Zurichange

Team 13 – Energy Now

More than 40% of CO2 comes from buildings, to which space heating is the biggest contributor. To tackle the problem, the city of Zurich provides homeowners with several incentives which they can benefit from when they make the leap to cleaner solutions. However, the slow adoption rate suggests that they are neither well-informed nor motivated enough to make the move.

Be the #zurichange: An online energy portal that connects people that invest in renewable technologies. Homeowners or tenants get personalized recommendations according to their energy consumption, and they can become members of the network and connect with others right away. They can then start investing in small projects to reduce their energy consumption, and as they do so they accumulate points and reach new investment tiers, unlocking perks from the state and gaining access to larger community projects. Their properties and investment experiences are highlighted on the interactive city map for other users to see, acting as motivation for the community and for people that are initially hesitant to make the jump to cleaner technologies.

Demo page

The project was initiated during the Climathon.

There are several energy calculators out there, and several incentives being offered by the city, but there is no one-roof solution. The portal works both as an information tool for the citizens of Zurich, and as motivation for people that are hesitant to invest in less energy consuming technologies. Plus, with the citizens’ permission the city gets legit access to energy data from households, which can be used to better assess the cleantech adoption rates and to define financial trends.