Project Neutral. Transitioning neighbourhoods to carbon neutrality. One neighbourhood at a time.

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Project Neutral is an ambitious initiative that aims to create the first urban carbon neutral neighbourhood in Canada. It was officially launched by volunteer members of CivicAction’s Emerging Leaders Network (ELN) in December 2010.

The Rationale

Contestant organization: 
Project Neutral
Venture partners: 

Emerging Leaders Network /CivicAction Alliance: The Emerging Leaders Network (ELN) is a current initiative of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance (CivicAction). With ELN’s and the CivicAction Alliance’s track record and success in facilitating collaborative processes to launch city building action, Project Neutral will have access to experienced city-builders with which to consult on project development and engage as mentors. ELN and CivicAction will contribute to the strategic development and execution of project activities. 

The Emerging Leaders Network (ELN) and the leadership network of CivicAction Alliance are rich pools of knowledge, leadership and resources that the Project Neutral team will tap into. Drawing from the Emerging Leaders Network, a group of more than 300 rising civic leaders, the Project Neutral team will connect with fellow members to build and maintain a team of subject-matter and process experts to support the implementation of the project. Finally, the ELN and CivicAction, networks of diverse, cross-sectoral and regional leaders, will communicate to and engage its members and stakeholders in communicating more broadly about Project Neutral.

Additonal supporters / partners / collaborators:

City of Toronto, Live Green

Internat Energy Solutions Canada

Bullfrog Power

University of Toronto Sustainable Infrastructure Group

University of Toronto Climate Lab

Windfall Ecology

Describe your venture: 

Project Neutral is an ambitious initiative that aims to create the first urban carbon neutral neighbourhood in Canada. It was officially launched by volunteer members of CivicAction’s Emerging Leaders Network (ELN) in December 2010.

The Rationale

Over 25 million Canadians currently live in urban areas, with over 5 million in the Greater Toronto Area. In Toronto, the residential sector represents the source of approximately 25% of the City’s GHG emissions. In various cities across Canada, the residential sector represents as much as 60% of the City’s GHG emissions. Furthermore, to date, sustainable design initiatives have focused on major redevelopments or new developments. As a result, the City’s established communities are underrepresented in our collective efforts to reduce environmental impact. In these established residential areas, much of the building stock is old and inefficient, representing potential energy savings of up to 75% (average of 22%) for households.  Working at the neighbourhood level, the potential for achieving ghg reductions is significant.

The Project

 Project Neutral is based on the following core elements:

  1. Neighbourhoods –neighbourhoods bring people together to act as a catalyst for change, resulting in actions that make sense. In Toronto, people identify with their neighbourhoods as much as they do with their city. So this was the obvious level to work at. 
  2. Local leadership – perhaps the most crucial factor.  Project Neutral is based on a partnership with neighbourhoods, with all key decisions being made by the neighbourhoods. For this first pilot we partnered with two neighbourhood groups (Riverdale and Green 13 in the Junction) that have demonstrated local leadership, experience mobilizing neighbourhoods, volunteer capacity, a long term commitment to the project, a typical mix of housing type and tenure, and a passion for the environment. 
  3. Establishing a baseline – You need to know where you are starting from in order to set a course of action and measure progress over time.  Project Neutral uses a web based survey (www.projectneutral.org/survey) to measure household carbon footprints. 
  4. Identifying realistic options: Once we develop a profile of the neighbourhood’s carbon footprint we will focus on the easy – and obvious – wins, both at a household and neighbourhood level. But we’ll also go beyond that, exploring options that will require creativity and innovative thinking, but that are also feasible, cost-effective, and most importantly, chosen by the neighbourhood. 
  5. Replicability: Following the lead of Eden Mills (www.goingcarbonneutral.ca) we plan to share our experiences and lessons learned with other neighbourhoods. Within three years we plan to expand to other neighbourhoods in Ontario and across Canada. The more neighbourhoods that get involved, the greater the potential impact.

 Key activities include:

  • Household Survey – Summer/ Fall 2011: - The data collected will be used to define a carbon footprint for households and businesses.  
  • Neighbourhood Summit – January 2011: Following the analysis of the surveys, we plan to host a Neighbourhood Summit. The objective will be to seek the best ideas on how to reduce carbon emissions, specifically focusing on the neighbourhood. The Summit will bring together residents and potential partners, as well as local, national and international experts.  At the end of the Summit, we will have identified a list of options that – are feasible, cost effective, and chosen by the neighbourhood
  •  GHG Reduction Strategy – Early 2012. The Reduction Strategy will identify actions for both tenants and home-owners that address behavioural barriers and provide solutions to enable long-term sustainability of the project and successful implementation.
  • Annual Progress Updates

We are currently targeting 1,000 households in both Riverdale and the Junction (borders of the neighbourhood are listed at www.projectneutral.org).

The benefits of this project start with the health of the chosen neighbourhood’s individual residents - from additional exercise for those curbing their automobile dependence to the lowering of toxic loading on the body due to a reduction in ghg emissions. Further spin-offs benefiting the individual include economic savings; first through lower energy costs via simple home renovation improvements (eg. programmable thermostats and caulking) and later through more substantial home upgrades such as adding insulative value to their homes. Further savings may also been seen through lower transportation and consumer purchasing habits. Residents’ will benefit from having information provided to them in a reliable, accessible and comprehensive format by Project Neutral team members and partnering agencies, and by leveraging the talent, creativity and motivation of both Project Neutral volunteers and the volunteers of the chosen neighbourhood.

Most substantial in terms of the economic spin-off this project has to offer, is its play on economies of scale. The individual resident and the neighbourhood at large stand to benefit substantially from the savings of community wide retrofitting (some of which may be completed by residents in the building trades from within the neighbourhood) as well as the collective purchasing power for green technologies.  This is something that will become more important as the project evolves over time – this is one of its great assets which projects of other scales cannot offer.

Further neighbourhood benefits will emerge on the social end - having a collective community initiative and with it the sense of camaraderie in sharing an ambitious and necessary goal. It is another reason to get out and meet neighbours; more ‘eyes on the street’ as people are encouraged to bike or walk instead of jump in their car. This project intends to engage the full range of people living in a given neighbourhood (a full spectrum of ages, abilities, and cultures). The neighbourhood also benefits by having concrete tools and a full accounting of their ghg emissions and the progress being made. Many other initiatives start with a plan and end with only a very relative idea of the impact that was made. Project Neutral seeks to quantify results in very real terms starting with the development of a base-line inventory of energy use from which to gauge real progress.

The city benefits of Project Neutral start with a reduction of load on the infrastructural system (water, hydro, gas usage).  Further benefits are having a pilot program tried and tested for replication in more neighbourhoods willing to undertake this transformation. The city is committed to reducing its carbon footprint by 80% by 2050 and so our organization’s mandate to develop carbon accounting capabilities on the scale of a neighbourhood is in line with the goals of the city and provides a pilot for a very replicable program without being slowed down through their own bureaucracy in order to help fulfill such a mandate. Further, this project provides a platform for the city and province to roll out test pilots of their own – a place to invest money ear-marked for such things as neighbourhood-wide retrofitting. 

Is carbon neutrality possible? Absolutely, although certainly not overnight. There are several aspects that we emphasize when discussing the objective of carbon neutrality: 

  • Start now. Start possible. The first step is always the most challenging. Our model uses a neighbourhood approach to encourage participation, similar to a ‘running group’. For Project Neutral neighbourhoods, the first step is the GHG household survey (www.projectneutral.org) Progress will be tracked on an annual basis using the surveys.
  • This is a long-term commitment. On a household basis, our research shows that a 20-50% reduction in GHG emissions can be achieved within five years through zero to low cost retrofits and behavioural change. Greater reductions will require greater resource commitments, deep retrofits and more intensive behavioural change campaigns. Transitioning to carbon neutrality will take time.
  • New technologies will evolve. The exact amount of time that it will take to achieve carbon neutrality will depend on a number of factors, including the innovative technologies that emerge within 5, 10 or 15 years – some of which can be piloted in the neighbourhoods.
  • Existing technologies will improve.
  • Expert advice. We are developing partnerships with innovative individuals and organizations that can help neighbourhoods to achieve this long-term goal. The response to-date has been extremely encouraging.
  • Private sector partnerships will be key. In 1998, Canada pledged to reduce GHG emissions to six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012. As of 2008, emissions were roughly 25% above 1990 levels. At this point, we cannot wait for our government to respond to the climate crisis.

We recognize that transitioning a neighbourhood to carbon neutrality is an ambitious goal. Yet we feel passionately that the most action that a neighbourhood can take is to start on that journey. With the right momentum, support and tools, we are confident great things will happen: innovative technologies and funding mechanisms will be piloted, and neighbourhood cohesiveness and resiliency will grow in the face of the single most daunting challenge currently facing our planet.

Emissions reduction potential: 

Our research to-date indicates that the average household in an established, residential neighbourhood represents potential energy savings of up to 75% per household, with an average of 22%. Furthermore, 20 – 50% reductions in GHG emissions per household are possible through zero to low cost retrofits and behavioural change.

 More specifically, we anticipate that Project Neutral will result in the following: 

  • 5-10% reduction in electricity use (within 5 years);
  • 5% reduction in residential sector GHG emissions per targeted neighbourhood (within 5 years);
  • Reduction in smog causing emissions;
  • An engaged and aware neighbourhood committed to reducing energy use and individual, household and neighbourhood carbon footprint and increasing overall resiliency to climate change;
  • Tools available to neighbourhoods at zero to low cost, including the energy and ghg benchmarking tool and a guide to neighbourhood retrofits;
  • Replicability and up-scaling of the project across the province;
  • Innovative incentive schemes that enable holistic change in the way we value energy conservation and;
  • Over the longterm, reductions of electricity use in the range of 60 - 90% per household and eventual transitioning of the neighbourhood towards carbon neutrality.
The team: 
  1.  Co-Founders: Project Neutral was founded by a planner, an engineer and a community builder.

Julie Dzerowicz (the community builder) B.Com, MBA – Julie is the recent former Executive Director of the Empire Club of Canada, a non-profit organization that is committed to creating spaces for forward-thinking Canadians and international leaders. Previously, Julie served as a Senior Policy Advisor to a senior Cabinet Minister in the Ontario provincial government.  Other past roles in her professional life include working at senior levels in business development, marketing, public relations and product development in both the financial services and biotech industries.   Julie is a passionate advocate of civic engagement and for many years ran a political salon in Toronto.  Julie is also the Ontario Vice President of Policy for the Ontario Liberal Party and is the Co-Chair of the Platform Committee 2011.

Regan Smith (the engineer), B.Sc, B.A.Sc.– Regan is currently a Project Manager with City of Toronto's Facility Management, Design, Construction and Asset Preservation department. Regan has over 10 years of project management experience, in particular in green building design and sustainable communities. Her project experience includes working with a number of municipalities helping them to foster sustainable communities and develop green development policies. Regan has also worked with a number of Toronto neighbourhood projects to develop sustainable community plans.  . Regan has degrees from Queen’s University in both engineering and geography. Regan is a LEED Accredited Professional and has been the project manager for 5 projects gaining LEED certification.

Karen Nasmith, (ther urban planner) B Eng, MUP, RPP, MCIP, LEED AP - Karen draws on a unique background of industrial engineering and urban planning. Over the past ten years she has gained a diverse range of experience, including engaging with farmers to examine the role of public participation in Pueblo, Mexico, managing social impact assessments in the Caribbean and developing an expertise in sustainable planning including both climate change adaptation and mitigation. Karen has worked with a range of clients, communities and stakeholder groups to develop community plans, engaging with highly integrated design teams to develop realistic implementation strategies. Karen is LEED Accredited and a full member of the Canadian Institute of Planners.

 2.       Volunteer team members and neighbourhood groups

Project Neutral consists of a core group of dynamic, passionate and creative volunteers with a diverse range of skills and expertise. In addition, we have partnered with two neighbourhood groups: Green 13 in the Junction and Riverdale. Bios can be found at: projectneutral.org/about-us

Seeking collaborators: 
Yes
Potential collaborators should contact : 
How will you ensure your project is self supporting within five years?: 

Project Neutral is actively working with two neighbourhoods in Toronto where we are testing our survey and fine tuning our engagement and communications methodologies. Our goal is to develop a replicable model even as we expand our reach within these catchments over the next 18-24 months. After perfecting our model we will hire and train additional staff as we expand into other neighbourhoods, cities and provinces. Our ultimate objective is to be operating at a national level within five years.

Neighbourhoods – and local volunteers – are essential to our model. We rely on existing leadership to mobilize volunteers within neighbourhoods to get the word out about the project and encourage their neighbours to participate. By leveraging our volunteer base we can streamline operating costs.

Our proposed revenue model is based primarily on payment for marketing of energy conservation products and services. The value proposition we offer to these eco-advertisers includes one-on-one promotion of their products or services delivered via our door to door canvassers, and other targeted communications (weekend meet and greets in the local cafe, living room socials, etc).  We would also include them in our promotional material such as postcard drops. We believe advertisers will also appreciate the fact our mandate provides them with additional credibility as well as 3rd party validation of their product or service. This value proposition will be very attractive to local independent retailers as well as franchise and e-retailers that offer energy efficient and/or green services or products. We believe this method of ‘push’ marketing will result in competitive customer acquisition costs for our advertisers and therefore increase their willingness to spend their money with us rather than on “pull” marketing strategies. Of course, as we grow and expand into new neighbourhoods, the potential for our advertisers’ service base also increases; ensuring their marketing dollars will be reinvested with us.

We are also exploring the possibility that additional revenue may be generated through partnerships with companies providing advice, services or products related to reduced energy use.  Revenue may flow in the form of flat fees and continuing royalties paid to us by our partner for each of our online survey participants who opt to share their data with our partner. With respect to funding the neighbourhood and household level retrofits we are looking into opportunities for selling carbon credits, in order to support the transition to carbon neutrality. It is important to note that it is a priority for Project Neutral to ensure that any and all revenue sources compliment our purpose and values and have the full support of our neighbourhood partners.

How did you hear about ClimateSpark?: 
Centre for Social Innovation

Comments

Matt Wood's picture

I think the neighbourhood base approach will take this idea far. I think the ground work that has already been done also shows a lot of potential. This could be something that attracts grant or sponsorship money.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

I'm not sure what the business model or long-term sustainability model is. I like the ambition to expand, but what revenue streams will be funding that? If you talked about innovative revenue streams integrated into your promotional adn volunteer activities it would make the proposal stronger in my mind.

Thanks and good luck!

Thanks Matt. The information will be forthcoming shortly.

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your comments. Project Neutral is going through an exciting transformation. We werere able to secure funding to carry us through for the next 18 months. As a result, we have hired a Managing Director and we're in the process of launching a focused Neighbourhood Engagement Strategy in the neighbourhoods for the next two months. There is lots going on, all very timely!

How could this proposal be improved?: 

It's taken us a while but we finally updated our business model. Please see the description above.

 

slyder's picture

This would be a great badge of pride for an urban centre to achieve, and would provide a lot of best practices for other communities around the world. It could truly make an impact!

Would the goal be eventually expand city wide? How could the program be expanded to areas like Etobicoke and Scarborough. These communities are still high density but will face unique challenges pushing to carbon neutral.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

I'd like to know what specific thoughts you have about expansion. How would the information apply to suburban and rural communities? Would they even be interested? How would those hurdles be overcome?

Actually the first community to do this in Ontario was Eden Mills, which is north of Toronto and is rather more rural than suburban.

slyder's picture

Oh, fascinating! Can you provide a link with this information?

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Are there any best practices that can be lifted from Eden Mills?

Thanks Slyder - one of the reasons that we love this project so much is because we believe it has the potential to have Toronto recognized internationally as a leader in transitioning neighbourhoods to carbon neutrality. We gave a presentation just last week to members of Australia's Green Building Council and have been getting e-mails from across Canada ever since we gave a presentation in St John's in July at the Canadian Institute of Planners conference.

Re: expansion: over the next 18 – 24 months, our goal is to test our survey and fine tune our engagement and communications methodologies. Once we have perfected our model, it will just be a question of staffing up and training before we can expand to other neighbourhoods. Our objective is to first expand our reach within the existing two neighbourhoods, then adding on additional neighbourhoods and within five years operating at a national level.

Each neighbourhood will have a unique profile of building typologies, density, geography and socioeconmic background so the engagement strategy will need to consider these unique attributes, however, the key tools (the survey, communications material and staff support) will be largely transferable from one neighbourhood to another.  So, flexibility of the tools needs to be developed, but twe feel that the most important aspect - the demand, interest and commitment - has already been demonstrated. When we put out a call for expressions of interest last year, we received responses from right across the City including groups from Thorncliffe, Leaside, Topham Park and Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Ashton Hayes (UK) and Eden Mills (Ontario) are examles of two rural communities that are undertaking similar initiatives. We first sat down with the folks at Eden Mills over a year ago to hear all about their experiences. They have been a huge inspiration to us and have provided guidance repeatedly. Our friends at Ashton Hayes have also been amazing resources. So, there is much that can be shared between the urban, rural and suburban contexts.  Hurdles: lots of them exist and we are tackling them as they arise. We're definitely finding its harder to engage folks in an urban environment. A village context - in which everyone knows what everyone else is doing is fundamental to this model. So, we are focusing on creating or emphasizing the "neighbourhood village" in an urban context. And the results have been astounding so far....little by little amazing things are happening in the Junction and Riverdale, and this is just the beginning.

 

 

 

 

Although I myself would love to imagine entire neighbourhoods banding together to lower their carbon initiatives, I think it is a very difficult thing to put into action, especially over a long period of time. Because Toronto represents such a vast array of people, not to mention such a dense amount of population in a small geographic location, I am not sure whether it is like a whole NEIGHBOURHOOD will truly sign on for something like this, as opposed to just a number of households or a community group within that neighbourhood. 

Perhaps those in the community who take on this challenge will then inspire others in their 'hood to do the same, so there would need to be a strong visual presence in the neighbourhood by those taking on this idea. 

slyder's picture

I agree with the About Face folks. Visual presence would be an important aspect, and getting buy-in from folks could be difficult.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Could the plan be rolled out household by household and block by block, eventually converting the entire area? Some social pressure might be helpful in this instance, such as a map posted showing the participating buildings?

There's an example of this in segment in the documentary Urbanized that just premiered at TIFF that showed a neighbourhood project with a strong visual element -- they painted a graph of the streets' residents' electricity use on the road. The graph was updated periodically so it was very much "in their face".

slyder's picture

Haha, darn. All of the best ideas have already been taken.

 

How did the residents react?

Thanks for your comments! Regarding the potential for a longterm commitment and buy-in from neighbourhoods, we knowthat in just three years Eden Mills was able to reduce the average household footprint by 13% by using a survey to esablish the baseline carbon footprint and using a basic outreach and awareness campaign that focused on zero to low cost retrofits and behavioural change. Usina a similiar approahc, Ashton Hayes achieved a 23% reduction in 5 years. So the potential for success in both reducing carbon emissions and ability to engage the neighoburhood over the longterm has been proven. Both of these projects are on-going, with 80 - 100% of the neighbourhoods participating. That being said, we don't expect to get 100% of the neighbourhoods to participate. People move, sell their house, travel, etc. - some neighbourhoods are more stable than others. But we do have evidence that a critical mass of folks in these mature, residential areas would be interested in engaging in an initiative of this kind - enough to make a considerable difference at an aggregated level.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

In terms of rolling out the project, to start off we are focuing on target areas within the Junction and Riverdale: approximately 1,000 households or 10 city blocks. This decision was led by the neighbourhoods themselves based on what would be manageable for a pilot project. This is also based on the idea that 10 block leaders would then be assigned and be responsible for tracking the survey and canvassing the households on their block. Neighourhood leaders felt that managing and sustaining 10 volunteers (at a minimum) to undertake this initiative, in addition to recruiting volunteers to help with other aspects of the project, was reasonable for our first year. The aim is to expand the area when the capacity has been established, by adding additional blocks and/or expanding the target area.

Keir Brownstone's picture

I think this is a great idea but I think it should be much more agressive in terms of goals and timelines. Considering that early targets could be reached almost immediatly in most Toronto communities 5 years is far too long. Would also like to see options like community energy systems, urban agriculture options etc.

Hi Keir,

Thanks for your comments. The goals and timelines need to make sense - we don't want to set ourselves up for failure or put too much pressure on the neighbourhoods. Based on our research (see above) these were reasonable targets that recognize that the tools and methodologies first need to be piloted and fine-tuned (approx 18 months - 24 years). Once these tools have been polished we may find that we meet our objectives much faster, at which time we can revise them accordingly.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

The first challenge is to establish a baseline using our household ghg survey. Once we've done this, we will be able to identify strategies to assist the neighbourhoods with moving towards carbon neutrality. The strategies will focus on the following areas: energy, transportation, water, waste and food. So, community energy supply and urban agriculture are absolutely an essential part of this. The Neighbourhood Summit will bring together leaders and innovators in these areas. We don't want to recreate the wheel but rather leverage all the best ideas out there!

I agree with previous posters that this is an amazing idea. The submission is well-written and there are a number of supporters/partners/collaborators who could make this a tremendous success. In addition, the time is ripe with the reality of peak oil/gas having gone from the fringes to mainstream and communities around the world searching for solutions.

 

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Matt stated the need for more information on the model for making the project self supporting; it will be great to see further details.

Thanks for your comments. We agree - this kind of initiative seems timely. We have had many individuals and organisations approaching us, intersted in partnering or supporting us since we launched in June - its just been a matter of trying to find the time to respond and meet with everyone. But definitely bodes well.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

We finally updated the information on the business model.  Have also provided it here:

Project Neutral is currently working with two neighbourhoods in Toronto. Over the next 18 – 24 months, our goal is to test our survey and fine tune our engagement and communications methodologies. Once we have perfected our model, it will just be a question of staffing up and training before we can expand to other neighbourhoods. Our objective is to first expand our reach within the existing two neighbourhoods, then adding on additional neighbourhoods and within five years operating at a national level.

Neighbourhoods – and local volunteers – are essential to our model. We rely on existing leadership to mobilize volunteers within neighbourhoods to get the word out about the project and encourage their neighbours to participate. As a result of our essential volunteer base we can streamline operating costs. Our proposed revenue model is based primarily on advertising. Our value proposition includes one-on-one promotion of products or services that we provide through our door to door canvassing and/or postcard drops and other targeted communications (weekend meet and greets in the local cafe, living room socials, etc). We also provide credibility and validation of the product or service. This will be very attractive to local retailers or franchise operations that have stores is various locations where we operate, in addition to companies that offer energy efficient and/or green services or products. We believe this method of ‘push’ marketing will result in competitive customer acquisition costs. In addition, as we grow and expand into new neighbourhoods, the potential for our clients’ service base to also grow increases, so their marketing dollars are reinvested.

In addition, we are exploring other revenue sources that may result through partnerships related to our on-line surveys that would result in flat fees and royalties for each survey that is completed. With respect to funding the neighbourhood and household level retrofits we are looking into opportunities for selling carbon credits, in order to support the transition to carbon neutrality. It is important to note that it is a priority for Project Neutral to have full support from our neighbourhood partners for any revenue source.

Rich Whate's picture

It's a cool proposal but might be missing opportunities to have even more impact if others were invited along for the ride.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

You could extend the engagement beyond the neighbourhood with a "buddy system."  Imagine if every participant in your pilot neighbourhood invited another household outside the neighbourhood to follow and match their progress. That gives you the benefits of the neighbourhood approach (which I love!), forces you to share your strategies as you go, and doubles the impact.  It also brings in the skills of those outside your key neighbourhood.

Hi Rich,

We love your idea and that's what we are aiming for.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

We envision an on-line community where individuals can see how they are doing in terms of their own neighbourhood, but they can also compare or challenge other neighbourhoods. We think it would be extremely valuable for individuals in Hunstville to be communicating about the various challenges that people face in Winnipeg or Iqaluit. The challenges and corresponding carbon reduction strategies would vary - at times signficantly - but the opportunity to share information and ideas would also create a much larger sense of community, and raise awareness about climate change and responses to climate change at the national level.

Eli Malinsky's picture

Further to Rich's comments, I wonder also if you could buddy neighbourhoods together...it could be a competition or a collaboration between neighbourhoods. Some sense of tracking a mutual 'peer pressure' might help to stimulate greater impact.

Nothing helps to inspire like a little friendly competition.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Each week we provide update to the leaders from the Junction and Riverdale regarding the number of surveys that have been completed within each neighbourhood. There's definitely a healthy does of competition and pride that is helping inspire our volunteers to get out in their neighbourhoods to raise awareness about the project and encourage people to complete the on-line survey. Once we have established a carbon baseline using the surveys, we'll be able to encourage competition between the neighourhoods with respect to lowering their average neighbourhood footprint. The path to carbon neutrality will be determined by each neighbourhood.

oilnomore's picture

Your proposal is such an important undertaking, public especially governments must rally around you.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

If you can lobby government, government may mandate your proposal as part of public policy under which your work can be funded.

Hi Oilnomore,

Thanks for your comment. We are hesitant to rely on government support. We will definitely be looking for partnerships from both the private and public sector, but we've been disappointed in government leadership with respect to climate change to date.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

That being said, we've been approached to pilot various initiatives in the neighbourhoods that may result in widespread policy changes. Many of these are in the early stage of development, and we are being highly selective as we don't want to inundate participants.

The Power of Community is amazing and I love it.  Keeping it together is tough!

How could this proposal be improved?: 

I'd like to see a business plan, a proposal to government for personal household financial incentive as well and community incentive?

 

Hi Leigh,

Thanks for your comment. Community is powerful indeed! Our core value is community. It's what defines Project Neutral and gives us our mandate for action.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Please see the previous responses regarding a business plan and the role of government.

Deepak Ramachandran's picture

Please read below.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

I’m excited to see so many entrepreneurial proposals on ClimateSpark.  I especially like the model of social ventures that can sustain themselves by creating their own revenue and be less dependent on grants or gifts.  

In my own experience starting and building several companies, I’ve often employed “bootstrapping” techniques so I’m not dependent on external capital (VCs, etc.).  One technique I’ve used successfully is to recruit one or more “lead customers” who pay me up-front for a service (e.g., consulting or something they need right away), which gives me the capital to build my product or capability for them.  The big advantages:  cash up-front (or early); a real customer to help make sure my design is something they’ll want to buy; and a great partner to test ideas with as I’m getting off the ground. 

What’s your bootstrapping strategy?  Have you tried to develop “lead customers” for your product or service?  Have you talked to potential customers ? What are you doing to get cashflow from them  early, so your idea can gain traction?

Hi Deepak,

Thanks for your comments. We have been meeting with potential lead customers, like national retailers, to begin to establish relationships and raise awareness about our project. Our value propostion is that in the future we will be functioning in neighbourhoods across Canada - where they have local branches. The advertising service we provide is targeted, one-on-one marketing and local credibility / validation.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Of course the challenge is that we need to first complete the initial neighbourhood engagement strategy, using the household survey to establish a carbon baseline, so that we can fine tune our engagement tools and track participation and progress. All potential 'lead customers' will be interested in our track record, so we have to get establish this first.

interested's picture

Each proposal in ClimateSpark is bringing a valuable community based idea forward to help with energy conservation and the reduction of carbon emissions

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Centennial College, School of Communications Media & Design, Corporate Communications and Public Relations Class of 2012 will be working on a set of mock press releases, in anticipation of this proposal being one of the 20 to be selected on October 31 to continue to ClimateSpark Ignite Phase 2.

If you would like to be interviewed as part of the mock press release development process, please send a note to Professor Barry Waite, [email protected] by Friday October 21, 2011.

If you choose not to be interviewed, the mock press release will be developed based on Information currently posted in the description of your idea, as well as information gleaned from the various comment interactions.

Hi there,

We would of course be delighted to particpate.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

We've sent an e-mail to Professor Waite and look foward to being contacted.

Good partnerships, and strong selection of neighbourhoods that offer a good chance of success plus feedback on lessons that might assist with replication.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Have you found a way to overcome the administrative burden of completing the survey? It seems that even those who are highly motivated have trouble getting all the necessary info together to complete it. Could any of this be coordinated with utility provider partners?

 

Bryan Purcell's picture

Very exciting project. I think the neighbourhood based approach and use of community leaders is great, and builds on well established principles of community based social marketing.

I think the short-term targets are modest. 5% reductions in individual household natural gas use and electricity use over 5 years are likely to be accomplished under a business as usual scenario. With incandescent bulbs to be phased out from 2012-2014, and new federal regulations on the efficiency of new boilers in place starting next year, its quite feasible to achieve that target without any incremental actions by participants.

Getting from 5% reductions to carbon neutral is the tricky part! See below

How could this proposal be improved?: 

I'd like to know more about the strategies that will be employed over the long-term to get to carbon neutrality. As has been noted, this long-term goal will require going beyond weatherstripping to deep household retrofits and district energy approaches. For example, neighbourhood scale geothermal projects, etc. Financing these ambitious projects will likely require some novel approaches --  like on-billl utility financing, local improvement charges, Property Assessed Clean Energy financing, etc --  many of which might require legislative change to activate.

This is a very good initiative for carbon neutrailty, and the target audience (i.e neibourhood communities) is brilliant! Local communities are the best way to reach people and to influence change. Having community leaders is a very strategic idea because this will get neibours out talking, discussing and spreading the word about the plan. The two initial neibourhoods are very good starting points and it is exciting to see where this will go next!

I think you should be more optimistic in your short term goals. Five percent in five years is not a lot.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

I want to see more of a business strategy

I find it difficult to actually bring neighbourhoods together for any project.  So many different people to get ahold of and it can be quite costly.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

How are you planning on getting  the attention of all the people?

Love this project.  This is exactly what we need. Its about leadership and creating sustainable communities. Leadership in this case is a group like Project Neutral and two neighbourhood leadership stepping up to the plate to try to create a model for urban carbon neutral communities.  Sustainabiie neighbourhood is all about being responsible for the world around us - our resources, economy, etc.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

I'd like to see it in action and improvements made after the pilots are complete.  Let's get moving. Its going to be hard; things probably won't go as planned but we alll have to start somewhere to create the change we want to see in the world. We need more initiatives like this!

The main strength of this project is the scale at which it is working from.  That is, Project Neutral is not trying to come from a municipal level (e.g. top-down conservation demand programs) and is not trying to work at the level of individual buildings (e.g. the spaceship home approach).  I personally don't feel that either of those approaches can be entirely sucessful; top down approaches do not engage the homeowner in a personal way, and treating buildings individually cannot acheive carbon neutrality on a city scale because of inadequate exposure, etc.  Project Neutral is trying to engage with the neighbourhood in a way that makes it apparent what each household is doing that creates carbon in the first place, and then support and enable each household to make changes to their home and lifestyle that will reduce carbon.  Without making it relevant to their everyday lives, there is little motivation to make changes.

The main weakness of the project is the survey.  It is a detailed survey by nature and takes some time to fill out, however it has been reasonably sucessful thanks to amazing effort and commitment from the community volunteers.  It takes time to engender change and create a new reality.  Those participating in this project are pioneers of a new carbon neutral era and should be proud of themselves for making the effort.

This is the right place to start.  Neighbourhoods take time to rally, but this is a cause that most people can relate to on a day to day level - at home.

How could this proposal be improved?: 

Strengthen partnerships, healthy optimism.

The major strength are that it involves the people in the community directly, and they will (hopefully) feel like they are a TEAM!  However, that could also be a weakness in that the team is too large for people to make an emotional connection.

Review this proposal

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