A pro-climate partnership:

Initial results of the Hamburg Energy Partnerships project sponsored by IBA (International Building Exhibition) Hamburg were presented at an event held on Wednesday, 20 June 2012 at the IBA DOCK. Students of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW) presented the results of their measurements and talked about their experiences as part of the Energy Partnerships project. An awards ceremony was also held and 500 euros each bestowed for the best project poster, the highest theoretical savings potential and the most creative proposal for saving energy. To illustrate the energy efficiency analyses and to visualise the cooperation with the participating households, the students exhibited posters for each home in the project. The posters depicted the measures undertaken in the households, for example how exchanging an old refrigerator for a new one or altering usage patterns can result in energy savings. The amount of energy saved per household was calculated with the help of 'energy loggers' and smart metres.Since spring of this year, the HAW students have been working with 40 member households of the Kirchdorf Homeowners' Association (Verein Kirchdorfer Eigenheimer) on energy partnership projects. The goal of the home visits was to conduct on-site measurements to determine how much electricity, heat and drinking water participating households were using and to find energy-saving solutions based on the results.Besides IBA Hamburg, project partners include the Hamburg Ministry of Urban Development and Environment (BSU), Hamea (Hamburg-based energy agency), the Kirchdorf Homeowners' Association (VKE), the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW) and Vattenfall.

Hamburg, 20 June 2012 - Over the past three months, students of the HAW attempted to reduce the energy requirements of 40 households in Wilhelmsburg. Groups of students teamed up with the households in energy partnerships, visiting the homes to give individual savings tips and to achieve the express objective of switching out each home's biggest energy-wasting appliance. This afforded them a very personal insight into the way households deal with energy and allowed them to provide targeted savings tips. For their part, the homeowners evidenced a tremendous commitment to the students and the project. The amount of power used by electrical appliances was tracked with the help of energy data loggers and multi-function metres. Supplementary available data included that recorded by intelligent electric metres, or 'smart metres', sponsored by the utility Vattenfall. With this wealth of information about energy consumption patterns, it was easy to identify the biggest energy wasters in the participating households. These are now being exchanged for new, more fuel-efficient appliances.

Making the appliance exchange possible is funding from IBA Hamburg, which provides a budget of up to 500 euros per household. "We know that about 25% of CO2 emissions are created by households. And that is precisely the starting point of the project: by engaging in the partnerships, the students are committing themselves to saving energy where it counts, and thereby to reducing emissions," said IBA director Uli Hellweg.
Thorsten Kahl, Project Manager for Vattenfall: "We were glad to support with our technology the students' commitment to creating a new awareness among project participants about the issue of saving energy. In future we will offer project participants an online visualisation so they can continue to monitor their power consumption in detail and effectively adjust their usage patterns."

From the analysis of measured values and inventory of homeowners' needs, the students derived an individual energy-savings package for each household. In one home, for example, a 35-year-old freezer is to be replaced by a new one - a move that will save 1053 kWh, or 589 kg CO2, annually. Thus, the homeowners can do something good for the environment while saving approximately 250 euros a year to boot. In another household, a vampire TV is to be replaced by a modern LED version. A power strip with an on/off with switch will save even more energy, as it keeps the television from operating in standby mode. It was also possible to replace an old CRT monitor with a new flatscreen display, so that, all told, the family could save 345 kWh of electricity, making their carbon footprint 193 kg lighter a year. Incidentally, the changes will lighten the annual household energy budget by 83 euros. Hendrik Pinnau, Ministry of Urban Development and Environment: "The energy partnerships have shown that energy-saving potential exists in every household, a fact which the students' expertise brought to light. So now the households can make a contribution to climate protection in Hamburg."

The project will be continued in the fall when a new group of students cycles in to the energy partnerships. At that time it will be determined whether the calculated savings were actually achieved, and what level of savings result from streamlining consumer usage patterns.

For further information please contact:
IBA Hamburg GmbH, Kristina Hödl, Director of Media Relations,
kristina.hoedl@iba-hamburg.de, Tel.: +49 (0)40 / 226 227 335, or Anna Vietinghoff, Media Relations, anna.vietinghoff@iba-hamburg.de,
Tel: +49 (0)40 / 226 227-331 or to presse@iba-hamburg.de

HAW Hamburg, Fritz Konopka & Malte Neumeier, Group Public Relations,
Web: http://energiepartnerschaft.blogspot.com/
E-mail: fritz.konopka@haw-hamburg.de & malte.neumeier@haw-hamburg.de