How beHavioural change can boost energy saving in private householdsThe sTory of energy neighbourhoods2

final publishable report of the energy neighbourhoods2 project.

Published in october 2013.

Photos:b.&s.u. mbh (p.3)Aurore brejcha – Prioriterre (p.27)Paula erkenger (p.22-top)gdi (p.13)Agnieszka gomółka (p.22-bottom)Anne huguet – Prioriterre (p.9,10)Maksim Kabakou – fotolia.com (p.6)stadtamt Leoben (p.21)

Christel Liljegren (p.19)Managenergy (p.31-bottom)severn Wye (p.5)steve Mason (p.31-top)Mikhail Mishchenko – fotolia.com (p.15)fred Pauwels (p.12,16,20,24,28,29) Virginie siegele – Prioriterre (p.4)Ann Winbom (p.23)

graphic design: Maciej Zalewski/AlkionePrinting: oficyna drukarska Jacek Chmielewski

This brochure is the final publishable report of the energy neighbourhoods2 project co-financed within the grant no. iee/10/2013/si2.589413 of the intelligent energy europe Programme.

The sole responsibility for the content of this report lies with the authors. it does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the european union. neither the eACi nor the european Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

Co-funded by the intelligent energy europe Programme of the european union

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FOREWORDby Jo Leinen

Almost everything in our everyday life revolves around energy. We know that it impacts the environment and makes our climate change. We try to fight it by adopting energy policies, drawing support mechanisms for investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. new eu legislation delivers higher energy standards of electronic devices and building stock available on the markets. but that’s not all that can be done. no local, regional or national policy should neglect the importance and potential of behaviour measures.

The decisions we make in everyday life have an impact on the energy we use, bills we have to pay and the quality of the environment that we all live in. for this reason it is important that we give perhaps a little more thought on how we use the energy and resources by making conscious consumer choices. sometimes it takes only a little more effort to make a small change with a very significant impact.

This is a short story of 8 626 households from 830 neighbourhoods from 16 european countries that decided to accept the challenge to reduce their energy consumption by at least 9% and took part in an energy saving competition organised by the energy neighbourhoods2 project. being joined in groups they have brought their neighbourhoods to live with the goal of the common climate challenge. They have tested energy saving tips and used their creativity to find all the new and surprising ways of saving energy at home. They have been guided by the experts, used modern internet tools for monitoring their energy consumption and savings and took part in a range of exciting events. They have all been successful in making a change in their thinking.

i look forward to more initiatives like energy neighbourhoods2, that proves all individuals have the power to make the change. i hope to see more regions and cities mobilising their inhabitants to take action for the benefit of environment. energy neighbourhoods2 is a wonderful concept and a valuable ready to use tool in the local climate change combat. it can be easily transferred to new cities and regions and help make the citizens aware of their personal input to the local, regional, national and eu goals for the energy consumption reduction.

read about energy neighhbourhoods2 and find out yourself how much energy you can save.

Jo LeinenMember of the european Parliament,former Minister for the environment in the state government of saarland

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editor’s message

Dear Reader, The next few pages will take you through the energy neighbourhoods2 project, explaining the concept of the energy saving campaign, the range of tool and activities and finally its impressive outcome!

The energy neighbourhoods2 campaign was all about saving energy and doing so in a way that doesn’t compromise living standards. Today the need for everybody to reduce their carbon emissions is well recognised and with energy prices continuing to rise, many residents are keen to do something – they just don’t always know what! This project has helped to link everyday activities to the importance of climate protection, providing participants with the information and inspiration to take their first step towards a different lifestyle.

This brochure presents the project starting from the basic concept of the climate bet between the cities and their inhabitants, through modern internet based tools to the energy saving results!

A range of support materials were produced for the competition: handbooks, do-it-yourself energy check list and energy saving tips. however, to really understand what it was like to take part in energy neighbourhoods2, there are quotes from the participants, illustrating best, the day to day challenges, experiences and teamwork involved in reducing their home energy consumption.

Contained within this brochure are the facts and figures on the energy savings reached by the participants and the insights on how they made their savings from the evaluation surveys and feedback.

get inspired and start your own energy neighbourhood!

energy neighbourhoods2 team

Members of the energy neighbourhoods2 project consortium

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mission possible save energy and Have fun!There is lots of information on energy saving out there, indeed we often know what it is we need to do to save energy, there remains a gap, however, between knowledge and implementation – what we know and what we do, can often be two very different things! energy neighbourhoods helps to bridge that gap. More than 1400 neighbourhoods of around 14.500 households have now taken part in the energy saving competition since it first began back in 2007.

Energy Neighbourhoods

in a flash

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Mobility challenge in Annecy, city on bike

The concept behind energy neighbourhoods2 is that households enter a ‘bet’ with their municipalities, a challenge to save as much energy as possible simply by changing the way they do things around the home. As a behavioural change only project, there is no investment allowed. This doesn’t mean though that participants see a reduction in their comfort levels, just a reduction in their energy consumption.

each neighbourhood is supported by an “energy master”, an enthusiastic individual who acts as coordinator for the group and who receives specific training to help their group make its energy savings. Those groups that made savings of 9% or more were rewarded with certificates and prizes, receiving local media attention for their efforts. More widely, however, this project helped to stimulate the debate on energy saving within households and also between households and their municipalities, helping to improve their understanding of municipality level local climate action plans and activities. energy neighbourhoods is based on the experiences gained by the project “Klimaatwijken”, set up in flanders during 2003 with support from the flemish government. The wider european energy neighbourhoods project first started in 2007 with 11 partners from 9 countries.

The results were inspiring: Participating neighbourhoods from these 9 European countries achieved an average energy saving of 10% against their energy consumption the previous year.

For energy neighbourhoods2 the project was rolled out more widely across europe, now totalling 16 partners in 16 countries. again it saw household energy savings of 10% which meant a reduction of 5 661 872 kWh and saving of nearly 2 425,18 tons of CO2.

To achieve such results the project needed… + regional campaigns to find interested groups of people

and identify a potential energy master for training + regular events to give the participants an opportunity

to get together and share ideas and experiences + Close cooperation with the participating municipalities. + regular feedback for the participants and support from

the energy Masters + Campaign materials to help participants identify their

energy wasteful practices + The provision of regular energy saving top tips with

relevant, targeted advice + An online calculation tool to help those taking part to

visualise their current energy usage and the effects of their new energy saving behaviours

+ Climate challenges to provide participants with information on how to lead a wider, more environmentally sensitive lifestyle

+ Comprehensive press campaign + ongoing support from the coordinating organisations.

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Testing how solar thermal works – a visit to the Centre for Alternative Technology

From conceptto a working online toolTo efficiently measure the Co2 savings of each energy neighbourhood, an online calculation tool was developed. based on a proven calculation method, this tool grew from the version developed by bbL and used for the original energy neighbourhood project.

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tHe calculation metHodThe calculation is based on three key factors: the division of energy consumption between different household applications; the influence of the external temperature and the production of a baseline period. each participant is asked for information on: how they cook (whether it is electric or gas, etc,); how they heat their home (oil, gas, electric, wood, …) and how they heat their household water. The computer programme calculates the percentage of how much gas and electricity goes into the different types of applications, using historical data and statistics. for each type of application a correction is made based on the outside temperature. finally as each new meter reading is input into the online tool, a calculation is made as to whether the household is using more or less energy than they did the previous year.

website developmentThe first step was to gather energy consumption data from each partner country. These parameter files were then imported into a newly designed multilingual website. in collaboration with the website subcontractor, Various, and consortium partners, the website was translated, edited and adapted to the requirements of each partner country.

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energy savings graph exported from the energy neighbourhoods2 calculation tool

trainingThe project partners were all given training sessions and a manual on how to use the website which they then translated into their own language. This enabled each partner organisation to train and support their energy masters and their participants.

resultsThe key was to make the online tool easy for participants to use so that they could simply input their meter readings and understand the results they got back. it was also necessary to ensure that it was simple enough that the partner organisations were able to maintain and adjust it for as long as they wished to use it. The result was an energy saving calculation tool which provided both individual participants and their teams with reliable data on their energy saving efforts.

By the end of the project there were more then 9 000 households registered to the energy neighbourhood website www.energyneighbourhoods.eu, all of them now able to track their energy consumption and compare it to the previous year.

energy neighbourhoods2 website www.energyneighbourhoods.eu

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Local and organic food challenge workshop with Laurence salomon

Helping Hand

Mobility challenge, repair workshop on Annecy Lake

The calculation tool was vital to help participants visualize their energy usage and the energy savings they were making. everyone needs a helping hand though, some advice on how to make the desired energy savings. A whole host of materials were provided to help participants walk the path of energy saving greatness:

+ energy neighbourhood handbook – a step by step guide through the competition with detailed instructions on how to use the energy saving calculator on the website.

+ do it yourself home energy Check – checklist to help identify energy hungry appliances and practices in their home.

+ readings record Card – An aide memoir for all the meter readings taken during the competition.

+ Top Tips – every 2 weeks a set of top tips were sent out with yet more ideas on how to save energy around the home often focusing on seasonal topics such as ‘a low carbon Christmas’ or ‘energy saving kids’ and on particular rooms in the home ie. ‘energy saving in the kitchen’.

EnergyNeighbourhoods

www.EnergyNeighbourhoods.eu

Be part of an energy saving challenge and watch your bills go down

Householders Handbook

EnergyNeighbourhoods Energy Meter Readings Record

Use this chart to record your gas, electricity and oil meter readings.

Don’t forget to regularly forward these readings to your Energy Master.

Factors affecting changes in energy consumption

Please comment on any factors that have taken place over the past year that may have had an

impact on your energy consumption:

Do you have any renewable energy technologies in your home?

Yes No

If yes, what do you have?

When was it installed?

complete meter readings at the same time every week between 1st December 2011 and 31st March 2012

Name

Number of members in the family

Address

City

E-mail

Telephone

Neighbourhood

Examples might include: moved

in the last year, more or less

people living in the property, new

appliances, extension to the living

space, new boiler, insulation of

roof or walls or the installation of double glazing.

Address

Heating, hot water and cookingFill in what source of energy is used for your heating, hot water and cooking ie. natural gas,

electricity, wood, oil, butane, propane

Heating

Hot water

Cooking

www.EnergyNeighbou

rhoods.eu

Is your home that of

an Energy Saving Expert or

an Energy Saving Novice?

By answering just

a few questions

you will be able

to check the

energy profile of

your home.

do it yourself

home energy check

Top Tip 1Take Control of your Heating

Heating your home and hot water accounts on average, for 60% of an average

household’s energy costs. So it is important to understand how the controls of

the heating system work and to ensure that they are set correctly. Investing a

little time in this will save you money for years to come.

EnergyNeighbourhoods You are now coming to the end of the Energy Neighbourhood competition but

that does not mean your new energy saving lifestyle should come to an end.

As energy prices continue to rise and with climate change as big a problem as

ever we all need to continue and expand upon our achievements.

Top Tip 8n e x t s t e p s

EnergyNeighbourhoods

What does it mean to be an Energy Neighbourhoodduring the winters of 2011/12 and 2012/13, the energy neighbourhood2 project totaled 830 neighbourhoods, comprising of 8 626 households with 22 420 people, all working towards their energy saving goal.

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Positive spirit of the socioWattKillers team at the Awards gala in brussels

The economic situation in europe over the last few years has meant that many participants took part in this project primarily to save money and reduce their energy bills. feedback and evidence suggests however, that they got far more out of taking part than just reducing their consumption!

in recent years we have become very disconnected from how much energy we use and how we use it. Taking part in the energy neighbourhood2 competition meant that participants had to actually look at their energy meters and make a note of the readings on a regular basis. Just this simple act is enough to teach people what a unit of energy is and to work out how much energy they actually consume in their home and most importantly, how this relates to their energy consuming practices and appliances. The result is a far more energy conscious consumer who can add “energy literacy” to their list of life skills.

The importance of monitoring energy use was demonstrated by a uK participant who discovered that his electricity consumption had increased by 60% on the previous year – something he might not have discovered until the utility company put his monthly payments up. The uK’s energy neighbourhood2 coordinator suggested that a 60% increase was unusually high and often an indication that something wasn’t quite right! first he checked his figures and then went through each room of the house to see if he could find anything unusual. it was then that he found his daughter had turned on the electric radiator in her bedroom when she had come home from university for Christmas but failed to turn it off when she went back, leaving it on for the next 2 months!

The team element of the competition is really important and it’s something that many participants cite as contributing to their enjoyment of the project; getting together with friends, neighbours or colleagues to share experiences or words of wisdom. being part of a team really helps people to engage and stick with their energy saving practices – nobody wants to let the team down.

in france the winning team was a group of social workers who were keen to not only reduce their personal energy consumption but wanted to be able to then help and advise the many families they work with who are struggling financially. Whilst taking part in the competition they disseminated lots of information about how they were getting on which has resulted in many families coming forward to take part in the competition next year. The swedish team, snåljåparna,were again social workers from the borgholm municipality who were excited about the prospect of winning a weekend to brussels – an opportunity to shop and escape the family! And, in choosing her team members, the energy master of the Latvian team looked for neighbours with large households and excessive energy consumption – taking part in the competition could really help these households but their high consumption could also mean that as a team they could win!

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final Award Ceremony with the winning hungarian team from győr at the reneXPo exhibition of budapest.

The energy neighbourhood competition is a behaviour change only project and as such all the energy savings made were done simply by changing the way people did things around the home. There isn’t generally a magic solution, the top tips provided are often things we all know we should do, we just don’t tend to do them!

Turn all things off standby

Only boil the kettle with the amount of water needed

Only heat the home when you are in it!

Reduce the use of the tumble dryer

Turn off the lights when not in use and replace old bulbs

with energy saving ones

And the winners are…

a tally of final results from both years of the competition provided the overall energy neighbourhoods2 winners and were anounced an award winning gala in Brussels.

Bulgarian team

Augusta

latvian team

Adamiela2

Greek team

7ο ΓΕΛ ΝΕΑΣ ΣΜΥΡΝΗΣ

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The majority of the national winning teams were those that participated in the second year of the bet except in belgium, france and sweden, where the national winning teams participated in the round 1 (year 1).

Country National winning team % kWh CO2 (tons)

greece 1 7ο ΓΕΛ ΝΕΑΣ ΣΜΥΡΝΗΣ (1) 64,79% 37 295,99 26,78

Latvia 2 Ādamiela2 51,43% 11 975,00 1,08

bulgaria 3 AugusTA 47,98% 9 759,00 7,42

spain 4 TruLLAseTs 46,83% 8 783,99 1,84

romania 5 grupul Teodorescu 37,14% 43 567,00 9,63

ireland 6 emly Tidy Towns 36,51% 7 801,10 4,10

belgium 7 de ijsberen 34,74% 90 854,38 30,53

germany 8 grill 13 34,40% 2 420,78 1,36

italy 9 gli etruschi 33,94% 28 493,00 8,60

france 10 sociowattkillers 28,87% 15 409,89 3,20

Austria 11 Wohngemeinschaft Parkring 25,66% 9 245,31 3,86

slovenia 12 sPL 24,62% 12 907,00 2,22

hungary 13 győr és környéke 22,82% 34 297,58 10,77

uK 14 Abbey 19,93% 10 159,20 4,86

Poland 15 Monster eco Power 18,49% 55 77,82 1,90

sweden 16 snåljåparna 15,46% 7 720,00 0,15

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There was great competition between both the participants and each of the countries taking part! The national energy saving fluctuated vastly between 3 and 27% (see graphs below).

the winning teams of round 1 had scores that ranged between 15% and 47%, whilst in the second round those figures were energy savings of between 9% and more than 60%!

0,00% 5,00%

10,00% 15,00% 20,00% 25,00%

Spain

Ire

land

Slove

nia

Fran

ce

Aust

ria

Bulg

aria

Belg

ium

Hu

ngar

y La

tvia

Rom

ania UK

Ita

ly

Polan

d Ge

rman

y Sw

eden

Gr

eece

Round 1 -total energy saving in the country in %

total energy saving in the country in %

0,00% 5,00%

10,00% 15,00% 20,00% 25,00% 30,00%

Gree

ce

Spain

Bu

lgar

ia La

tvia

Irelan

d Fr

ance

Ita

ly

Rom

ania

Aust

ria

Belg

ium

Slo

veni

a Hu

ngar

y Ge

rman

y Sw

eden

UK

Po

land

Round 2 -total energy saving in the country in %

total energy saving in the country in %

the energy neighbourhood2 project is all about behaviour change – making little changes to our everyday habitual behaviours.

We are all the same, we often know what we should do, we just don’t always do it or we may say one thing “yes, i always turn off the lights” but in reality, we don’t always bother – this phenomenon is known as the attitude behaviour gap and it is this gap that the energy neighbourhood project sought to bridge.

Throughout the four months that our participants were actively monitoring their energy consumption they received plenty of energy saving advice. Whilst the calculation tool monitored actual energy reductions, it was equally as important to understand how, why and if participants were changing their behaviour during the course of the project – did they learn something from it and have they changed their behaviour? This was assessed by carrying out a survey on the participants at the beginning and at the end of the monitoring period during both years that the project ran.

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Why change

even small steps make a difference

the habit type behaviours assessed were: + Turn off the lights when you leave the room + only use the washing machine/dishwasher when full + hang up clothes to dry instead of using a tumble dryer + Turn TV off at the wall + unplug all appliances such as phone chargers and turn off all standby + boil just the correct amount of water for hot drinks or meals + reduce the heating thermostat

for the majority of the participating countries, killing standby was the most popular energy saving behaviour as was adjusting the heating thermostat downwards. boiling only as much water as required was also popular as were ensuring the dishwasher and washing machines were full before putting them on.

The results showed that in general, relevant energy advice helps drive energy savings and should be an essential component in any future energy saving campaign.

greece was the overall winner of the european competition and it is possible to see the effect of the information on the participants in the graph above, with a huge increase over the duration of the project. Levels of understanding and the attitude towards energy saving behaviours also increased dramatically in greece.

The results of this survey point to the importance of using multiple drivers appropriate to the audience to assist behaviour change and should always be borne in mind when carrying out projects of this kind.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Gree

ce

Latv

ia

Irelan

d

Fran

ce

Italy

Rom

ania

Aust

ria

Hung

ary

Germ

any

Swed

enUKDrivers of behaviour change

information

Proportion of energy saved

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Certificate for the winning team of the energy neighbourhoods2 competition awarded at the gala in brussels

We are constantly faced with choices; car or bus; bath or shower; meat or vegetable; new shirt or one bought from a second hand shop. each small, individual choice has a far greater impact on the finite resources of our planet than we might at first realise. All the choices we make have an impact on defining our individual carbon footprint.

the energy neigbourhood2 project challenged all its participants and municipalities to think beyond just household energy saving and consider treading a little more lightly on the planet.

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Two e-bikes as new service vehicles in the city of Leoben

Thinking differently

during each monitoring period, participants received 4 challenges, to expand their understanding of how everyday life can affect the climate. focusing on specific areas, the participants received information and encouragement from experts who helped them to understand not only what choices made a difference but also that seemingly small choices still made a difference. These challenges included:

+ Low Carbon Christmas – cutting back on the lights, paper and waste. Think about what you are buying.

+ how to travel? do you really need to go by car, maybe swap just one car journey for one on foot or by bike.

+ What to eat? Try to ensure the weekly menu is more seasonal, contains more vegetables and less cheese and of course the golden rule – reduce your food waste.

+ energy efficient appliances, how to find the right ones? get to know the energy labels and how to use them!

+ Can you make “green” purchases? of course! buy, sell or trade your clothes and accessories on internet, secondhand shops, hold an exchange day.

How to succeedTo ensure participants weren’t overwhelmed by receiving all the challenges at the same time, they were sent out on a monthly basis, with experts giving advice at the starting and interim events. The challenges and tips on how to achieve them were also put on all partner websites so that even those who were unable to attend the events were able to take part. To help inspire households to take part, prizes for engagement and innovative solutions were distributed.

Project submitted for “second life” challenge in Poland Author: Agnieszka gomółka

Climate friendly christmas tree Paula erkenger

measure your footprintTo help participants measure their wider carbon footprint each national website carried a link to a carbon footprint calculator. This tool helped each household to work out their current footprint and provided them with ideas on how they could reduce it.

inspiring otHersby blogging about what they learnt, the participants inspired other to follow their lead and make similar changes to their lifestyles. These blogs were anything from a new recipe to how the new light bulb worked and how many nice people you could meet by using public transport rather than sitting on your own in the car. The blogs were presented on the webpage.

Climate friendly Christmas tree made of cans

A swedish participant tries a new vegetarian menu.

What we learnt about our water needs? Antonina, „Energomaniacs”, Poland, 1st roundi sincerely admit that it was only during the competition, that i noticed the opportunities of saving water in our house. Previously, my knowledge of actions related to saving water were limited to changing the bathtub for a shower during the renovation of our house, reducing water consumption while brushing teeth and making sure the dishwasher was fully loaded before turning it on. during the competition, i learned about huge savings which could be generated by converting widely available drainers in our taps to water saving aerators. The cost of these was relatively low in comparison to the savings achieved – both in terms of water and money.

saving energy with my family participant from Germany, 1st roundAt the start of energy saving competition i had thought that 9% energy savings could be achieved by us easily – no problem. but after entering the first metering data in the online tool and checking our consumption i realized that as a lone wolf in my family and with measures such as “light off” and “no stand-by” etc. i would have virtually no chance to reach the reduction target. so it became clear: i had to get my family on board in order to reach the 9% target and had to convince them to change their behavior as well. The whole family needs to participate when it comes to energy saving! not at all easy – but we try.

In their own words…

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Teodorescu rareș Ștefan - youngest member of the romanian winning team talking about his experiences with energy savings

Lutgart, “Zomergem”, Belgium, 1st roundi think it’s really interesting to participate in energy neighbourhoods since you always get the possibility to learn something new and the tips are really useful. every method to save energy is more than welcome. it is nice to participate in a group, because you are not alone and you have great social contacts with neighbours. you stimulate each other to do better and you learn a lot from the tips of other people. Thanks to the tips, i saved energy and got a lower energy bill from my energy supplier.

John Powell, Crossgates Wasters team, UK, 1st roundAlthough we have never been ‘extravagant’ with our electricity usage it has been a good experience making not only the paymaster but the whole family aware of not leaving electric items on or questioning ourselves “do i need to use that?” some simple and easy measures we use is when boiling the kettle only boil what is required; when using the grill turn it off before the food is totally cooked, there’s plenty of heat left when cooling down to complete the cooking. Also don’t leave items on standby. standby for what? it’s costing your dearly. These are only a few suggestions but when applied across the whole household it’s then that dreaded meter starts to slow down.

it’s been a remarkable journey watching how other family members adapt to the concept of saving energy. remember you don’t have to starve with candles flickering, huddling up in blankets like penguins in the Antarctic, just think ahead of yourself, why light up another room with televisions or other items left on, when you are probably only using one or two rooms - “shut it down”.

Why is it good to compete as a group?Romonya, Hungary, 1st roundour small community has decided to enter the energy neighbourhoods competition to reduce our energy consumption. it wasn’t really the competition itself but the possibility to save some extra money that motivated us in the first place. i was pretty sure that we had at least a dozen things that we could do better in order to save energy. unfortunately, we take on quite a number of bad habits during the years and we don’t even notice how wasteful our lives become. i’m not a hugely sociable person, but i can feel that this initiative has so much advantage to it that i don’t want to be left out. reading the info packs and collecting ideas individually is not enough, it’s much better to “work” as a member of a group. notwithstanding the fact that if we would like to achieve something – anything – we’ve got to join forces. i was sceptical in terms of decreasing my energy consumption, i didn’t really see what i as an average person could do, but as i got deeper into this topic and as i see the enthusiasm of the other members of the group, i don’t feel hopeless anymore. furthermore, i got to know really nice people with whom i can talk about other things too, and we even organize common programmes for ourselves and this is the most important of all.

how energy-saving lamps influence your tv-viewing behaviorHunting, Austria, 1st round, by combining behavior change (no wasteful consumption) and some small technical changes (new cooking pots, better illumination, power outlet strips with toggle switches, etc.), i managed to reduce my energy consumption significantly. i started off with reducing my energy consumption for illumination. so the first step was to make my own experiences with energy-saving bulbs and Leds. by doing so, i can now confront potential skeptics of this new technology with my own experiences. That makes arguments a lot easier.

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the Christmas ChallengeMarko Odič, Energy Neighbourhood “Števci”, Slovenia, 1st roundThe 1st Climate Challenge was set up in one of the most energy consuming months, december. from this month on we were supposed to reduce energy consumption. i decided to observe my personal energy consumption in my home, e.g. energy consumption for heating, water usage while cooking, maintaining a high standard of personal hygiene, washing dishes and doing laundry. These observations helped me to understand “the energy profile” of my household. i realized which energy fields have a significant impact on the energy consumption.

You never know what you’ll find!Ian Miller, Hewlett Packard Energy Neighbourhood, UK, 2nd roundi joined the energy neighbourhood group at work mostly not to save the planet but to save my own money. energy costs keep going up and my income is not.i borrowed the group electricity meter and walked around the house turning things off and on to see what made a difference. Turning the printer off properly made a small difference, shutting down the broadband router and network drive did not make much of a difference, so i kept looking. using the kettle and shower used noticeable amounts of electricity so i try and minimize those. i thought i had things under control. Karen (energy neighbourhood Project worker) said my electricity usage was unusually high for a house occupied by only two people. i kept walking around my house looking to see what was switched on and could not find anything unexpected. My daughter had returned to university after being at home over Christmas and so her bedroom in the loft conversion was unoccupied. While i was there i thought to check the electrical heater for the room and found it was on. it had been on continually since december! i’ve now switched it off and look forward to lower electricity usage and, importantly lower bills.

Vicente Maravilla Moreno, Energy Master of the group Menys és més (Algemesí), Spain, 2nd roundin total we are now 10 families in the group, with very different profiles but a special relationship has been created, so we deal with the saving challenge with a high dose of irony and sense of humor. We have created a “whatsapp” group through which we share our experiences at home, doubts, concerns and more than one joke. We have also set up a casual meeting on some fridays, in a bar, where we share some beers and anecdotes. To sum up, with the excuse of the saving and the concern for the environment different persons have gathered together, some of them didn’t know each other before this experience and now we have another interest to share.

the handy protocol for energy saving!!Vassiliki Dourali, “Friends for Saving”, Greece, 2nd roundWe established a simple but handy protocol! it is quiet heavy to characterize a set of simple rules as a “protocol”, but endorsing these simple rules affects positively energy consumption and leads to energy saving! it may sound funny but we have also invented the characterization “energy hooligan”. We usually use it to characterize those friends and neighbors who were not keen on participating in “friends for saving” at the beginning and they still keep consuming energy at their homes in the way they used to!! Taking into account that it is quite “heavy” for someone to be characterized as a “hooligan”, we hope we will manage to make them be keen on changing habits and be more energy and environmentally aware in the future. our motto is “stop being such an energy hooligan! it’s simple!”

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let the low-energy lights shine during ChristmasJulia Persson, Team Mammorna, SWEDEN, 2nd roundin sweden we have a lot of Christmas lightning for decoration, in every window, in all the trees in the garden we let the lights shine. This year we turned off the light during the daylight hours and we didn´t let them shine the whole night by using timers. but as a family with a 9 month baby, our house is flooding in lights already in the early morning hours, but of course… there is just low-energy light that shines.

Christmas challenge workshop france, Annecy

How to make success visible?

Vincent berrutto from eACi presenting at the Awards gala in brussels

energy neighbourhoods2 was able to prove that energy saving is not a boring topic, it doesn’t mean sacrificing your creature comforts, on the contrary it can be fun and involve learning a new life skill. its popularity is evidenced by the number of participants who got involved, the savings made and the number of prominent people, at both a national and european level, that gave their name in support of the project. over 13 000 household’s started the bet and were provided with lots of energy saving information. on average those neighbourhoods that completed the bet made an energy saving of 9%; 32 patrons underlined the importance of the idea with their commitment; 41 short films have been produced to promote household energy saving and 800 energy masters have been trained to support people in their ambition to live a more efficient lifestyle. The press coverage has been very impressive; more than 700 articles have been published spanning 16 countries; a huge boost in visibility for the municipalities that wanted to support their citizens in saving energy by making a bet.

energy neighbourhoods is a project that fits perfectly with agenda 21 or with a climate plan as it integrates citizens, municipalities and enterprises. there is ever increasing interest from regional and local authorities to fill their energy climate plans with concrete activities. the energy neighbourhoods2 competition is such an activity, providing visible results in terms of reducing both kWh and Co2 emissions.

The evaluation and feedback from the project has also shown that participants who have changed their behaviour will maintain these new energy saving habits into the future. This project helps to prove that the eu energy efficiency goals can be achieved with the participation and engagement of all european citizens.

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Members of the winning teams from 16 countries meeting face to face at the cocktail after Awards gala in brussels

Lessons learned“it’s never too late to do as much as possible!” these words were sent to the swedish participants from their national ambassador Pär holmgren, at the start of energy neighbourhood campaign and it really is true! during the competition this has been proven by all team members regardless of age - their involvement and engagement has been fantastic. The social aspect of the project and the commitment of the energy Masters have been identified as key factors for the success of the project. saving energy together, motivating each other to keep going and being supported by an energy master who knows the participants well, are elements that really keep the team together and are vital to the neighbourhood’s success and the success of the project overall. The term neighbourhood does not necessarily mean that this competition is just for neighbours, natural groups that already exist such as a circle of friends, colleagues at work or an existing group tend to work better than groups that come together just for the project.

the energy neighbourhood project has shown that small changes in behaviour can contribute to significant home energy savings. For this project to work, however, and bridge the gap between knowledge on how to save energy and making actual changes to attitudes and practices, there are other key elements that need to come together: the provision of relevant energy advice; ensuring that the project is fun and motivational – the use of competition and the social aspect of working as part of a team scored highly in this respect; a working calculation tool and continuous support from the organiser of the project. it was these elements for which the partners in the participating countries were responsible and which helped to ensure the overall success of the project.

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energy neighbourhood concept received the european Commissions’ Managenergy Local energy Action Award for best local energy initiative 2010. since then it has been tested for two more rounds of energy saving competitions under the second edition of the project. This time it covered 16 european countries and was even more successful in mobilising competitors but also local supporters and media attention.

The partners involved in energy neighbourhoods2 gained comprehensive experience in setting up such competitions and will continue to help the initiative grow by building relationships with municipalities and other organisations or groups that are keen to support household energy saving.

Interested in following our lead?

31Comissioner günther oeTTinger hands the Award for best Local energy initiative 2010 to the authors of the energy neighbourhoods concept

this well-developed concept for mobilising households includes:

+ Concept of an energy saving competition where households take part as teams + Clear definition of roles and responsibilities + Training and promotion materials including handbooks, energy saving tips, home

energy checklists + internet based tool for monitoring energy consumption and calculating energy savings + ideas for community events + Climate challenges

in the countries were energy neighbourhoods is already established, activities to launch new competitions have started. for example in slovenia a special format for schools has been developed; in Poland discussions to develop an energy neighbourhood competition in the social housing is taking place. Many more will follow in the next months.

if you are interested to implement a new edition of energy neighbourhoods2 or wish to become a member of the growing community please contact your national coordinator.

I lost this bet very gladly because it confirms, that most households can easily save about 10% of energy without having to agree to any constrains in their everyday life. Just by changing old habits we can all make a contribution to climate protection and even save some money along the way. I hope the good example of the Energyneighbourhoods is passed along.

Christa Markl-VietoMunicipal councillor for the environment of berlin-steglitz

Austria

Grazer ENERGIEAgentur GmbH Kaiserfeldgasse 13/i, 8010 grazAustria www.grazer-ea.at Contact person: gerhard Lange-mail: office@grazer-ea.attel: +43-316-811848-0

belgium

Bond Beter Leefmilieu Vlaanderen vzw (BBL) Tweekerkenstraat 47 | 1000 brusselbelgium www.bblv.be Contact person: bernard govaerte-mail: bernard.govaert@bblv.betel: +32 2 282.17.42

bulgaria

Energy Agency of Plovdiv (EAP) 139 ruski blvd, office #402, Plovdiv, bulgaria www.eap-save.eu Contact person: Liyana Adjarova, e-mail: liyana.adjarova@eap-save.dir.bg tel.: 359 32 625754

france

Prioriterre (PRIO) 3 rue rené dumont f 74 960 Meythet, france www.prioriterre.org Contact person: guénaëlle CArTon e-mail: guenaelle.carton@prioriterre.org Tel: +33 450 67 17 54

germany

B.&S.U. Beratungs- und Service-Gesellschaft Umwelt mbH (BSU) saarbrücker str. 38 A 10405 berlin, germany www.bsu-berlin.de Contact person: Thekla heinel e-mail: theinel@bsu-berlin.de tel.: +49 30 390 42 66

greece

Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (CRES) 19th km Marathonos Avenue 19009 Pikermi, greeCe www.cres.gr Contact person: georgia Veziryianni e-mail: gvezir@cres.gr tel: +30-210 6603267

hungary

GreenDependent Institute Nonprofit Ltd. (GDI) 2100 gödöllő, Éva u. 4., hungary www.intezet.greendependent.org Contact person: Kristóf Vadovics e-mail: info@greendependent.org tel: +36-28/412 855

ireland

Tipperary Energy Agency (TEA) Craft granary, Church street, Cahir, Co. Tipperary ireland www.tea.ie Contact person: Vincent Carragher e-mail: vcarragher@tea.ie tel: +353 (0)52 7443090

italy

Ecuba Ltd - Land planning - Energy - Environment Via del Cestello 440124 bologna italy www.ecuba.it Contact: e-mail: ecuba@ecuba.itphone + 39 051 228048

Latvia

Ekodoma Ltd. noliktavas iela 3-3 LV1010, riga, Latvia www.ekodoma.lv Contact person: Liga ozolina e-mail: liga@ekodoma.lv tel.: +371 67323212

Poland

The Polish National Energy Conservation Agency (KAPE) ul. nowowiejska 21/25 00-665 Warszawa, Poland www.kape.gov.pl Contact: e-mail: kape@kape.gov.pl tel.: + 48 22 626 09 10

romania

Alba Local Energy Agency (ALEA) Trandafirilor str., no.9, Alba lulia, romania www.alea.ro Contact: e-mail: contact@alea.ro tel.: + 4 0258813405

slovenia

Gradbeni inštitut ZRMK building and Civil engineering institute Centre for indoor environment, building Physics and energy dimičeva 12, 1000 Ljubljana, slovenia www.gi-zrmk.si Contact: e-mail: info@gi-zrmk.si tel: + 1 280 84 01

spain

Agència Energètica de la Ribera (AER) Plaça d’Argentina, 1 46680 Algemesí, spain www.aer-ribera.com Contact person: Plàcid Madramany sanchis e-mail: projectes@aer-ribera.com tel.: +34 96 242 4641

sweden

The Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden (ESS) framtidsvägen 10A s- 351 96 Växjö, sweeden www.energikontorsydost.se Contact: e-mail: info@energikontorsydost.se, tel.: +46 470 76 55 60

united Kingdom

Severn Wye Energy Agency (SWEA) unit 15 highnam business Centre highnam gloucester, gL2 8dn, united Kingdom www.swea.co.uk Contact person: Karen robinson email: Karen@swea.co.uk tel.: + 44 1452 835060