The Royal Borough of Greenwich was commissioned as part of the European Sharing Cities programme to demonstrate the potential of innovation and technology in the areas of citizen engagement, mobility, energy, housing and city data platforms to benefit the environment, the city and its citizens.
The challenge
The Royal Borough of Greenwich was commissioned as part of the European Sharing Cities programme to demonstrate the potential of innovation and technology in the areas of citizen engagement, mobility, energy, housing and city data platforms to benefit the environment, the city and its citizens. Greenwich was London’s demonstrator area for the programme, therefore wanted to identify how best to showcase innovations in the borough.
There is a growing UK market for the provision of services that respond to the UK national electricity networks' increasing mix of energy sources and demands, without the involvement of consumers. Greenwich used the opportunity to identify how consumers could be involved with an intervention to reduce energy consumption at peak demand times on the energy network.
The solution
Greenwich co-designed an approach with residents to design a ‘first of its kind’ residential demand response service which used smart device technology installed in homes to monitor consumption, and a smartphone app to encourage residents to reduce consumption at peak times and gain rewards for doing so.
Separately, an online engagement platform was used that allowed residents to propose locations on a map where EV charging should be installed, transforming the decision process around where to locate charge points. Technology was used to integrate EV charge points into existing street lighting infrastructure, transforming how the infrastructure is delivered on city streets.
The impact
In terms of the energy demand, the initiative found high levels of engagement and response from residents to peak energy alerts (95 per cent) and an average 78 per cent energy reduction in energy consumption during peak energy events. Consumers are now directly benefiting from these savings.
The EV charging point data was integrated with data in the Mayor of London’s city data platform, allowing for the cross-city sharing of data to inform future infrastructure planning. This innovation has been transformative, saving 2500 kg of CO2 emissions in the first year and providing 4,000 kWh of energy for electric charging.
Lessons learned
Greenwich has been able to draw in good practices and lessons learned for further projects that combine technological innovation, such as smart devices, travel and home decarbonisation, with behaviour change. The role of community groups and co-development is well recognised to support knowledge and awareness building. This can support the sustainability of interventions and their beneficial impacts for communities.