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Digital developments changing how citizens influence green issues

Jane Goddard of the Energy Saving Trust speaking at the Green Data conference in London on 27 November 2018.

Digital transformation is beginning to change the ways that citizens influence environmental issues and increasing use of technology is changing the sorts of issues that business needs to focus on and the way that they engage with communities, said Jane Goddard, group marketing and business development director at the Energy Saving Trust, speaking at today’s Environmental Industries Commission’s Green Data conference in London.

Goddard highlighted the Energy Saving Trust’s Home Analytics data service that provides predictions of property and energy efficiency characteristics to local authorities and the private sector for all 27 million households in Great Britain. 

The service brings together four key data sources - OS AddressBase and MasterMap, Energy Performance Certificates, the Home Energy Efficiency Database and the ONS census and national housing surveys. Gaps in the data are filled using statistical and geo-spatial modelling techniques and the final database includes housing characteristics for every domestic property in an area.

Home Analytics provides tangible help for businesses, said Goddard. “It enables businesses to focus their targeting strategies to ensure that they reach the most suitable householders with their energy saving products or services. Visibility of key housing stock characteristics can accelerate your new business acquisition strategies, maximise return on your investment and get crucial help and support to those who need it most,” she said.

Goddard also talked about some of the apps and tools that are using data to engage better with consumers. These included Water Energy Check, a room-by-room assessment of how water is used in the home which saw 100,000 homes submit data in the largest in-depth snapshot of domestic water use, Home Energy Check, where data is used to inform combinations of ‘measures’ leading to advice about people’s homes, Wind Speed Predictor which outlines what turbine will best suit a home and Renewable Selector, which highlights which renewable technology best fits a property.

There was real potential to engage more effectively with customers, said Goddard, but many green initiatives were still too disparate and unconnected. “Interoperability is the key word here and also simplicity,” she said. “We need to be much more joined up in our approach and keeping things simple for consumers is crucial,” Goddard said.

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