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CarbonCulture@DECC and the ‘Social Media for Social Good’ Experiment

HJ Fantaskis | 03.10.12

Whitehall staff have unlocked an immediate 10% in energy savings with a new social tool from CarbonCulture. 

In a collaboration between CarbonCulture and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), CarbonCulture@DECC's 'social-media-for-social-good' experiment achieved a 40% voluntary employee engagement, and enabled staff to unlock an immediate 10% gas saving. 

Energy saving helps individuals and businesses to save money, reduce UK carbon emissions and strengthen the energy security position of the UK. The biggest savings are traditionally delivered by large capital projects like insulation and double glazing.

The innovative digital media tool was tested in a three-month trial at the Department's Headquarters, and is set to be adopted in the private and cultural sectors.

Luke Nicholson, founder and CEO of Tech City-based CarbonCulture says, “The CarbonCulture@DECC project attracted enormous interest and engagement. Our findings suggest that in large businesses, these new approaches could release a whole range of new savings, paying for themselves in a number of months. The tools that we’ve pioneered here with DECC have applications in all sorts of organisations, and could help businesses to make savings while also engaging their staff in the work they do.”

The Technology Strategy Board funded innovation project – CarbonCulture@DECC – combined the science of building management with the power of well-designed digital tools to engage staff in energy-saving at work. The tools developed could be used to make savings on electricity, gas, transport, waste and other areas. 

As a result of the success of the DECC initiative, CarbonCulture tools are in place across eight government departments, including Defra, HMRC and Number 10.

Iain Gray, Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board, said: “The UK has very strong skills in the creative industries, digital media, and low carbon products and services. CarbonCulture brings these together in a way that is commercially advantageous for the UK, and could help us meet our international environmental commitments. This novel, people-centred approach, using attractive and enjoyable online experiences to engage users, has massive potential for saving money and carbon in the UK”

CarbonCulture@DECC is a fantastic example of good design being used to address a very real problem that needs urgent attention. 

Creating an engaging, fun social tool for Whitehall staff has highlighted the economic gains to be made by bringing such energy-saving projects to a wider audience. We definitely recommend you take a look at the the official summary of the full report - and the full report if you've got more time.

We will watch with interest the companies that bring CarbonCulture's tools in house.

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innovation, carbonculture, decc, energy-saving, carbon-footprint, good design