A project covering eight regions across seven European countries has delivered energy savings by changing the behaviour of people who work in and use a variety of public buildings. The Together project – Towards a Goal of Efficiency Through Energy Reduction – involved 84 schools, museums, gyms and public offices. More than 10 000 people including students, teachers and civil servants embraced the project’s methods and, in doing so, saved around 800 KWh of energy
- 19 November 2019
Behaviour matters! Buildings don't save energy, people do! End-users need to know if their engagement is effective in achieving energy reduction goals and has produced positive results. The feedback reinforces the attitude to keep behaving in an energy-efficient way.
Many energy-saving schemes focus on structural changes to buildings through the provision of internal insulation, retrofitting panels or the introduction of green energy. However, Together had a different approach to bringing down energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. The goal was to change the behaviour of those using the buildings, both occupants and visitors.
Collaborative effort
To achieve its goals, the project team took a number of steps which were delivered through eight regional pilot actions. Firstly, it developed a ‘train the trainer’ programme through which 250 people learned about how behavioural change can save energy. These trainers helped deliver the Together programme in the participating pilots and buildings.
The project team implemented a system to measure energy consumption using smart meters. The goals was to show building occupants how their behaviour could change outcomes day by day. The energy-monitoring devices were installed in 71 of the 84 participating buildings and were able to show energy consumption in real time, on eye-catching big screens set up in public areas.
In addition, a mix of games, education and entertainment were used to show people the value of investing in personal actions to save energy. These activities complemented the project’s multi-channel communications campaign, which was implemented through the project pilots.
Permanent change
Although this project closed in May 2019, the Together team believes it has brought about a permanent cultural change. It has successfully managed to turn individual dis-incentive – given the fact that the occupant of a public building does not pay for the energy bills out of his or her own pocket – into a collective incentive that involves not only personal behavioural change, but also the engagement of other people. Other low-cost measures to reduce energy consumption included finding better ways to use building spaces and changes to organisational procedures.
Together was rolled-out in regions in Italy, Czechia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Together: Towards a Goal of Efficiency Through Energy Reduction” is EUR 2 330 175, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 1 958 559 through the “Interreg Central Europe” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Low-carbon economy”.