Free Independent Personalised sustainable building advice This service is an initiative by BRANZ Ltd.

Overview WHAT IS IT? Free, specialist service on energy, water and material related advice for home building projects. WHO IS IT FOR? Homeowners Designers Building Professionals Other Community Members WHERE IS IT? Waitakere City, Hamilton City & Kapiti Coast District Councils More in the future

Background to Project Pilot project currently being trialled by BRANZ Ltd. Designed to address: 1.That homeowners tend to opt-out of discussions 2.The lack of accessible technical information available 3.The lack of industry expertise and a general reluctance to implement sustainability features

Three primary functions: 1.A free supply of information 2.Facilitation between client, designer and trades-people 3.Networking between stakeholders and sustainability resources. EDA Purpose

Outcomes & Benefits Three main outcomes: 1.Direct impact on level of sustainability in houses 2.Contact and education point for industry 3.Tangible focus point Research Sector Building Industry Local Government NZ Community = Effective Feed-back Loop

Implementation Eco Design Advisor Training 3-day initial training workshop Case studies & site visits Range of tools provided Industry expert presentations On-Going Support Fortnightly conference calls Technical Advice 3-monthly review meetings

The Advisory Process Approx 300 consultations each / year (Short and long consultations) Active promotion of service through presentations Tailored advice on any sustainable design issue Consultations recorded

Analysis & Evaluation 1.Attitude and Behaviour Change Survey 2.Improvements to the Built Environment Range of Measurable Success Criteria Two Important Components:

Attitude & Behaviour Change Impact on the design community Postal Survey Value of Service Attitudes & Motivations Environmental Behaviours 4 Sample Groups: 1.Designers - EDA 2.Designers – no EDA 3.Homeowners – EDA 4.Homeowners – no EDA

Research Timeline Surveys Distributed March 2007 Data Entry & Initial Analyses May - August 2007 Further Research & Analyses December 2007……. Research Reports June - September 2007

Community Based Social Marketing Behaviour change ‘comes about a response to personal appeals’ 5 Key Points to Designing an Effective Programme: 1.Target Behaviour 2.Uncover Barriers & Benefits 3.Design Programme to overcome steps 4.Pilot Programme 5.Implement & Evaluate Behaviour Change Tools: Commitments Prompts Social Norms Social Diffusion

Green Home Scheme Analysis Changes (both intended and actual) to the design are recorded as a result of every consultation. Specifics examined: thermal performance, appliance resource use, water economy, site selection, spatial efficiency, indoor air quality. A customised scoring system which is loosely based on BRANZ’s Green Home Scheme (GHS). From this, both the relative and actual significance of the EDA consultation can be assessed.

The Future Pilot Phase: 3 Councils Year 1:  Set up tools and administration system  Initial research and evaluation  Timeline and project expansion Growth Phase: Councils Year 2: Process streamlined + training standardised  Public awareness at national level  Collection of representative market intelligence  Statistically representative evaluation Consolidation Phase: 25 Councils Year 3:  Mainstream awareness/acceptance by all  Ongoing collection of industry intelligence  Continuous scheme refinement  Transforms into stable, self-sustaining service

Conclusions Considerable enthusiasm being generated Face-to-Face = most effective marketing channel Scheme proving effective as a network, education and behaviour change tool

Acknowledgements Thank you to all our contributors and support we are currently receiving from:

Contact Details Roman Jaques Senior Sustainability Scientist BRANZ Ltd. Ph: (07) Lauren Christie Sustainability Scientist BRANZ Ltd. Ph: (04)