SCORE program wins award while helping residents

The City of Eugene has received the 2025 Sustainability Award Town and Gown from University of Oregon for the SCORE program.

The SCORE program is a partnership between UO, City of Eugene and EWEB. The program hires and trains UO students to do energy assessments for low-income homeowners and renters. During the assessment, students collect information about energy usage in the home, such as insulation, windows, the heating system and the water heating system, to provide an energy score and recommendations.

Energy assessments allow people to better understand how their home is using energy and ways they can reduce energy use and save money.

The SCORE program's additional benefit is that it provides real-life job training for university students, not just on energy topics but also customer service, interpersonal communication, organization, tech skills and more.

"This program is important because the City, EWEB and UO are part of the same community," said Ian Penn, manager of the City's Sustainability program. "The challenges we face like climate change don't end at city limits or campus borders, so the opportunities to go beyond that and build partnerships on long-term strategies to reduce carbon emissions is key."

Watch a video about the SCORE program and this award.