Energy and Water Task Force
LESS successfully secured funding from Sustainability Victoria to deliver energy and water efficiency assessments and retrofits to low-income households in inner-city Melbourne. The service was provided free to householders and assisted them in making their homes more comfortable in summer and winter, reduce their electricity bills, and lessen their impact on the environment.
The energy and water efficiency assessment involved a checklist of questions asked of householders in relation to their energy and water usage in order to determine which products were suitable for installation. The retrofit service involved the installation of some/all of the following products:
- Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs)
- Low flow shower roses
- Draught proofing of doors by application of door strips and foam sealing
- Draught proofing of windows by application of foam sealing
- Installing ‘draft stoppas’ over kitchen and bathroom exhaust vents
- Pelmets and holland blinds over windows
- Lagging for external hot water heater pipes
- Replacing tap washers
In delivering this project, LESS partnered with the City of Yarra and City of Darebin Councils, and local community and welfare organisations to promote the project to the community, especially through their services which directly target low-income households.
Moreover, the project involved providing training and employment to previously unemployed job seekers as Trainee Installers, assisting them to overcome vocational and non-vocational barriers and gain employment in green trades and other related industries. LESS partnered with Sarina Russo Job Access to help recruit and support these Trainee Installers.
On completion, the Energy and Water Task Force project will have retrofitted 935 households, saved nearly 3,500 tonnes of CO2 which is the equivalent of taking almost 800 cars off the road for one year.