Sustainability Trust - March 08 Newsletter

Dob in your landlord! Rental Properties now qualify for subsidised retrofits

Tenants who are finding their homes cold, damp and expensive to heat can now take a proactive step towards making the coming winter more comfortable by applying for a subsidised insulation retrofit via the Sustainability Trust. A retrofit involves putting insulation into the ceiling and under the floor and project manager David Crichton says the scheme provides a win-win situation for everyone involved.

"We are currently offering subsidies of up to 50% to enable landlords to have quality insulation products installed in their rental properties. Installing ceiling and under floor insulation changes both the heating and humidity dynamics of the house and creates a warmer, drier environment for those who live there."

"Tenants are happy because the house becomes healthier and more comfortable to live in whilst landlords need only pay 50% of the cost of the retrofit (an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority grant pays the other 50%) increasing the value of their property and making it a more attractive home to sell or rent".

The retrofit also includes other measures like applying draught strips to doors and thermal wraps to hot water cylinders. “The combination of these initiatives results in a reduction in both the tenants' power bill and their demand for electricity from the national grid, 34% of which was generated using fossil fuels (coal and gas) in 2005”.

“Typically, over one third of the energy consumed in a household is used for keeping it warm. Good quality, well-installed insulation will significantly reduce the rate at which the house loses heat and wrapping the hot water cylinder can cut your hot water heating bill by $20 to $140 per year (depending on the cylinder)."

"Tenants are encouraged to fill in the online form or pick up the phone and call us to get the ball rolling. Don't worry! We won't contact your landlord until we have had a phone conversation with you (and vice-versa in regard to contacting tenants) and had a friendly, confidential chat about your particular situation and how you’d like to proceed".

Subsides are also available for homeowners (people who live in the house they own). If eligible, homeowners could qualify for a subsidy of up to 90% off the cost of the insulation retrofit. People are advised to book a retrofit now as the install teams' diary is filling up fast. "We insulated 500 homes over the last six months and are on track to do another 500 by the end of June" says David. "If you want a retrofit done before those chilly southerlies start rolling through, you should fill in the online form or pick up the phone and call us now!"

For more information and to asses your eligibility for a subsidy visit the insulation team’s webpage or phone on 04 389 3400.

This project is funded by: Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA),Wellington City Council, Ministry Social Development, Capital & Coast District Health Board, Capital PHO, South East & City PHO and the Trust House Charitable Trust.

Eco Kiwi - The focus is on Household Sustainability

The Trust has a keen focus on household sustainability and the new Eco Kiwi project currently being piloted in Wellington and Otago is designed to tailor advice directly to individual householders. “By engaging directly with people in our communities we can easily ascertain which areas of their lives could be made more sustainable through simple lifestyle changes” says project co-leader Sarah Pritchett. “Since the project started in December last year we have seen some interesting examples of just how effective this direct approach can be. For example, when a Wellington networker visited a Malaysian woman who had only recently migrated to New Zealand she realised the woman had been boiling all of her drinking water because she didn’t know the tap water was safe to drink. That simple piece of information will have reduced the electricity bill in that particular household considerably.”

“That example not only illustrates the personal benefit brought about by reducing the power bill but it also indicates that these initiatives can save people time. Most of our ideas have a personal benefit attached to them” says Sarah, “it’s usually financial or time based, but often it can just make the living environment more comfortable. We had one resident who was putting all of his food scraps into his council rubbish bag which by the end of each week was surrounded by flies and was creating a terrific aroma. He was keen to try composting but was worried about attracting more flies and mice so our networker told him about the EM Bokashi closed composting system, including where to get one from and how to use it. He’s using less rubbish bags now and the area where he keeps the rubbish bag is far more pleasant. He also has some great compost for his garden.”

The Eco Kiwi team are inspired by the knowledge that these small changes will create a significant effect when multiplied over time and across a number of participants. “One person put a brick into their toilet cistern and because that simple action can save at least 1 litre of water per flush, a home of four tenants (approx 12 flushes per day) will reduce their water consumption by more than 4000 litres every year. Multiply that by any number of homes and we are talking about significant reductions in water-use each year; and it’s the direct engagement approach which is making these changes actually happen, by identifying those single actions, that one simple change, we can alter behaviour and create a snowball effect.”

The Eco Kiwi team will have talked to 1000 households by the end of May 2008. The project is focused on creating changes across the residential sustainability spectrum with networkers discussing waste, water-use, electricity and transport issues with householders.

The Otago team is managed by Lloyd McGinty and the Wellington team by Sarah Pritchett.

Eco Kiwi is funded by the Ministry for Environment's Sustainabile Household's fund. Check out www.sustainability.govt.nz and make a pledge to take your step!

Energy Efficiency Advice Line provides free independant advice

From March 17th this year an 0800 call centre will begin taking calls from Wellington residents who are seeking energy efficiency information. The Energy Advice line will provide free, independent and professional advice to callers and energy advisor Sarah Free expects to field a diverse range of questions and comments.

“The advice line gives people the chance to have an unbiased chat with an expert about the most efficient ways to heat their homes, their hot water, or to manage other appliances like fridges, stoves & electronics.”

”With so many different products and choices available on the market, people are often quite unsure which option is the best for their particular circumstances. Take heating your home as an example” says Sarah.“ You may actually be better off improving the insulation of your home before changing how you heat each space and, when the time does come to consider which type of heating is best for you, we can provide advice on the many different options available, from heatpumps and flued gas heating to wood pellet burners and wood burners.”

“The factors that can inform such a decision include the location of your home, it’s size and orientation (access to sunlight) and what type of insulation currently exists, as well as lifestyle factors. We can help with really simple measures like recommending draft strips, hot water cylinder wraps or insulation retrofits which can all contribute to creating a warmer, drier, more energy efficient home. We can give you advice on whether you qualify for financial assistance and help you find tradespeople. We will also be able to give you advice on energy efficient lighting and how best to replace old appliances. By providing independent advice we can happily discuss both the advantages and the limitations of any given product or system.”

Sarah says the advice line will help consumers take the guess work out of their energy related decisions and contribute to making Wellington a more sustainable, energy efficient community in which to live.

The advice line, 0800 388 588 opens on March 17th and is managed by EECN (Energy Efficiency Conservation Network) and operated by Sustainability Trust. The project is supported by the Minister for the Environment’s Sustainable Management Fund and Wellington City Council.

Getting Around Wellington

Getting Around Wellington project leader Lee Barry says the team’s community engagement approach, in which project staff chat informally, and ‘one-on-one’ to people about their travel options is receiving a positive response from Wellingtonians.

“Over the past four months our team have been talking to people in Wellington’s southern and eastern suburbs about their transport behaviour. Over all the response has been very positive, people have been keen to take copies of the walking and cycling maps we provide and have shown a real interest in looking closely at their regular travel plans."

"The project is focused on finding benefits for people in changing or reducing car journeys, which might be a cost saving on petrol or parking, getting a bit more exercise or being able to chill out on the bus instead of being frustrated in traffic. Minimising the number of short trips people make each week also means less CO2 emissions (currently transport accounts for 40% of NZ’s total C02 emissions), and less cars on the roads creating benefits for the community and the environment.”

“Our team has had some really fascinating engagements. Recently we talked to a woman who had been thinking about selling her car and our conversation created the impetus for her to do that. Throughout our conversation we looked closely at the family's transport schedule and she realized her car, the family’s second car, wasn’t really needed. By looking at the various trips she made over the course of an entire week she could see that it was possible to find other ways of getting around. Cycling, taking the bus and carpooling were all realistic options for her but it wasn’t until we had our conversation that she realized how numerous her options actually were and how well they fitted her weekly routine”.

The Getting Around Team have been talking with people at outdoor events, libraries and recreation centers since November last year. “By the end of the project we will have talked to 700 people about their travel behavior. We have two public workshops coming up later in March and anyone is welcome to attend those. We also do special presentations for community groups, businesses and schools, just get in touch and we can arrange for one of our team to come and talk to your group about the project. We also visit individuals and families or can chat with people over the phone”.

To get in touch with the Getting Around Wellington Team contact Fey Valiant by phone or email.

The project is supported by the Minister for the Environment’s Sustainable Management Fund and Wellington City Council.

Newtown & Berhampore communities embrace sustainability

Emet Alpay

An initiative led by Environment Centre coordinator Emet Alpay has seen local community members come together to discuss sustainability issues specific to the Newtown and Berhampore areas. So far, two initial meetings (one held in December 07, the other in February 08) have revealed a strong level of enthusiasm for existing groups and interested individuals to collaborate when promoting sustainable living practices.

The Environment Centre, which is managed by the Sustainability Trust will play a key role in this undertaking by supporting local community groups and individuals to network, share resources and work together more effectively.

“Our role is to assist in the development of strong local networks” says Emet, “by increasing awareness of local projects, and by creating a forum where the people involved in those projects can communicate effectively, we will help enable the people of Newtown and Berhampore to create a community in which living sustainably is considered commonplace”.

The next Sustainable Communities meeting will be held in April, 08.

For more information please contact: Emet Alpay

February meeting at Newtown

Community Centre

Earth Hour - the biggest turn off of the year

www.earthhour.org

Earth Hour, An initiative led by WWF to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.

In New Zealand Christchurch has been nominated as the Earth Hour Partner City.

Street lights will be turned off and other actions, yet to be announced will be taken in a bid to reduce energy consumption in the city by 5%.

In Wellington, the City Council (WCC) have also signed up to the challenge, however so as not to steal the spot-light (excuse the pun!) off Christchurch, this year their focus will be on darkening their own facilities and buildings only, including the waterfront lights (but NOT street lighting). In 2009 WCC aims to become an Earth Hour Partner Capital with support from WWF.

Sustainability Trust supports WCC and WWF in encouraging residents and businesses to sign up to Earth Hour. Every individual action and sign-up helps create a bigger better Earth Hour and more awareness of climate change action. Jenny Riches from WWF says “Celebrate! Have a party, take photos, tell us your story of how Earth Hour was for you”.

You can send Jenny your photos and stories by email to jriches@wwf.org.nz