Energy efficiency giant Johnson Controls is reaching out to the public with interactive online programs that can be used in homes, schools and businesses as teaching tools.

In presenting the programs, which are free, the Milwaukee-based company is drawing on its experiences and best practices with employees as well as clients, said company leaders in announcing the new online offerings at Greenbuild.

The programs are part of a larger Johnson Controls initiative called Efficiency Now. The initiative, which includes an online video by the same name, represents an interesting strategy on the part of large highly technical, diversified firms that are industry leaders, but whose lines of work and environmental efforts are perhaps not as widely known or understood by the general public.

The centerpiece of the Johnson Controls initiative is greenprint, a joint project between Johnson Controls and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The online tool is intended to show how everyday actions affect the planet and identify what visitors to the site can do to improve their energy efficiency and help the environment.

Visitors to the mygreenprint.org are walked through a series of questions about their habits at work, home and on the road, shown how what they do rates in terms of level of effort and amount of impact, and offered ideas on how they can do better in energy efficiency.

Looking more like a game than a lesson, greenprint takes about 10 minutes to complete, even less if the "quick look" button is clicked at the onset.

The concept has been "wildly successful" since its start, said Clay G. Nesler, Johnson Controls' vice president for Global Energy and Sustainability.