THE CHALLENGE
Energy efficiency is a key focus for Meridian Energy, who is committed to helping its customers save money and protect the environment through wiser energy usage. Hot on the heels of Meridian Energy’s latest booklet on energy efficiency (Energy and cost savings start here) Meridian wanted a way of bringing the message into peoples’ homes … into their kitchens, laundries and family rooms. How much could I save if I switched to a cold water laundry wash? Does it really make a difference to put the TV on standby? A shower versus a bath? Questions like these could really add up to savings… with an on-line Energy Savings Calculator at work.
It was time to do the sums.
A New Zealand first
“We believe our on-line home energy savings calculator is the first of its kind in New Zealand. It provides valuable information for householders on their energy usage and costs, and identifies where potential savings could be made in their home.” Grenville Gaskell, Meridian Energy Retail Director.
The idea of a calculator sprung from the USA, but obvious non-metric system difficulties aside, Meridian preferred to partner with a New Zealand company who understood their local business. After creating and developing the idea in an excel spreadsheet, they came to Intergen to bring it on-line. “Intergen already had a strong picture of our business through their work on our web site and they knew the personality of the Meridian brand. They immediately understood the issues and complexities involved with this type of calculator; the data had to be absolutely accurate. This had to be a totally custom-made calculator.” Amanda Kaliff, Meridian Energy Business Analyst.
Let the number crunching begin
A tight deadline allowed one month to build the calculator with another month for testing and refactoring. Adding to the complexity was the desire to create a wizard style calculator that would allow the householder to enter at any point – to begin an energy calculation in which ever room of the house they wanted to explore first.
Intergen Developer Robert Ingledew sums it up. “The biggest challenge wasn’t the design and application, but creating a wizard that was truly custom-made. It’s a really good ASP.NET application built with C sharp and SQL server database. It’s highly individual, for example, everything about the summary page is dynamic and totally related to the customer’s situation at home, right down to the $ value you could save by doing X.”
Savings Add UP
Hot or cold water laundry washes? ½ loads? Fluorescents or normal lights? The Meridian Energy Savings Calculator takes a customer around their home, so navigation needed to be simple and clear on the web site. Energy savings tips appear on individual pages, along with brand imagery. It takes just a few minutes for householders to input their information into the on-line calculator. The calculator then provides a summary of how householders use their energy, with suggestions on what they could do to reduce their energy costs, right down to how many dollars they could potentially save.
THE BUSINESS DIFFERENCE
Over 10,000 householders have already put the calculator to work and that’s good news for saving energy and money. “For instance, we can literally show how installing five energy efficient compact fluorescent lights in high–use areas could save up to $62 a year in energy costs” says Mr Gaskell. A feedback form on the site records householders’ comments and suggestions with the consensus so far that the Meridian Energy Savings calculator adds up to a really smart idea.
Go to www.meridianenergy.co.nz/energysavingscalculator
When you’ve finished, remember to turn the lights off.