Ref. Ares(2017)1691136 - 29/03/2017
D3.5 Energy Saving Competition
ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
PROJECT NO.
696069
PROJECT ACRONYM
START2ACT
START DATE
01.03.2016
DURATION
36 months
DELIVERABLE ID
D3.5 Energy Saving Competition
DUE DATE OF DELIVERABLE
31.03.2017
LEAD BENEFICIARY FOR THIS DELIVERABLE
CT
NAME
ORGANISATION
Lucy Hunt
Sarah Laidler
AUTHOR(S)
CT
Chantalle Thomson
CONTRIBUTOR(S)
Paul McKinney
CT
DISSEMINATION LEVEL

Public

Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services)
DOCUMENT HISTORY
VERSION
DATE
01
24.03.2017
NOTE
ISSUED BY
CT
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
Table of Contents
1.
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................... 1
2.
COMPETITION PROCESS FLOW ........................................................................................................................................ 2
3.
COMPETITION STRUCTURE AND CONTENT ...................................................................................................................... 3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
4.
REGISTRATION ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3
MAIN PAGE ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4
CATEGORY PAGE .................................................................................................................................................................. 5
CHECKLIST TEXT ................................................................................................................................................................... 6
SCORING AND AWARDS................................................................................................................................................. 12
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
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1. Introduction
The START2ACT Energy Saving Competition is one of the four features of the Interactive Energy Saving Platform
along with the Knowledge Base, E-Learning modules and the Interactive Social Platform. The Energy Saving
Competition will provide a motivating framework for SME employees to change their behaviour. The purpose of
the competition is to make SME employees conscious of their energy consumption at work and to encourage them
to reduce this in a variety of ways.
The competition will focus on two aspects:
1.
Improving energy management processes
2.
Reducing energy use at work
The former is incredibly important for energy saving, as many SMEs do not have any formal energy management
processes in place. Once these processes are set up and energy becomes a focus for the company, implementing
projects that will save energy will be easier and have a higher success rate. As the SMEs grow, their energy
management processes will allow them to continue to save energy, even if some of their shorter term energy
saving projects have ended.
The latter is equally important, as START2ACT aims to reduce current energy use in SMEs as well as future-proofing
their energy use as they grow. The START2ACT Knowledge Base identifies over 100 low and no cost energy saving
measures that SMEs can implement to start saving energy immediately. Immediate progress is important as it
incentivises the SME to maintain momentum and interest in energy saving within the company.
The competition will consist of five checklists with a series of actions covering good energy management and
energy saving. The SME can tick off all of the actions that they have completed, and will receive a bronze, silver,
gold or platinum START2ACT award to recognise their progress. The SME can revisit the checklists as many times as
they wish, ticking off further actions as they complete them. Each time they can submit their progress and their
score will be recalculated. In this way the SME can progress through each level working up to the gold/platinum
award.
Engagement is a key part of the competition, and SMEs are encouraged to share their sustainability commitments
internally with staff and also externally with customers and suppliers. The START2ACT bronze, silver, gold and
platinum awards will be an effective way of showing their involvement in energy saving, as the awards can be used
in email signatures and on promotional materials.
The remaining sections of this document outline the practicalities of how the START2ACT Energy Saving
Competition will function. Section 2 outlines the path that each SME participant will take through the competition,
Section 3 sets out the content and structure of how the competition will look and Section 4 specifies the scoring
criteria and the assessment process for the final award.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
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2. Competition process flow
SMEs participating in the competition will work through the process below. Blue boxes indicate the steps
completed by the SME and green boxes indicates those completed by the START2ACT partners and web developer.
Competition Flow Chart
1) Application Stage: Company enters
basic information to sign up for
competition
Introductory email sent automatically with
login details for reference.
Reminder email if incomplete
2) Company self-assesses their
level – this is done by ticking off
the actions that they have
completed for each category and
providing short
justifications/evidence for each.
Company’s score is automatically generated depending on
which boxes they have ticked and they receive a
bronze/silver/gold/platinum award. For gold and platinum
award winners, the evidence must be reviewed by a
START2ACT partner. Bronze/silver/gold/platinum award
certificate issued by email including promotional materials
such as email signatures with B/S/G/P badge. The email
also includes their whole action plan, so that see what else
they need to do and use these as goals to work towards
Reminder email after 2 months for Company to log
in again and re-self-assess
3) Company re-self-assesses – this
is done updating the completed
actions for each category and
providing short
justifications/evidence for each.
Company’s score is automatically generated.
B/S/G/P award certificate and promotional
materials sent out. The email also includes
their whole action plan.
Reminder email after 3 months for Company to log
in again and re-self-assess
4) Company can re-self-assess as
many times as they wish.
Score and awards are assigned as many times as
the self-assessment is completed.
In M32, silver, gold and platinum award
holders are shortlisted.
Company is then entered in to a final review of winners by S2A partners for judging. In this process
companies who have been particularly creative or innovative with energy efficiency could be
recognised with separate awards.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
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3. Competition structure and content
3.1 Registration
Before participating in the START2ACT Energy Saving Competition, each SME must register and create a START2ACT
account. The data required to set up this account will only be used within the frame of the START2ACT activities,
namely the interactive online platform, business breakfasts and on-site training for SMEs. The data will not be used
or distributed outside of the START2ACT project consortium.
Figure 1 shows the START2ACT access button to
the Interactive Energy Saving Platform on the
homepage of start2act.eu. By selecting the ‘Energy
Saving Competition’ field of the button (bottom
right) the user will be directed to the login/sign-up
page and, having completed this process, will
receive free-of-charge access to the Energy Saving
Competition as well as the other registration-only
activities (the E-learning modules and the
interactive social platform).
The sign-up page will have a simple text entry form
including the items below. The SME will also need
to set up a password to be able to log in later.
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
Figure 1: Access Button to the Interactive Energy Saving
Company name
Platform on the START2ACT web page.
Company website
Address (including country)
Sector
Number of employees
Age of company
Name, job title and email address of the main user
The purpose of the sign-in account is to allow the SME to log into the competition multiple times to track their
progress.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
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3.2 Main page
Once the SME has registered, they will be redirected to the main competition page. This page will set out the
competition instructions and will allow the SME to start the competition straight away.
Welcome to the START2ACT Energy Saving Competition. To start, click on the
icons below. Each section includes a list of actions that you can complete to save
energy and improve energy management in your office.
Complete as much as you can of each section and once you’re ready to find out
your score, click on the START2ACT button to submit.
STRATEGY
MONITOR &
MEASURE
ENGAGE
IMPLEMENT
Figure 2: Energy Saving Competition main page (mock-up only)
The competition is split into five categories: Strategy; Monitor & Measure; Identify; Implement; and Engage. Each
category is represented visually on the main page by an icon. The five categories have been selected because they
represent good energy management.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
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Each icon leads to a new page that holds a short checklist of actions. The SME can tick off the actions that they
have already completed, and they can revisit the checklists as many times as they wish to tick off subsequent
actions throughout the competition running period.
Once the SME has updated one of the checklists, the category icon will turn green and show the percentage
complete to show the SME how they are progressing through the competition.
3.3 Category page
When the SME clicks on a category, they will see a short checklist with a number of actions. There will be a ‘read
more’ button next to each action which will reveal a further explanation, in case the SME is not sure what the
action entails in practice. The draft actions and explanatory text are provided in the next sub-section.
When the SME has completed an action, they should tick the ‘We’ve done this’ box. They should then upload some
evidence using the upload button and add any supplementary comments in the relevant box. The evidence for the
first example given below could be the action plan that the SME has created.
Action
We’ve done
this/we do
this
regularly
N/A
Evidence
uploaded
?
Add
comment
We have conducted a walk around of the office and
have identified quick win energy saving
opportunities. [Read more]
[Ability to ]
[Ability to
]
[Ability to
]
[Insert
text]
We conduct regular walk arounds and regularly
identify energy saving opportunities to be included
within an action plan. We record the results and
review them at team meetings. [Read more]
As well as identifying low and no cost energy saving
opportunities, we identify longer term investment
opportunities. [Read more]
We identify opportunities for procuring more energy
efficient equipment, so that when the time comes to
upgrade equipment energy efficiency of new
equipment is considered. We have included this
energy efficient procurement in our energy
statement/policy. [Read more]
Figure 3: Checklist example for the 'Identify' category
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
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3.4 Checklist text
The draft actions and explanatory text are provided in the table below.
SECTION
SUB-SECTION
ACTION
Strategy
Responsibility We have a team member who is responsible for energy management.
Energy management is essential if you want to understand and control your energy costs. Larger companies often have a
dedicated Energy Manager, but smaller companies can also assign responsibility to an employee to spend a proportion of
their time on energy management. It is useful to have a named person so that other employees know who they should
contact if they have comments, complaints or suggestions.
Senior management is committed to supporting and improving energy management within the organisation.
In order for energy management to be supported in your company, you will need to make sure that the company
owner/senior management understands the importance of it. This will make it easier for you to implement energy
reduction projects. Senior management should clearly understand what energy management is, why it is needed, what
the benefits are and how much it will cost (in terms of time/resources).
The team member responsible for energy management regularly meets with senior management to discuss energy use
and plans for reducing it.
“Regularly” could mean monthly or quarterly, depending on the size of your company (i.e. if you use a significant amount
of energy, you should meet monthly). It is ok if senior management and the team member responsible for energy
management are the same person, as long as they still go through this process of regularly assessing progress.
Energy
We have an energy statement (or policy) that describes our energy management ambitions.
Statement
A company energy statement or policy is a document that outlines your aims and objectives for reducing your energy
use. An effective statement should be relevant and appropriate to the size of your organisation and provide the focus
needed to actively reduce your energy consumption. Download our sample energy statement to create your own
[include energy statement template link].
The energy statement has been signed off at a senior level.
It is essential to gain senior management support to ensure that energy efficiency is be taken seriously. Make sure that
your company energy statement is signed and dated by senior management to show all employees that energy
management is important to your company.
The energy statement is promoted internally and externally to our staff, customers and stakeholders.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
POINTS
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ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
Energy
Strategy
Monitor & Measure
You can display the energy statement publically on your website and internal intranet to show your commitment to
energy reduction. You can also send it round internally via email and present on it in company meetings.
We have designed an ‘energy strategy’ to be able to understand our energy use, set energy reduction targets and
identify energy saving projects.
To create an energy strategy, you should take the aims from your energy statement and set out a plan for how you will
achieve those aims. Your energy strategy should ideally include an understanding of how much energy you use and what
the main energy using equipment or processes are. It should also state a clear energy reduction target. If you can track
your energy use, this target could be “we will reduce our energy use by 5% by 2020, using the energy use from 2016 as a
baseline”. If you cannot track your energy use, your target can be qualitative, for example “we will change our controls
and engage staff to ensure that energy is only used when and where it is needed. Finally, your strategy should include
some projects that will work towards your energy reduction target. See the ‘Identify’ category for tips on how you can
identify energy saving projects.
We have also planned how we will implement energy saving projects, with time (and money if needed) set aside.
It’s one thing to identify energy saving projects, and another to implement them. The key to getting these projects off
the ground is to understand the business case for each project – set out the costs, staff time requirements,
implementation timelines and payback times. A staff engagement project to encourage staff members to turn off lights
when they leave a room may be free to implement. Installing movement sensors on lights to automatically turn them off
may have a 1 year payback, and upgrading lights to LED may have a 2-5 year payback. It is important to understand the
costs and time requirements of each project so that you can decide which ones you will take forwards.
We have a method of measuring the success of implemented measures (by monitoring energy use).
An energy strategy is meaningless if it is put away and forgotten about. You should regularly refer back to it, make
updates where appropriate and most importantly report on progress against your targets. If you have access to your
energy data, set up a process to measure energy reduction against your baseline. See the ‘Monitor & Measure’ category
for more information on how to do this.
We have developed a plan for monitoring and recording energy use.
The collection of energy data is a fundamental action for all organisations, regardless of size or expertise. Before you
launch into data collection, set out a short plan covering the following elements:
• How will you collect energy data? (i.e. meter readings, energy bills, or automatic metering from your energy
supplier)
• Who will collect energy data? (And who is their back up in case of absence)
• How often will it be collected? (i.e. monthly, weekly)
• How will you record your energy data?
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
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ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
Use the START2ACT energy data collection template to help you with this [insert link], and find out more tips on the
START2ACT ‘Track your energy use’ webpage.
We collect energy data and review and discuss this energy data internally at meetings.
Discussing the collected energy data in meetings enables you identify times when energy use is higher than usual or
times where energy is being used when no one is in the office.
We analyse energy data and communicate the results (e.g. via graphs, charts etc.)
Data analysis can help you to identify where energy is wasted, as it can highlight anomalies that you might not be able to
spot in a list of meter readings. Visually representing data can be especially useful, such as the graph below.
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2
3
Electricity consumption analysis, showing out of hours electricity use at weekends compared to electricity use during the
working week. The line chart shows the half hourly electricity use for two 24 hour periods – one during the week and one
at the weekend.
Identify
We have established an energy baseline to measure energy performance over time. This will be used to demonstrate
and communicate progress to staff in energy management/company meetings.
Once you know your current energy use, you can use it to compare against as you reduce your energy use over time.
Share the energy baseline with staff and provide them with updates once you have made progress against this baseline.
We have conducted a walk around of the office and have identified quick win energy saving opportunities.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
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ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
Implement
There are lots of low and no cost changes that you can make in your office to start saving energy immediately. The
START2ACT Knowledge Base lists over 100 low and no cost actions across 11 different topics. Read the ‘Save on heating &
cooling’ and ‘Save on lighting’ to start with to collect a list of easy energy-saving actions. Visit the Knowledge Base here,
and download the START2ACT Walk-around checklist here to help you. [link to Knowledge Base and Walk-around
checklist].
We conduct regular walk arounds and regularly identify energy saving opportunities to be included within an action
plan. We record the results and review them at team meetings.
Energy is wasted by different people at different times of day, so it is important to conduct regular walk-arounds
(monthly or quarterly depending on the size of your company) so that you can identify as many energy saving
opportunities as possible. List all the opportunities that you have identified in an action plan – you can download the
START2ACT action plan template here. Review the action plan in team meetings so that everyone understands which
opportunities you are taking forwards and can help if necessary.
As well as identifying low and no cost energy saving opportunities, we identify longer term investment opportunities.
Some energy saving opportunities require capital investment, such as installing movement sensors on lighting or
upgrading lighting to LEDs. Read the Knowledge Base [link] to understand the investment options that are available to
you, and try to make a business case for implementing one or more of these opportunities. You will need to understand
exactly what the opportunity is, why it is needed, what the benefits are, how much it will cost (in terms of time/capital)
and what the payback is (how long it will take to earn back the capital cost through the energy savings).
We identify opportunities for procuring more energy efficient equipment, so that when the time comes to upgrade
equipment energy efficiency of new equipment is considered. We have included this energy efficient procurement in
our energy statement/policy.
Procurement for IT equipment (e.g. computers, printers and photocopiers) and other large equipment (e.g. boilers, airconditioning units and kitchen equipment) is not replaced regularly. When it is replaced or upgraded, you have an
opportunity to significantly reduce energy use from these pieces of equipment. Make sure that you have identified
energy-using equipment and have specified in you energy statement or policy that energy efficiency must be a part of all
procurement decisions.
We have identified energy saving opportunities in an action plan.
Using the explanations and tools in the ‘Identify’ category, create an action plan of energy saving opportunities [link to
action plan download].
We have planned how we will implement each action in the action plan.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
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ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
Engage
Expand your action plan with details on how you will implement each action. Add the steps that you will need to
complete, the person that is responsible for implementing it, the time/resource requirements and the date when you
expect it to be complete.
We have started to implement actions from the action plan.
Senior management should have signed off permission for the actions to be implemented and everyone should be aware
of the actions that they are responsible for. Progress has been made on one or more of the actions. Focus on “quick win”
opportunities first, which are changes that are easy to implement and start saving energy straight away. These give you
some immediate success stories that can be used to maintain momentum and interest in energy saving.
We have included the action plan in our energy strategy and have shared it with staff members. We regularly check
action plan progress and talk to the members of staff that are responsible for implementing each action.
We have implemented at least 5 opportunities from the action plan.
We regularly engage with staff and customers on energy and environmental matters.
Engagement on energy and environmental matters can take many forms. You could:
• Add an energy section to internal or external newsletters
• Share energy reduction progress with staff via email and in meetings
• Create an energy and environment page on your website to engage customers and suppliers
• Put up posters and stickers around the office to inform staff on energy saving
Our staff can access the company energy statement/policy and are kept up to date with action plans and progress
against targets.
Store your company energy statement electronically in a place that is easy to access, such as on your intranet page or
website.
One or more of our employees has visited the START2ACT Knowledge Base.
Encourage your employees to visit the START2ACT Knowledge Base to learn which energy saving behaviours they could
adopt. There is a section dedicated to employees that focuses on actions that they can start immediately to save energy
at work and at home.
We communicate the outcomes of energy management meetings/reviews and our energy saving achievements to the
rest of the company.
We promote energy saving behaviours throughout the office as a helpful reminder.
Download the START2ACT stickers [link] and stick them up around the office to remind employees to turn off lights and
equipment.
One or more of our employees has completed the START2ACT E-Learning modules.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
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ENGAGING EUROPEAN STARTUPS AND YOUNG SMES FOR ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
There are three START2ACT E-Learning modules for you and your colleagues to learn more about energy saving in the
following topic areas:
• Heating and cooling
• Lighting
• Office equipment
• Metering and monitoring
• Procurement
• Saving energy at home
We have publicised our involvement in the START2ACT programme on our website.
We have contributed to the START2ACT 'Ask the Expert' Forum.
Share tips and advice on energy saving with other SMEs, or ask one of the START2ACT partners a question.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069
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4. Scoring and awards
Each action has a score associated to it depending on its complexity level. For example, in the ‘Identify’ category
example in the previous section action 1 receives 1 point, action 2 receives 2 points, and actions 3 and 4 receive 3
points each. The scores for every action can be seen in the checklist text table.
The company is given a total score depending on which actions they have ticked, and the company is assigned a
bronze, silver or gold award depending on their score. There is a total of 66 points available. The thresholds are
preliminarily set as follows:
»
»
»
10 points: Bronze award
25 points: Silver award
50 points: Gold award
Companies achieving 60 points or more may receive a platinum award, although we predict that this will be
difficult to obtain.
When a company receives a score of 50 or above, the evidence and comments will be checked by the START2ACT
partner based in that country before the gold or platinum award is given to them. Companies achieving the bronze
or silver awards should still submit evidence, but this will not be checked unless the company subsequently
achieves a gold or platinum award. The award is sent to them in a congratulatory email, with the
bronze/silver/gold START2ACT badge to add to their email signatures and company website. A full checklist
including the actions in all five categories will be attached to this email, to encourage them to complete more
actions to achieve the next award level.
The company can sign in and re-assess their progress at any time to increase their award level. Some companies
may only complete this once, others may be motivated to revisit the competition several times. Please see the
process flow in Section 2 to see how this would work in practice.
Once the competition period has come to an end in month 32, SME participants that have obtained silver, gold and
platinum awards will be shortlisted. If the participant numbers are high, the award holders will be invited to submit
a 250-word commentary on their energy saving progress throughout the competition, to be used as additional
judging criteria for the final winner. There will also be a creativity/innovation prize to recognise a company that
may not have the highest score, but has made significant progress in an innovative way.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 696069