DIY Community Initiative
Where did the idea come from?
During co-design workshops with renters, the unique challenges of trying to make a rented home more energy-efficient, in a temporary and removable way, were evident from the contributions of workshop participants. An idea suggested by multiple user groups was to have an initiative which empowers skilled volunteers to collaborate with community groups through building temporary retrofits* for rented homes.
* Temporary retrofits refer to any measure (big or small) that is taken to enhance energy-efficiency that can be easily removed and adapted.
DIY Community Initiative
‘DIY:SOS-style’ community concept
This concept was developed based on research and user feedback, however it uses a hypothetical community project to illustrate how SEC’s might use our free workbook to move their project ideas ‘from plan, to do’. This fictional case study is outlined below.
Please note: The town of ‘Millpark’ is a fictional creation developed for illustrative purposes. While the town itself is imaginary, all data and scenarios presented are based on thorough research.
Project Workbook
DIY: Community Initiative by Millpark SEC
Who are Millpark SEC?
Millpark Sustainable Energy Community are a group of neighbours who have functioned as an SEC for just over a year.
The group have experience organising community efforts to enhance energy efficiency, and also use their time to volunteer for activities like beach cleans.
It recently came to their attention at a monthly meeting that many of their community are living in rented accommodation and cannot implement permanent retrofits that homeowners can to increase their homes energy efficiency.
What is the project?
Millpark SEC decided to take action when hearing from local renters how difficult it is to progress energy efficiency. Renters face unique barriers when trying to make their homes more energy efficient, with issues such as draughty windows and high energy bills impacting their ability to save energy and costs.
Temporary, removable retrofits can enhance energy efficiency in the home, without making permanent changes to the housing structure. Community groups with skilled volunteers, such as Millpark DIY Shed, can gather their skills and materials to manufacture simple solutions to help renters.
The ‘Millpark DIY Shed’ was approached by the SEC for help building temporary window insulators - luckily, the SEC had already put pen to paper using our free guide to plan project steps and move the idea from 'plan' to 'do'. Collaborating with local hardware suppliers, Gray & Sons, they got to work building and distributing adjustable window insulators to renters.
Millpark SEC’s Project Template
Projected Impact
Energy Savings
People who are renting used energy kits from local libraries to measure their homes energy efficiency before and after the window insulation was installed.
On average, 23kgCO2 in carbon savings was recorded over a 3 month period
Financial Savings
People who are renting saved on average €20 per month on their domestic energy bill