Energy Makeovers

Australia needs to reduce its carbon pollution.  Buildings in Australia account for 23% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.  Residential carbon abatement from energy efficiency is amongst the lowest cost abatement available to the community.

The Victorian government’s Energy Saver Incentive program will lead to significant reductions in energy use and cut greenhouse gas emissions by over 8 million tonnes in the residential sector over the next three years.

The Energy Saver Incentive program will deliver clear benefits for Victorian households including lower utility bills and greater comfort in both summer and winter.

The Energy Saver Incentive program will result in the creation of new green employment for energy assessors, plumbers, electricians, insulation installers, glaziers and others – an outcome that in the context of the Global Financial Crisis is welcome.

However, it is recognised that there are information barriers and complexities that can make it difficult for households to act, even when there is a strong desire to do so.  For busy households it can be difficult to assemble all of the information needed to assess and rank all of the different energy efficiency projects possible.

Fortunately, there is a new breed of residential energy services companies (ESCOs) emerging that make it easy for households to take action to cut energy.  Energy Makeovers is one of these new breed of ESCOs positioned to reduce energy consumption in buildings.

Energy Makeovers was established in June 2008 with the primary objective of assisting households to identify and prioritise energy efficiency projects that will reduce energy consumption and associated carbon emissions in the most economic way.  Energy Makeovers conducts comprehensive energy assessments and then recommends the best projects to suit the circumstances of individual households.

Following a comprehensive assessment that takes into account each household’s individual circumstances we produce an Energy Makeovers Roadmap© which ranks individual projects according to carbon pollution reduction potential, financial payback and impact on comfort.  Some households may implement all of the attractive energy efficiency projects identified, others may do the work in stages or wait until a future date to commence work.  It is entirely up to each household to decide.  Households can either carry out the projects themselves or if they so desire Energy Makeovers can arrange for the projects to be delivered by its network of experienced, specialist Installers.

In addition some local councils, like the Cities of Melbourne and Yarra, are planning to partner with government-accredited ESCOs to assist their ratepayers to introduce energy efficiency measures.

At the end of the day, the role of ESCOs like Energy Makeovers is to remove uncertainty for households and clear the way for fact-based action to cut energy use.