Bottled gas, also known as LPG or Propane

5. District steam

6. District hot water

7. Some other energy source

8. Don’t know

12. (Still thinking about the building or buildings you are responsible for,) was any energy used for the purpose of cooling at any time during 2017?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Don’t know

IF “NO” OR “DK” TO BOTH HEATING AND COOLING - - THANK AND END

IF “NO” OR “DK” TO HEATING OR COOLING - KEEP IN RESERVE WHEN SCHEDULING.

SCHEDULING

Thank you for answering all my questions. I just need to check my spreadsheet to see if your business qualifies for our study. Please bear with me for a moment.

CHECK SAMPLE SPREADSHEET AND SCHEDULE INTERVIEW IF BUSINESS QUALIFIES.

PRIORITIZE ESTABLISHMENTS WITH BOTH HEATING AND COOLING IF QUALIFIES

We would be most appreciative if you might be available to talk with our interviewer on

{DATE/TIME} - PROVIDE SELECTION OF POSSIBLE INTERVIEW TIMES AND DATES AND/OR ASK RESPONDENT WHAT WOULD BE CONVENIENT FOR THEM.

I can confirm that our interviewer will come to your office on {DATE/TIME}. Again, the discussion should last no more than an hour. I will send you an email confirming that and letting you know the name of the interviewers and any EIA staff who will be attending. Do check your junk email folder in case my email is received in your junk email folder.

COLLECT ADDRESS INFORMATION.

ASK IF NECESSARY: May I just check whether there are any specific security or parking restrictions that we should be aware of?

If you have any questions, please contact me at:

Recruiter phone number Recruiter E-Mail:

IF NOT SURE WHETHER TO SCHEDULE

If you don’t mind, I need to check with my manager to see if your business qualifies for the study and call you back. ESTABLISH A GOOD TIME TO CALL BACK.

IF SAMPLE CRITERIA ALREADY FILLED

Unfortunately, all of our slots for your building type are currently filled. Would you be willing for me to contact you again if we need to?

1. Yes

2. No

ADDRESS INFORMATION [TO BE STORED SEPARATELY FROM INFORMATION PROVIDED ABOVE]

May I check, what is the physical address of the building or buildings you are responsible for?

Address of building:

Respondent contact details

Name

Contact telephone number:

Email address

Physical address of respondent (if different from building address)

Room number (If not already provided)

Mailing address of respondent (if different from physical address)

Confirm address interviewer should attend.

Thank you for your time, and have a nice day. END

CBECS Pretesting Plan

B-1