About Us

Let’s make it simple. 20% of all U. S. fossil-fueled energy is used in American homes. You can do something personal but real about changing that. Consider this:
  • There are well-known ways to reduce your home energy costs.
  • You can get reimbursed for some of your improvements
  • The right improvements can improve the quality of life for your family.
  • You will be contributing to the global campaign to deal with climate change.

That’s what we’re focused on at GreenMadeSimple.com — helping you figure out how to get going on the important improvements and making it as cost-effective as possible.

GreenMadeSimple.com’s Video Guides show you how to save money on the big items that make up 60% of home energy costs.

Our Video Guides are hosted by Wendy Reed, a nationally-recognized home energy efficiency expert. Wendy meets with homeowners and demonstrates how to implement a wide variety of cost savings activities that anyone can do to reduce their energy costs and make their homes more energy efficient.

Utilities are licensing these videos and including them in programs to educate their customers, finding that it is a cost-effective way to provide practical, how-to instructions without the time and costs required by producing their own video programs. The GreenMadeSimple team customizes the videos with graphics and audio tailored for each utility audience.

The Guides include 27 videos organized into four titles:

  • Start Saving Now: Setting goals and getting started, Tips on how to assess your home’s biggest energy expense, A tour of energy costs throughout your home, Tips on how to read and understand your utility bills, Overview of how home energy monitors work, What you need to know about energy audits, Putting together a whole home energy plan.
  • Seal and Insulate: Symptoms and solutions for leaky houses, Tips on how to find air leaks in your home, Tips for finding and sealing air leaks in your basement and attic, Tips on how to make your duct system more efficient, What you need to know before adding insulation to your home, Tips on how to seal your windows and doors, How to prepare for more savings opportunities.
  • Heating and Cooling: First steps to big savings, Tips to get the most out of your HVAC system, How to save energy and dollars during the winter months, Summertime home energy savings, What to look for when buying a new HVAC system, Heating and cooling checklist.
  • Water Heating: Three steps to savings, How to conserve in each room of the house, Tips for managing your water heating costs, Choosing the water heating system that’s right for you, Solutions to common household water loss issues, Smart ways to save in the yard, Achieving savings goals step-by-step.

Interested in licensing these videos for your utility, energy business or non-profit? Send us an email and we’ll get right back to you.

Production Team

Chris Ewald, Executive Producer
Chris began his personal green journey during the 1980s in Rochester, NY, as a member of the Genesee Co-op, a pioneering combination of natural foods store, restaurant, education center and credit union that focused on community development. His professional digital journey has included a number of stops: Video Editor of the TIME Almanac, Community Manager at VerticalResponse, co-founder of Lupine Films and working as a consultant for a wide variety of news, marketing, e-commerce and non-profit companies.

Chris lives, and recycles, in Berkeley, CA.

Wendy Reed, Video Guides Host and Home Energy Efficiency Consultant
Wendy is a behavior change communications consultant and energy efficiency spokesperson who formerly served as the Campaign Director for the US Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Change a Light, Change the World Campaign. Wendy founded the national campaign in 2000 as a traditional marketing and media campaign and evolved it to become a powerful grassroots effort comprised of more than 1,000 participating national, regional and local organizations and 2 million individual Americans who pledged to “change a light.” The campaign to date is projected to prevent more than 4 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and save Americans nearly $300 million in energy costs.

Wendy now works to inspire positive and practical energy-minded behavior change among businesses and individuals.

Tom Bair, Videographer
Tom has been producing video for 20 years. He has been a digital video consultant for companies including Crackle/Sony Pictures, BitTorrent, AOL, Charles Schwab, Kontiki/VeriSign, Liberate Technologies, Excite@Home, Apple Computer, and others. His dual backgrounds in television production and software/web development allows him to work seamlessly across the spectrum of tasks in streaming media.