co2online introduces the 'European Citizens Climate Cup' (ECCC) a competition for private households within and between countries. It aims to demonstrate that everybody can save energy significantly and even beat the reduction targets of the European Union and its member states. By competing in a sports-like championship, national iESA holders form teams to fight climate change and to achieve the highest reduction in the contest.

Within national teams, the Top 10 Energy Savers of the Year will be decorated in a final award ceremony. Largest reductions (%) to lowest levels of CO₂ and kWh win, internationally weighted with national CO₂ indices.

The campaign will motivate private households to open an iESA. The campaign will cooperate with media (print, online and TV) and important multipliers, like e.g. utilities, municipalities, tenant and owner associations, property managers, housing companies, real estate portals, industrial producers of household appliances and wholesalers. Users of the iESA enter consumption and cost data from their energy bills and meters.

The iESA collects, interprets and displays all data and calculates specific (i.e. per m²) energy consumption, expenses and CO2 emissions partly adjusted with climate factors. Effects of energy saving measures which are also entered by the user become transparent. All information is visualised graphically, displaying trends of past and future consumption, cost and emissions. Frequent case specific newsletters will inform and alert iESA users, a user forum will facilitate exchange of best practices.

As the IESA is web-based, no local software installation or technical equipment is required. Upgrading to a smart meter version is possible with little technical equipment (optocontroller plus data-logger, cost about 70 €) or by having smart meter data sent from the utility to the iESA server. Reductions of energy consumption will be displayed on monitoring websites accessible to all participants and as aggregate consumption figures to the general public. The winner team will be defined due to criteria determined by all participating countries/regions at the beginning of the project.

The target of almost 8,600 households using an IESA corresponds to 0.1 per mille of the population of participating countries/regions. Targets for new iESAs in the last proposal were: Spain 4,000, Greece, 1,100, Germany 3,500.

For the next proposal new partner countries shall be acquired and thus a higher number of iESAs is targeted.

The ECCC aims to show that the EU reduction targets of 20 % by 2020 (vs. 1990) are achievable and can even be surpassed. Thus the ECCC aims to demonstrate at least 4 % CO₂ reduction by the end of the project, showing participants to be on the right trajectory to that EU climate target.

The project consortium so far consists of the following partners:

• Coordinator: co2online gGmbH, Berlin, Germany
• HELESCO, Athens, Greece
• Ecoserveis, Barcelona, Spain
• EREN, León, Spain

Keywords: energy efficiency in buildings, awareness and behaviour change, energy efficient appliances, energy metering and billing

Contact: Claudia Julius - claudia.julius@co2online.de