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Household Retrofits

Residential Retrofit Program

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Sustainable Households Project
Final Report (119kb)
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giveaway number 1

Between 2005 and 2008 Tweed Council helped to retrofit more than 50% of shire households with energy and water saving fixtures, reducing town water consumption by more than 800 million litres each year and local greenhouse gas emissions by more than 15,000 tonnes per year.

A summary of the community retrofit program summary is provided below.

Household Participation Case Study 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total
Household Retrofits 1 23 800 2,800 12,405 2,222 18,250
Annual Water Savings Mega Litres 2 1 34 115 593 84 827
Annual Greenhouse Gas Reduction Tonnes CO2 equivalent 3 180 664 2,324 10,296 1,844 15,308
  1. The first two rounds of the retrofit program (2005 and 2006) resulted in more than 9,000 kits being given away. However state wide auditing of product giveaways indicate that only 40% of these kits are ever installed. To account for this, household retrofit numbers and associated savings have been based upon a 40% installation rate for the first two rounds of the community retrofit program. 2007 and 2008 retrofits included installation as part of the service so a 100% installation rate has been used to calculate savings associated with shower and light globe installations.
  2. Water savings calculations = (case study average water savings * no. of showers installed) + .015ML per year per toilet conversion + .002ML per year per tap aerator installed.
  3. Carbon dioxide savings calculations = (case study average CO2 savings associated with shower and light retrofits * no. of households retrofitted) Case study households savings included 7 tonnes of CO2 per year because they were required to become green power customers as part of the case study.

Stage 1: Case Study

In 2005, Council, in partnership with the NSW Department of the Environment and Country Energy ran a pilot project to raise awareness about simple actions to reduce household carbon footprints. Twenty-three local households participated in a year long case study to quantify benefits of retrofitting your home with water efficient showers and compact fluorescent light globes as well as signing up to green power electricity.

Stage 2: Shower and Light Giveaway No. 1

In 2005, Council partnered with NECO Pty Ltd to giveaway 2,000 energy and water saving kits to shire residents. The kits comprised of one water saving showerhead and five energy saving light.

globes. The kits were funded via the NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme and were given away in less than two days. To be eligible for the kits, residents were required to exchange their old showerhead for the new one. This was done to increase the likelihood of installation. The results of the Sustainable Households Project was used to promote the giveaway and dispel the misconception that water saving showerheads don’t deliver a good quality shower. Lessons learnt from giveaway 1 were used to improve the outcomes of giveaway 2.

Stage 3: Shower and Light Giveaway No. 2

In 2006, Council joined with six other north coast councils to promote a showerhead and light globe giveaway being run by Easy Being Green Pty/Ltd. The giveaway kit consisted of one water saving showerhead and six energy saving light globes. For every kit given away, Easy Being Green donated $2 towards climate change education in the region. 22,000 kits were given away in the region (6,968 in the Tweed) and $44,000 was raised for climate change education. The funds are managed by the Northern Rivers Group on Energy, with a portion being used supply and install energy monitoring equipment in high schools throughout the region.

Stage 4: Shower and Light Giveaway No.3

In 2007, Council partnered with Fieldforce Environmental to offer households an improved version of previous showerhead and light globe giveaways. Still funded via the NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (GGAS), the Enviro Saver Program included free replacement of all showers and incandescent lights within the home. The installation component of the program was required.

because GGAS evaluation of giveaways throughout the state determined that a large number of lights and showers were not being installed by the householder. To maximise water saving benefits Council also asked Fieldforce to install an aerator on the kitchen tap and a flush converter in single flush toilets. This part of the program was funded by Council’s Water Unit.

At the completion of the Household Retrofit Program in December 2008, more than 50% of shire households had been retrofitted with energy and water saving fixtures.

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