Carbon Savings - Promoting tangible methods of conservation (Finalist.)
YMCA - Toronto Office
Updates based on feedback:
Many have felt this proposal is based on measuring a person's carbon footprint, instead we are helping people estimate the economic and environmental benefits they can expect to achieve by switching to a new light bulb, showerhead or even by adding a rain barrel.
We will be getting the word out through our own marketing efforts but also see this as a resource to support the many organizations that are already out there. We provide traction to the envrionmental movement and use money and environmental benefits as incentives for people to consider and try new products.
We are looking to work with sustainability networks, housing associations, builders, manufactuers and retailers (to help market their products), real estate agents, mortgage specialists, educational programs, speakers and the list goes on. - If you are one of these people or know someone who is, we would love to hear from you!
Carbon Savings is committed to reducing society’s demand on natural resources by promoting environmentally preferred products (EPPs). To do this, Carbon Savings focuses on public awareness by helping people to understand how to conserve water and energy and then to estimate the financial and environmental benefits associated with each method. This is done through calculators which help people estimate their annual savings, payback period and CO2 reductions. Please view http://carbonsavings.org/product.php?item=faucet for an example.
The organization was founded on the following premises:
- People would prefer to reduce their impact on the environment as long as it does not affect their standard of living
- The majority of people are motivated to action based on financial considerations
- People are hesitant to spend money when the resulting savings are unknown
In order to support the transition towards a low carbon economy, Carbon Savings has decided to concentrate its efforts on a two pronged approach. The first is to help homeowners and businesses find tangible methods to conserve energy and water. There are roughly 30 household technologies that are good for the environmental and have a fast payback period, yet many of them are unfamiliar to the public. As a result, Carbon Savings is building a comprehensive and easy-to-use website for consumers to view all of their options and learn about each one.
The second approach is to help companies communicate the benefits of their EPPs to the public. This allows manufacturers and retailers to promote their products by demonstrating the economic and environmental benefits to the customer. In essence, the calculators become interactive marketing tools to help companies sell more products. At the end of the day, increased sales translate into greater adoption of conservation.
BACKGROUND & DETAILS
The concept of Carbon Savings was born in 2010 as part of a sustainability course in engineering at Queen’s University. Since that time, the idea has evolved and gained momentum. Today, the company has teamed up with a number of non-profit organizations to provide traction to their environmental efforts.
One of Carbon Savings’ core beliefs is that in order to achieve mainstream conservation, consumers must first know what their options are and then be convinced these products are worth buying. As a result, the company has created a working prototype at www.CarbonSavings.org to allow users to browse through different product categories, such as showerheads and thermostats, in order to learn about them and their importance. Each technology is highlighted with its own interactive calculator to help users estimate the financial and environmental benefits. The calculators are pre-loaded with average household data to help people that may not be aware of reasonable input values. These numbers can be changed to generate customized estimates.
In addition to the 30 household technologies, there are roughly 40 commercial technologies that can be adopted at work to generate even greater savings. As the site develops, the goal is to provide a user experience geared towards helping people and companies explore practical opportunities to achieve conservation. By highlighting all of these technologies, Carbon Savings is looking to offer the most extensive collection of environmental products and their calculators in one location.
Beyond the educational website, Carbon Savings will leverage its impact by creating marketing tools for manufacturers and retailers. The calculators can be customized to be product specific and can be placed on the retailer’s site beside the product, which positions the calculators in front of people at the point of sale. It also enables companies to provide personalized estimates without sending their customers away from their website. The calculators have a lot of flexibility in terms of look, feel and the number of questions asked of the user. They must also be approved by Carbon Savings for accuracy and then carry the Carbon Savings logo, providing third party verification.
Companies do not currently have the option to license energy savings calculators and therefore, cannot benefit from the various advantages they have to offer. The licensing option allows companies to focus on their core competency while outsourcing software improvements and utility updates to an industry expert. Also, companies are able to forgo the development cost, which reduces risk and makes high-end features more affordable. At the end of the day, these marketing tools and added features help companies sell more EPPs and lead to a low carbon economy.
Once the site is established, Carbon Savings will create tools to help sustainability departments and green teams to evaluate the energy and water savings potential of their company. Again, the focus will be on both the financial and enviornmental benefits so they can communicate the benefits to the public once the retrofits are performed. This helps the departments identify the best opportunities while saving a lot time since the software will evaluate which technologies offer the greatest savings and are best suited for their applications. This lets staff members concentrate on implimentation while Carbon Savings performs the initial research and compares technologies.
A big component of our success will be getting our calculators in front of people. This will be facilitated by a number of partnerships. As it's been mentioned throughout the competition, we have a number of partnerships in the works and some have been confirmed at this time. We are working with the YMCA, a few TD branches (to start), Science 44 Housing Co-op (and looking at the Co-op network), Youth Metoring Youth program and we are hoping to work with a number of low-income housing organizations, Greenovations with Queen's University and there are a large number of organizations in the pipeline.
Another aspect to consider is that corporate clients are similar to partnerships in the way that they help bring the calculators to the public. Companies looking to license the calculators bring the calculators to their own network and often present the information at meaningful times such as the point of sale or in relationship to a "call to action".
The energy demands of the average Canadian household results in roughly 8-10 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year. However, it is possible to reduce these energy demands by more than 20% with technologies that offer a combined payback period of less than 5 years. As a result, a household would be able to save upwards of $500 per year and reduce emission by over 2 metric tons on an annual basis.
Average Annual Savings
Low flow showerheads - 220kg CO2 | $90 per year | 0.7 year payback period (or less) | 30,000L of water
Faucet Aerators - 60kg CO2 | $40 per year | 0.5 year payback period (or less) | 15,000L of water
Rain Barrel - 2kg CO2 | $9 per year | 10 year payback period | 5,000L of water
Front-load washing - 170kg CO2 | $140 per year | 5 -10 year payback period | 40,000L of water
Thermostat - 200kg CO2 | $40 per year | 2.5 year payback period
Phantom Power Bar - 30kg CO2 | $20 per year | 2 year payback period
The goal is to reach as many people as possible and through the help of the YMCA, Carbon Savings is able to get a good start. In Toronto alone, the YMCA network reaches approximately 500,000 people each year and the organization helps roughly 25% of all immigrants entering the country. Their network offers an incredible opportunity to reach a large number of people and tailor solutions to help recent immigrants. The partnership will begin with a flyer distributed through the YMCA’s network that will highlight a couple household products and how much can be saved. It will then lead people to both organizations’ websites to learn more.
Partnering with the YMCA offers an unparalleled ability to reach a large number of people and achieve environmental reform. Furthermore, targeted campaigns can help low income families save money with products that have payback periods of less than 1 year.
Separately, a couple bank branches have offered to provide exposure by handing out information about www.CarbonSavings.org to new homeowners that sign up for a mortgage.
Carbon Savings was founded by Howard Swartz who graduated from Mechanical Engineering at Queen’s University. He has continued his studies at Queen’s and is currently completing a Masters in Civil Engineering with Speciality in Applied Sustainability. He has worked as the environmental manager for an eco-friendly coffee shop and spent a summer at an energy service company. In the latter role, he generated estimates of the financial savings associated with various energy reducing technologies. Howard’s network includes sustainability managers, manufacturers, retailers, utility companies, environmental consultants and marketing firms.
The company is able to derive revenues through a number of methods. The main source will come from licensing the customized calculators. Carbon Savings is in the process of developing a sophisticated platform to offer customized calculators that are capable of collecting valuable statistics about users, which can then be used to influence future marketing campaigns. Manufacturers and retailers will pay to have calculators developed for their products, which will be supported by Carbon Savings through software and data updates. This helps companies focus on their core competencies while benefiting from a third party source that is trusted for estimating utility savings.
Once the company has developed a strong online presence, the company will look to establish a consulting division. This would allow the company to provide more detailed analysis and engage organizations that would prefer to receive expert advice.