Research
How Green Robot Research works
Green Robot Research publishes data about what it costs to live in, and take care of, a home in Rhode Island: electricity, heating, housing, and yard and home upkeep. This page explains where our numbers come from, how we check them, and how we fix mistakes.
Who is behind it
Green Robot Research is the research section of Green Robot. It is led by Rafael Escobar, Green Robot's founder. Rafael has worked in landscaping for seven years and owns Flora Lawn Care RI in Pawtucket.
We don't use made-up names or personas. Data stories on general cost-of-living topics (energy, housing) carry the byline Green Robot Research. Articles about lawn care and landscaping prices carry Rafael Escobar's name, because they draw on his own work in the trade. If someone else contributes, such as an electrician, a realtor or a crew owner, we print their real name and what they do.
Conflict of interest. Green Robot is a business that helps Rhode Island homeowners get written quotes from lawn and landscaping crews, and Rafael owns a lawn care company. Our energy and housing reports don't promote either one. When an article touches lawn or landscaping prices, we say so plainly.
Sources we use
We start from primary public sources and link every number to the page or document it came from. Typical sources:
| Topic | Primary sources |
|---|---|
| Electricity rates and bills | Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission dockets and bill-component sheets; Rhode Island Energy rate tables |
| Prices compared with other states | U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), including Electric Power Monthly and weekly heating oil and propane prices |
| Inflation | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index. Rhode Island has no separate CPI, so we use the Boston-Cambridge-Newton area or the Northeast region and say so. |
| Housing | Rhode Island Association of Realtors monthly and quarterly sales reports; U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts |
| Lawn and landscaping prices | Written quotes and price lists gathered through Green Robot, published only when there are enough of them; named crews' own price lists, shown separately; third-party cost guides, cited by name and date |
We use secondary sources such as news articles and cost guides only when no primary source exists. We name them and give their date.
How we check data
- Open the original. Every figure is copied from the source document itself, not from a summary of it. We record the URL, the release date and the table or page number.
- Check it twice. A second pass compares each number in the article and in each chart with the source. Totals are recomputed. If a total doesn't match because of rounding, we say so.
- Label the limits. We state what a number covers, such as "typical 500 kWh residential customer" or "Boston metro area, the nearest with its own CPI." We also state when it is an estimate or a multi-year average.
- Keep opinion apart. Where we give an opinion or a first-hand estimate, we label it as one (for example, "Rafael Escobar's estimate, not quote data"). We never present it as data.
- No invented numbers. If we don't have enough data, we write "not enough data yet" instead of guessing. Lawn-price averages by town are published only once a minimum number of quotes is in, and we always state how many quotes an average is based on.
- Charts come from the same data. Each chart is made from the figures cited in the article. The chart itself names its source and carries the credit "Chart: Green Robot Research (mygreenrobot.com)."
Updates and corrections
- Dates. Every article shows when it was published and when it was last updated.
- Scheduled updates. When a source releases new data, we update the article and log what changed. Examples: Rhode Island Energy's twice-yearly supply rates (filed around January and July), EIA monthly data and the quarterly Realtors reports.
- Corrections. If we get something wrong, we fix it and add a dated correction note at the bottom of the article saying what was wrong and what it says now. We don't quietly edit the numbers.
- Report an error. Email TODO: corrections email — Rafael still needs to choose one with the article link and the source that shows the right figure. We aim to reply within TODO: reply time — number of business days.
Reusing our charts and data
You're welcome to republish our charts and figures, including in news coverage, with credit to "Green Robot Research (mygreenrobot.com)" and a link to the original article. Please cite the underlying public source as well.
What we don't do
- We don't accept payment for coverage or for placing a source.
- We don't publish under invented names or fake reviews.
- We may use software tools to help draft and chart, but a person checks every figure and claim against its source before publication. Opinion pieces and commentary under Rafael's name are written by Rafael.