Positive Charge Annual Review June Independent low-cost energy saving information, support and action for local governments.

Transcription

1 Positive Charge Annual Review June 2015 Independent low-cost energy saving information, support and action for local governments.

2 Introduction Established in 2013 by the Moreland Energy Foundation Ltd (MEFL), Positive Charge has developed and grown. Positive Charge and our member councils are achieving great outcomes in directly supporting the community to respond to climate change and reduce emissions. Here we review some of the key achievements of the service and the highlights from the financial year. The Positive Charge vision Positive Charge was established to deliver costeffective community sustainability services both reducing emissions and empowering households and businesses to better manage rising energy costs. Our experience shows that there is a growing community demand for independent, trusted and tailored energysaving services and advice. Positive Charge delivers on this need, making energy efficiency easy. At the heart of Positive Charge is action. It is a mainstream service that goes beyond the already engaged green core, providing services and advice for households, businesses and schools of all shapes and sizes. We have an ambitious plan to respond to a serious need we aim to reduce 150,000 tonnes of CO2 and engage with over 40,000 households in the first five years. About Positive Charge Positive Charge is a social enterprise created by the Moreland Energy Foundation Ltd (MEFL) with the support of Social Traders. MEFL is a not-for-profit company established by the Moreland City Council in late 2000 with the approval of the Victorian Office of Local Government. Positive Charge is committed to providing independent, low cost and up-to-date community engagement and advisory services to local communities on behalf of local governments. Positive Charge is backed by MEFL s 14 years of experience in creating and delivering award-winning community energy efficiency and renewable energy services for councils, households, businesses and schools. Results highlights 14 Subscribed councils in Victoria One bulk buy program with 8 NSW council 4400 households supported with advice on solar energy, LED lighting, insulation and home energy assessments 600 businesses visited across twelve business precincts 1.95 MW of solar panels contracted 54,118 tonnes of greenhouse gas abated What we did Positive Charge grew from five foundation partners to 14 Victorian councils and a bulk buy program with 8 Councils in NSW. The Positive Charge subscriber service delivered: straight talking advice and support ways to save energy community events and workshops and assistance for households, schools and businesses in finding good quality energy efficient and renewable energy products and services. In addition Positive Charge also delivered a range of associated services including: intensive support programs for businesses and schools delivery of home energy assessments development and management of solar bulk buy programs energy efficiency and renewable energy installations for council facilities staff training and professional development and assistance in fundraising for and coordinating solar installations on schools. Positive Charge has been an integral part of our energy efficiency and solar program for apartment buildings; and our residential solar bulk buy, with excellent results. The Positive Charge team has a wealth of experience so they were able to help maximise the campaigns, ensuring a solid recruitment strategy and good technical advice. - Amy Brand, Senior Sustainability Officer, City of Melbourne

3 Lessons learnt and next steps Having evolved since our first year of operation we are more effectively achieving Council and Positive Charge s CO2 reduction targets. We will continue to evolve and are always happy to receive feedback. We have achieved some ambitious goals over the past year and are able to continually improve our processes to be more effective in 2015/16. Thank you - I didn t expect to get someone so knowledgeable. Usually people send you all over the place! - Manningham Resident Community advice and support Promoting energy efficiency advice as a service is a difficult way to engage people. We have consistently found that with a specific message e.g. stay cooler in summer, or a specific offering such as a solar bulk buy we have a much higher level of engagement. Without a solid message energy efficiency is too broad and households are not sure how this applies to them. We have been working hard to streamline our website and communications to ensure that households understand that we can assist with advice on specific topics, such as heating and cooling, renovating, installing solar and so on. At Positive Charge we keep a record of how many people we speak to each day and where possible we obtain contact information. We are also able to obtain analysis of online interaction. However, these measures do not give us a clear understanding of what action if any was taken as a direct result of contact with Positive Charge. We therefore conducted a survey in May 2015 and the results indicated that 67% of respondents took action based on advice received from Positive Charge. Through offering our core service with optional additional services we can best cater to each council s desired outcomes. When specific programs or subjects are offered Positive Charge can engage more effectively with community members. We also offer water and waste related advice and information as part of our advisory services in the next year. One option of the core service offers councils two workshops or community outreach events. This is often a great way to kick-start a campaign and we find that we get a much higher attendance rate if the topic is clear. Technical and Project Services Positive Charge offers technical and project services that can easily be tailored to suit Council needs. In addition to our core council subscription service we work directly with councils to develop and deliver targeted community projects. Our advisory and project services cater to councils who have specific requirements, objectives and deliverables. The service outlines in our prospectus reflect our extensive experience and function as informed suggestions. Even within the outlined project plans we find that different modes of delivery and promotion will work better depending on the demographic profile of each community. The Positive Charge team is always open to discuss and review projects that might better serve the differing communities of different municipalities. We have extensive experience delivering to a broad range of households and businesses, including CALD communities. Once the preferred service is decided on Positive Charge can then advise on promotion and messaging prior to delivery. We will work with each council to ensure that the best delivery and promotion is offered and will respond swiftly if adjustments to the initial proposal are needed. It is key that we always remain fluid and able to adjust to each community s response. Business and Apartment Building Support Service Positive Charge has now worked with over 600 businesses in 12 business precincts offering targeted outreach to encourage energy efficiency measures. Typically the first hurdle is one of trust. Council branded communication and working collaboratively with a traders association or chamber of commerce can greatly assist with breaking down this initial barrier. We then often note that tenancy and business stability can be an issue. We therefore work hard to tailor our advice, suggesting one or two key actions, and offer assistance that is sensitive to the business. Through our partnership with the Smart Blocks program we have learnt a great deal about working with multi-unit dwellings, specifically when there is a body corporate in place. We have found that once people are well informed and have been provided concise information they are often very proactive in taking action to reduce the running costs of their building and work with their residents. In engaging with business and apartment buildings we find that lighting is often the most obvious and simple action to get them started. The pay back periods are clearly set out and results are immediately obvious. If your council has a business precinct or a portion of your community that lives in apartments then Positive Charge can work with you to assist them in implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. Home Energy Consultation Service We have been encouraged by the positive response our Home Energy Assessments have been met with. We feel that our assessments have struck the right balance, between being technical and easy to understand. Residents do not need to be intimidated by a high level of technical information they simply want to better understand the way their home works and how they can improve efficiency to increase comfort and reduce costs. Our assessors are usually met with specific concerns, such as a house that gets particularly cold in winter or an unusually high hot water bill. The assessor can then examine this aspect of the house in detail, whilst still obtaining a broad overview of the house and offering advice on how to prioritise action. We consistently find that the key areas of focus are heating, cooling and installing solar PV. Positive Charge is currently undertaking extensive follow up work with households who received home energy assessments in From this we hope to get a clear understanding of how our tailored advice actually translates into action and what the main actions taken are. We will work on creating case studies of households that will assist others in understanding how a home energy assessment might help them. Our recommendation to Councils is to tie-in a Home Energy Assessment package with a bulk-buy service, to maximise the conversion of recommendations to energy saving action.

4 Vital stats Schools & Childcare Centre Support Service Schools, kindergartens and childcare centres are energy intensive and have very high electricity bills. Classrooms are often operating in inefficient portable buildings or older buildings with older appliances. This means that schools are well placed to take action to reduce their bills and there is often a great deal of practical advice that we can provide to them. Schools are usually very under resourced for time and finances, which means that projects are slower to realise. We have found that sustainability in a school is often driven by one or two dedicated individuals, who can easily get burnt out and demoralised. Positive Charge has worked hard to support those passionate people and assist them in engaging the wider school community. We have engaged with some schools which are part of the Resource Smart AussiVic program. We have also encouraged other schools to join this program and access the resources and support available. We assisted schools in our subscribed council areas in applying for a $10,000 State government grant available in Several of them applied for the grant and all of those schools were successful in their application. In addition, Positive Charge secured a grant from Sustainability Victoria, to assist four schools with installing solar. Through the grant, we were able to offer each school $10,000, as well as assistance fundraising for additional funds to install solar PV systems. We have also been working closely with the school communities to implement energy efficiency measures, as well as to ensure enthusiasm for the solar install. We are co-ordinating these projects on behalf of schools. By providing continuous support and frequent follow-ups, we have been largely successful in assisting these schools overcome the barriers to taking positive action. Positive Charge will continually look out for funding opportunities, that will enable us to work effectively with schools and their own limited resources. We will also offer energy advice to all schools and are more than happy to visit schools to explain energy efficiency and solar to their students, staff and wider community. If your Council has goals to engage schools and child-care centres in energy efficiency our schools service will be highly beneficial. Solar Bulk Buy Intensive Service Research and experience have proven that the largest barriers to installing solar are a lack of knowledge and a lack of trust in suppliers. Positive Charge has worked on seven council supported bulk buy programs in this financial year, which have helped over 1600 households overcome both of these hurdles to date. Through our extensive procurement process we select a supplier that offers quality products and services at a good price. We also negotiate a bulk buy discount, based on the understanding that we will be providing the supplier with a large volume of enquiries. We work with the Alternative Technology Association (ATA) to carefully examine the products and we only select suppliers that are Clean Energy Council (CEC) accredited retailers. Councils can refer people to Positive Charge and then Positive Charge can connect them with the supplier. This enables councils to take a step back and avoid partnering directly with a commercial entity. We consistently find that homeowners are relieved to be told exactly who to purchase their solar through, as they are confused by a growing and disparate market. Some households have already obtained quotes and have some degree of knowledge but do not know who to trust, whilst others had not really thought about installing solar until they became aware of the council backed program. Positive Charge is currently undertaking our regular procurement process to test the market for the best quality products at a discounted price for households in subscribed Council areas. We are also working on supporting households through the process of installing solar. We undertake quality control measures, through phone-based surveying of registered households, to ensure that the selected supplier is maintaining a high standard of service and that the household has been happy with the level of support provided by Positive Charge. Community Advice and Support Projects with 8 NSW councils 1,670 phone and 14 Council subscribed in Victoria consultations 52 workshops and events 25 articles and 34 electronic news updates 38,845 website visits Social media: 767 facebook reach; 307 twitter followers Home Energy Audits 175 home energy assessments delivered with reports and followup support Business Outreach 14 business seminars business precincts 45 assessments delivered 600 businesses visited in 12 Knowing that Positive Charge is an independent organisation gave us peace of mind. East Brunswick Kindergarten Schools Support 12 sustainable school energy programs in place 75 kw of solar installed on schools and kindergartens 50 kw of new solar committed in schools Solar Bulk Buys 655 solar systems confirmed 7 bulk buy programs across14 councils 1.95 MW of solar capacity (over kms of panels joined end to end!) Apartment Buildings Support 60 kw of solar installed in apartment buildings 10 energy efficient lighting upgrades in apartment buildings 37 energy and solar assessment conducted Efficient Lighting Retrofits 50 households have switched to LED lighting 10 businesses have switched to LED lighting Green Power 30 households and businesses have switched to GreenPower Greenhouse Impacts 54,118 tonnes of greenhouse gas abated (equivalent to 11,514 cars taken off the roads)

5 All too often one gets generic information. Positive Charge provided me with information and contact details of quality-assured providers that specifically met my needs. Stonnington resident Positive Charge Suite 6, Level Sydney Road Brunswick Victoria 3056 positivecharge.com.au Postal: PO Box 276, Brunswick, Victoria 3056 T F hello@positivecharge.com.au Independent low-cost energy saving information and support used by Victoria s most progressive local governments.