Services Development

The Energy Saving Trust is always looking to improve

both the quality

of energy saving advice we provide and also the method in which we deliver that advice to UK citizens to ensure that we achieve our vision of leading 60 million people to act on climate change.

We know that people don't compartmentalise environmental issues, therefore we have expanded the suite of advice and support we provides to consumers. This now covers a range of topics including energy efficiency, renewables and sustainable travel choices, water conservation and waste reduction.

The Services Development team is currently working on the following exciting projects and pilots that, if successful, can be incorporated into the collection of services we offer to the public either directly or through partner organisations.

Please contact Claire Ellis for information about the work of the Services Development team.

Endorsed Advice Services

Our ‘Endorsed Advice Service’ aims to provide businesses and organisations with a clear means of demonstrating to their customers, that the energy advice they provide is ‘endorsed’ by the impartial and trusted authority of the Energy Saving Trust.

Participation in the scheme will lead to a merited brand association between us and our partners’ activities through:

• Training

• Assessment

• Advice & Information Support

• Monitoring & CPD

• Impact Evaluation

We are currently working with several partners from a range of sectors including energy and retail companies, not-for-profit organisations and Local Authorities to develop the service.

For more information please contact Alison Kukla

Advice Tools

We realise that the type of advice we provide needs to be smarter – we want to be able to provide homeowners with all the information that they want at a level which is most appropriate to their needs. Over the years we have created a range of tools from the Grants and Discounts Database to the Carbon Cutter.

We are currently devising a strategy for improving these tools, making sure that they are up to date (using the latest research in the field) and optimising the way in which our tools can provide our customers and partners with a bespoke service. In future our tools will provide incorporate integrated advice on all seven of the ways in which we can all reduce our carbon emissions – homes, travel, behaviour, energy choices, product choices, waste reduction and water conservation.

For more information contact Jeremy Anson

Integrating Water Advice

Research has shown that only 8% of householders currently make the link between saving water and saving energy, demonstrating the need to raise awareness in this area.

In January 2009 we launch pilot programme in three cities to incorporate water saving advice into the energy saving advice provided in three pilot cities – Cardiff, London and Edinburgh. We are working in partnership with Waterwise on the three year project which is funded by contributions from the LIFE+ financial instrument of the European Community, Department of Energy and Climate change and the Scottish Government.

These exciting pilots are the first of their kind in Europe and we hope that the results will provide EST and our European partners with clear guidance on the benefits of incorporating Water into Energy Saving Advice.

Discover more about the LIFE+ project here

Microgeneration Support Service

In October 2009, EST launched a small scale pilot to provide customers with a bespoke in-home audit that would provide advice not only on the ways in which they could save energy, but also how they could generate their own energy.

Working with the organisation Infinis, we have been piloting a home action plan for microgeneration. Advisors visited nearly 20 Infinis employees’ homes to implement a bespoke audit. From this a range of measures, actions and paybacks have been formulated as part of a personalised report for each householder. A dedicated telephone support service coupled with a grant available from Infinis, will help customers choose and install the best solutions for their homes. The pilot is due to complete with a full evaluation of the process and service in August 2010.

For more information please contact Niro Bodinagoda

Partnerships

We realise that the best was to lead 60 million people to act on climate change is to work in partnership. For a long time, EST has worked together with commercial, charitable and not-for-profit partners to share knowledge, experience and audiences. The Services Development team is currently investigating and developing the ways we formally work with partners further (for example through our Employee Engagement programme) in order to maximise the opportunities for collaboration. We will be launching a suite of projects over the coming months.