Energy Saving Trust worked with Countrywide to create an online tool designed to support house buyers and homeowners.
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Background
Countrywide Surveying Services operates a surveying and valuation practice based in the UK.
Energy Saving Trust worked with Countrywide to create EnergyFact, an online tool, informative advice report and energy surveying support tool all rolled into one. Designed to support house buyers and homeowners by providing information on their household contributions to climate change, EnergyFact includes recommendations, costs and savings of potential home upgrades, as well as other simple low cost ways to improve the energy efficiency of a home.
Challenge
Countrywide Surveying Services (Countrywide) was looking to support customers wishing to make their homes more energy efficient, by helping them achieve reduced bills and healthier living through clear and accurate information on their survey products. Highlighting the climate change risk was also an important challenge, and one that Countywide saw as a unique market opportunity.
Under normal circumstances, Countrywide would send a chartered surveyor to customers’ homes, who would then advise on energy efficiency improvements. The biggest drawback to this method was the time and resources needed – they wanted a faster solution.
To speed up the process, Countrywide needed an advice resource to provide high quality and fully tailored energy saving guidance to householders. Discussions with surveyors identified the need to make provisions for both customer ‘self-service’ access and surveyor supported data input within a combined resource that accessed a comprehensive home energy data set for accuracy.
“It’s good to tell them about sustainable lifestyle changes. Even if they don’t have the money for renewable technologies, they can contribute in simple and cost free ways to do their part for the climate emergency.”John McCurryProduct director, Countywide
Action
Keen to get their new EnergyFact idea powered up, Countrywide approached Energy Saving Trust after learning about the Home Energy Efficiency Tool.
With a secure self-service customer web tool and integrated surveyor optimised interface connected to a full home energy and climate risk database, Countrywide’s customers would be able to engage with energy saving guidance and bespoke, budgeted home improvement plans delivered through the final report generated through EnergyFact, which includes:
current property characteristics
recommended behavioural change measures
information on carbon emissions (before and after improvements)
environmental risk factors (data supplied by Landmark API)
detailed information on energy saving measures
In light of the ongoing climate emergency, to get the sustainability messaging right, Countrywide product director John McCurry wanted to educate customers about what climate change actually means.
Energy Saving Trust’s Home Energy Efficiency tool is a consumer engagement tool that can help consumers understand their energy use, reduce consumption and receive actionable recommendations for routes to improving the energy efficiency of their home. It will outline the best long-term cost, energy or carbon savings and home improvements for a customer’s individual budget, not based on averages but based on the actual characteristics of their own home.
This unique home modelling tool assesses the impacts of all possible combinations of energy saving options for each property. To ensure accuracy, all savings are calibrated to take into consideration actual running costs from bills and how each home is occupied.
The savings opportunities are compiled into a bespoke and fully costed improvement plan, covering potential modernisation, heating, insulation, controls and renewables investments. Plans are fully customisable and can be targeted to meet specific goals or budgets to ensure the best possible fit for homeowners.
Result
Countrywide has now launched EnergyFact , an online tool that connects both their business users (surveyors, call centers and administrators) and customers to the relevant home energy savings data, climate risk data with energy saving guidance and recommendations.
Once customers provide information about their homes (the more data the customer supplies, the more accurate the results), such as type of building, age, number of bedrooms and more, surveyors can add further detail, allowing EnergyFact to calculate where they could implement energy saving measures, the cost of these measures and the savings they could achieve – both in terms of financial and carbon savings. Countrywide surveyors can then share this bespoke home energy savings plan with the customer.
“At the core of delivering EnergyFact, has been the excellent project team at Energy Saving Trust. From conception through to delivery, this has all been delivered through carbon neutral remote video sessions. Working with Energy Saving Trust on bringing our exciting new product to life has been a really positive experience.” John McCurryProduct director, Countrywide
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