Report: Saving for Success: The European Energy Trophy - SAVE Project 4.1031/Z/02-057/2002

Website: www.energytrophy.org

The aim of the project "Energy Trophy" is the organisation and implementation of an energy saving competition for 42 companies and public organisations from six European countries: Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom.

The Energy Trophy will be awarded to the company that saves the most energy in one office building in one year using cost-free measures only (i.e. behavioural changes such as turning off lights, turning down the heating etc. - no investments in new equipment or energy saving light bulbs etc.).

As a help in identifying and implementing measures on how save energy in the office environment, all competition participants were invited to go to www.energyoffice.org, a website that was developed in a forerunner SAVE project Energy Office and which provides extensive information, checklists and posters on a variety of topics.

Prize categories and sponsors

The prizes are awarded in several categories:

1. best in-house publicity campaign / employee motivation campaign
   € 5 000, sponsored by Sharp Electronics Europe.
2. highest percentage of energy saved nationally
   € 5 000 per country, sponsored by Wintermayr energiekonzepte GmbH (Germany), AESS (Italy), KAPE (Poland), BCSD-UK (United Kingdom), CIRIDD (France), ECO-Invest Kft, Hewlett-Packard, Denkstatt Hungary Kft and Tisztább Termelés Magyarországi Központja (Hungary).
3. highest percentage of energy saved EU wide
   Gold: € 10 000, Silver: € 5 000, Bronze: € 2 500, sponsored by the main sponsor of the competition: meteocontrol GmbH.

Jury

The competition is carried out under the oversight of an external jury. The members of the jury are:

• Paul d'Alançon, Alex Conseil, France
• Dr. Roman Babut, Technical University of Warsaw, Poland
• Allan Mackie, Scottish Energy Efficiency Office, Great Britain
• Christoph Mordziol, member of the scientific team of the section I 4.4 -Rational Use of Energy Department, Federal Environment Agency
• Gianni Silvestrini, Director of the Scientific Kyoto Club, Italy
• Nelli Toth, Energy Club, Hungary.

Competition participants

Overall, 42 organisations registered for the Energy Trophy competition, of which a number withdrew during the implementation of the competition. The active participants are:

From Germany (16)

• City of Bielefeld
• Deutsche Bank Bauspar AG
• Digital Images GmbH
• Dresdner Bank
• E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co. KG
• Fenneberg Lebensmittel GmbH
• Flughafen München GmbH
• Goldbeck Bau, Bielefeld
• City of Hanover
• Lufthansa Technik AG
• MAN Nutzfahrzeuge
• City of Schwabach
• T-Com
• TechniData AG
• University of Lüneburg
• City of Viersen

From Italy (5)

• COOP estense
• Ducati Motor spa
• Gruppo Cremonini
• Comune di Modena
• Provincia di Bologna

From United Kingdom (5)

• Centrica
• Lafarge Cement UK
• LandSecurities
• Sheffield Council
• University of Edinburgh

From France (4)

• EDF Electricité de France
• Association RESPIRE
• Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Saint-Etienne/Montbrison
• EUROVIA (Groupe VINCI)

From Hungary (4)

• ALCOA-KÖFÉM Kft.
• British American Tobacco Hungary
• Maszer Rt.
• Valeo Auto-Electric Magyarország

From Poland (5)

• 3M Poland Sp. z o.o.
• Administacja Domów Wspólnot Mieszkaniowych "Wlochy"
• ALSTAR Sp. z o.o.
• Biblioteka Bielsko-Biala
• Z.U.R. "HEMMAR"

Best-practice examples from the actual implementation of the Energy Trophy in the offices of the participants

Examples of successful measures taken by the competition participants are:

• At Alcoa (Hungary), the Energy Trophy has motivated the staff members to cut energy costs by involving them directly in the identification of good measures. Alcoa sent out emails and questionnaires and received about 50-60 replies with creative ideas for improvement. The results of the questionnaire were analysed and distributed to the employees.
• The Energy Trophy co-ordinator at Alstar (Poland) has designed posters based on the information from the website www.energyoffice.org with concrete tips for the employees on how to save energy. These posters are displayed throughout the building.
• The Province of Bologna conducted a building energy audit, analysing the energy consumption of the last two years. Energy consumption has been monitored monthly, and the indicator energy consumption/employee has been monthly calculated. The personnel responsible for Energy Trophy identified all the appliances and equipment in the building and estimated the energy consumption/potential energy saving. An initial meeting to present the contents and the objectives of the competition to the employee was organised. Leaflets to promote energy saving behaviours have been published. The Province of Bologna has also installed a mail box to report the energy consumption measured with the energy meter. A slogan for the campaign have been identified: "Turn on your mind - turn off the power" ("Accendi la mente - Spegni la corrente") and a web site has been created to describe the project Energy Trophy and report the activities carried on: www.provincia.bologna.it/ambiente/energia/energy_trophy.htm.
• The UK utility Centrica has communicated extensively on the Energy Trophy through in-house events, weekly newsletters and articles in the in-house magazines. Regular campaigns to collect good suggestions from the staff members have been carried out. One of the direct measures implemented is that the monitors in the 350-person call centre are turned off overnight and on weekends (the computers themselves have to be left on for logistical reasons).
• Deutsche Bank Bauspar AG (Germany) set up a stand in its in-house canteen, from where the company's staff members are informed by the in-house Energy Trophy team members as well as external specialists about the branch's participation in the competition. Also, the staff members receive information on which concrete measures they can take to reduce energy use in their offices and therefore contribute to the joint effort of winning the first prize. The interest among the staff for this information and the Energy Trophy competition has been very high.
• Dresdner Bank AG (Germany) uses the internal newsletter "Bingo" to regularly report about the implemented measures. The bank's staff members have been contributing to the common task of winning the Energy Trophy by making numerous constructive recommendations for further measures.
• Through the Energy Trophy, the technical staff at digital Images (Germany) realised that the heating in the server room, which was being cooled 24 hours per day, was actually running on full steam. Naturally, the heating was immediately turned off here.
• In September 2004 Ducati printed 1500 leaflets on Energy Trophy and 700 Energy Trophy "E-Ducati" stickers. In October 2004 the personnel responsible for Energy Trophy implementation organised a meeting with the company trade unions representatives, and informed them about the project. In December 2004 the participation at the competition Energy Trophy have been communicated to the Company President and Managing Director, during the year-end meeting "OPERATION". An information desk (totem) was established where employees could obtain advice, receive the "E-Ducati" leaflets, an energy saving booklet and read some articles. A person was identified to collect internal suggestions from the employees on saving opportunities and measures. The suggestions have been evaluated and in some cases implemented, especially regarding the modality for devices ignition. The stickers "E-Ducati" have been positioned on all the company's electronic devices.
• At EDF (France), the Energy Trophy team have set up a room in which the use of the Energy Monitors is demonstrated using standard office equipment. Posters with information on the Energy Trophy and concrete measures that the staff members can implement have been hung up throughout the building. In addition, EDF has designed a charter for staff members in which they can individually confirm their engagement for the aim of reducing energy consumption. Once signed, the charter can be displayed on the wall of the employee's office.
• Within E-Plus, one of Germany's major mobile services providers, an Energy Trophy core team consisting of members of the workers' council, the Facility Management and the human resources department was set up. This core team is analysing and assessing the possible activities on a regular basis and has published a catalogue of the corresponding measures to be implemented, to which the employees can refer to.
• Flughafen München GmbH (operators of the airport in Munich) took a very simple measure as soon as the Energy Trophy began: each conference room was issued with a poster recommending to turn off the lights and to close the windows after the respective meeting.
• At Lafarge Cement UK, a small staff team circulates the offices every evening to check that all office equipment is turned off correctly. The Energy Monitors provided have been used extensively to detect energy losses from equipment in the stand-by and off-mode. The measures identified in the framework of the in-house Energy Trophy campaign are being transferred to other locations of the company.
• The University of Lüneburg (Germany) has applied stickers next to each light switch with the suggestion to turn the lights off when not in use. In addition, the university's administration designed and distributed flyers and posters informing about its participation in the Energy Trophy competition.

Competition winners

The winners of the Energy Trophy competition were approved by the Jury on November 7th, 2005. They are:

1. best in-house publicity campaign: Province of Bologna.
2. highest percentage of energy (electricity and heat) saved nationally:
   Germany: Dresdner Bank AG in Berlin, 19.36 % reduction
   France: EDF, 7.01 % reduction
   Hungary: Biopetrol, 13.43 %
   Italy: Ducati, 15.62 %
   Great Britain: Centrica Business Services, 31.28 % reduction
   Poland: Library Ksiaznica Beskidzka, 11,89 % reduction
3. highest percentage of energy saved EU wide:
   Gold: Centrica Business Services, 31.28 % reduction
   Silver: Land Securities (UK), 29,18%
   Bronze: Dresdner Bank AG in Berlin, 19.36 % reduction

The average savings for all participants was 5.68 %. The savings for the entire group of participants (including those that increased their consumption during the competition year) are -1.153.656 kWh for heat and -2.494.232 kWh for electricity, equivalent to -1.794 tonnes CO₂ emissions p.a.

Project partners, duration, budget

The project is being implemented by a consortium of seven partners:

• B.&S.U. Beratungs- und Service-Gesellschaft Umwelt mbH (B.&S.U., EU-wide co-ordinator)
• B.A.U.M Consult GmbH (BAUM, National co-ordinator Germany)
• Centre International de Ressources et d'Innovation pour le Développement Durable" (CIRIDD, National co-ordinator France)
• Business Council for Sustainable Development - United Kingdom (BCSD - UK, National co-ordinator UK)
• Agenzia per l'Energia e lo Sviluppo Sostenibile (AESS, National co-ordinator Italy)
• Krajowa Agencja Poszanowania Energii S.A. (KAPE, National co-ordinator Poland)
• Hungarian Association for Environmentally Aware Management (KÖVET-INEM Hungária, National co-ordinator Hungary)

The project duration is January 1st, 2004 to December 31st, 2005.

The total budget is 399.786 Euro. The project is funded by the European Commission (SAVE II) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia. The competition is carried out under the official patronage of Germany's Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA).

To find similar reports, click on a keyword below:
Appliances : Buildings : Citizens : Energy Audits : Energy Efficiency : Heat/Heating : Lighting : Property Owners : SAVE II Programme 1998-2002 : User behaviour

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CIRIDD - Centre International de Ressources et d'Innovation pour le Développement Durable

B&SU - Beratungs- und Service-Gesellschaft Umwelt mbH Department International Cooperation & Project Development

BAUM - Bundesdeutscher Arbeitskreis für Umweltbewusstes Management e.V

BAUM Consult GmbH Berlin

KÖVET - The Hungarian Association of Environmentally Aware Management

AESS - Agenzia per l'Energia e lo Sviluppo Sostenibile di Modena

KAPE SA - The Polish National Energy Conservation Agency Krajowa Agencja Poszanowania Energii SA

ISL - International Synergies Limited