Hamburg Energy Partnerships

The Hamburg Energy Partnerships realised as a subproject of the future concept Renewable Wilhelmsburg: In partnership with participating citizens of Hamburg, it was contributed to the reduction of energy consumption in households by means of elucidation and consistent handling. The data collected in the course of the project aided the determination of the contribution that can be made by the households in Hamburg towards the climate target of the city of Hamburg.


The project supplied data and information concerning the following questions:

• How much energy is consumed in households in Hamburg?
  
  
• Which saving and efficiency potentials exist?
  
  
• Which investments are necessary to tap the potentials?
  
  
• How well informed are the citizens of Hamburg about energy saving in everyday life?

Around 40 households from the Verein Kirchdorfer Eigenheimer e.V. (association of homeowners in Kirchdorf) concluded so-called energy partnership agreements with students of environment technology from the HAW Hamburg and were accompanied by the students until March 2013. This was the end of the energy saving competition in which the participants competed against each other with the support of the students. The focus was on heat and drinking water as well as electricity.

The budding environmental technicians advised the participating households comprehensively on the theme of energy saving and showed the huge potential of the behaviour in everyday life. The particular emphasis were on the fact that all measures can easily be implemented in practice. Hence, the maximum of the energy saving potential was examined. Necessary investments such as low-flow showerheads or new more energy efficient household devices were sponsored by IBA Hamburg with up to 500 Euro per household. 


At the start of the project an inventory of the energy and water consumption per household had first been drawn up. In cooperation with the residents, the students  then developed appropriate action plans to reduce the previous rate of consumption – this includes the practising of energy conscious behaviour. So-called smart meters for energy consumption had been installed as aids towards energy consultation and success monitoring. The consumption of heat and drinking water were recorded in the conventional manner. The students will record the user behaviour and awareness as well as features of utilities structures in checklists, questionnaires and from on-site inspections. Furthermore, the energy bills were evaluated and temperature and humidity measurements carried out. 


The results and the knowledge gained of the Hamburg Energy Partnerships were published in the project newspaper "Die Wilhelmsburger Energiefreunde".