October 2011 Archives

Whenever I mention that I am involved with SusMo, the first question I get asked is "How can I save money on my bills?" It's a big issue at the moment, with private and public sector seeking initiatives to provide renewable energy measures on privately or council owned homes. Unfortunately, for my friends and I, we don't live in either type of home. So what can you do if, like us, you rent a house? Where is the incentive for private landlords to improve the efficiency of their own homes? And what can you do as a tenant to save energy? For most tenants the bills are not included in the rent, so it doesn't make a difference for the landlord and therefore, there is no urgency to save energy/money.

Firstly, if you have (as I do) an amenable landlord who is interested in the welfare of their tenants, then a few suggestions could prompt changes. I have asked for draft proofing of both our back door and front door, secondary glazing films on all windows, thermal curtains to cover the large living room window and roof insulation. He has done each of these things, which have saved us a substantial amount of money and kept us both happy and settled.

In addition to this, I have put radiator panels, which I received through SusMo, on each of our external radiators. Although the cash savings are not particularly high, the main advantage is the feeling of warmth in the rooms. My bedroom used to be a pitiful place to be, now it is a cosy, warm room. I have hung thick curtains and put a large rug over the attractive, yet inefficient original wood flooring. I have standby savers in the living room and in each of my housemates' bedrooms, and I monitor my energy use through Imeasure.. 

All of these small changes make for a generally warmer house. I am constantly turning things off at the plug, which is helped by my excessively safety conscious housemate, who gets there before me most times! 

I have discussed the subject of the Green Deal and Birmingham Energy Savers , and I think that when the time comes my landlord will be supportive and enthusiastic about it. It is important to remember that Energy Performance Certificates are an influencing factor for people looking for rented accommodation, and the reduced bill costs that go along with renewable energy sources are also an attractive incentive for potential tenants.  

Private rented accommodation is the last and most difficult section of housing to be tackled. I hope that with the help of understanding landlords and the tenacity of persistent tenants, we can co-operate to reduce CO2 emissions in Birmingham. 

Try to plant the seed early, be as energy efficient as you can now and hope that your landlord responds by supporting and encouraging you to make these changes, which will be beneficial to the neighbourhood as a whole.

Sarah Napier

In Moseley this Saturday, in addition to:

> the wonderful produce at the Moseley Farmers' Market,

> the art and craft work at the Moseley Arts Market,

> "freetail" at the Moseley Swap Shop at the Prince of Wales,

there will be the chance to talk to SusMo members at

> the SusMo stall near the steps to St Mary's Church in St Mary's Row.

At the SusMo stall you may receive free "Heatkeeper" radiator panels, get your questions answered about living more sustainably and hear about new opportunities for reducing fuel bills in your home.

SusMo members work with local residents and organisations to reduce our CO₂ emissions in homes and community buildings in Moseley and by using low carbon transport options where possible.

Read Birmingham City Council's consultation document "Low Carbon Transport Strategy 2011+" and send your comments by Friday 18th November 2011.

Did anyone follow the floral trail http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/floraltrail around Birmingham this summer? I must admit that amidst my flitting round the city I picked up on several of the displays individually before realising at the end of the summer that they were all part of the trail. Now I wonder how many I missed...

What really drew my attention to the trail was the rather impressive green wall on the borders of the works for the new library in Centenary Square. This is a good example of a modular green wall, in other words it consists of a lot of panels that can be stacked along a wall, with little pockets into which different plants can be arranged, linked to an integrated irrigation system. Even towards the end of September there was a good variety of colours and textures. Anyone familiar with the Rhubarb building in Digbeth will already appreciate the dramatic effect off an artistic display of plants integrated into the building envelope.

These kind of green walls have been used for dramatic impact for several years, particularly in Paris where Patrick Blanc established himself as a world expert in the craft. They are now popping up more frequently in the UK, and can be appreciated for more than their aesthetic qualities. Although there is not a great tradition of research into the benefits of green walls, this is currently changing and the extent to which green walls help clean the air of pollutants and provide shelter and food for wildlife will soon be much better understood.

As a society we have started to realise that people cannot thrive in urban greyness without plants, and technology is helping us find clever ways to bring them back in. But it's always worth remembering at the same time that plants have their own little tricks to get a foothold. As a cheaper and less water-intensive idea, green walls can be naturally encouraged very easily with a simple trellis frame, and there are many attractive climbers which, in a little soil, will do a fabulous job all by themselves without damaging your building.

"Never doubt that a small number of committed citizens can change the world", wrote Margaret Mead. But what are the characteristics and attributes that those committed individuals need to have in order to do so?

A recent report for Defra by Brooke Lyndhurst investigated the role of influential individuals in spreading pro-environmental behaviour, and their relationships to issues of identity, trust and social norms. These individuals are known by a variety of overlapping terms - catalysts, early adopters, opinion formers, influencers, persuaders, protagonists, connectors, change agents, boundary spanners and even 'mavens' - all of whom have certain characteristics or attributes in common. These terms are interchangeable, and I use them as such.

Being catalysts is a part of their personality. It isn't something they learned at school or on a training course, it's just something they like to do. The crucial thing about them is that they are able to play a special role in spreading new ideas and behaviours. Gregarious, sociable, opinionated, positive, altruistic are the terms used to describe them. How many of those describe you? (I am definitely the last three and sometimes the first two). Their influence derives largely from 'internal consistency' - they mean what they say; do as they say; persuade people directly and also indirectly because people want to be like them. They 'get things done' and if a suitable network doesn't exist, then create one.

Defra's research interviewed twenty-two catalytic individuals - not specifically environmental influencers, but 'general' influencers from all walks of life. They told the interviewers that pro-environmental behaviour could be appended to other behaviours, such as health and money saving.

There is no tick-box approach to finding influential individuals. They cannot be identified through market research questionnaires in the way one might identify people from a random sample of shoppers who are most likely to use a new variety of soap powder, sign a petition to save Birmingham's markets or vote for a particular political party. Our experience confirms that catalysts don't put themselves forward in this way. Finding them is time-consuming but ultimately cost-effective. A sociometric approach needs to be used to find them. 'Snowballing' is the sociometric technique that Brooke Lyndhurst used, which involves researchers hanging around school gates and shopping centres (in the nicest possible way) - without a questionnaire - and asking people a series of questions about who does what in the local community. Eventually they will find the right person.
Influential individuals are creative, thoughtful and idiosyncratic (who, me?) and don't like being told what to do. They don't just pass on information or innovations, they use their own judgement, they think laterally to adapt and modify it to suit them and the people they wish to help.

There are ten critical dynamics in spreading innovation, and influential individuals will use as many as are necessary. The ten dynamics, as listed in the Brooke Lyndhurst report, are:

1. Relative advantage: the more potential value or benefit is anticipated from an innovation, the faster it will diffuse;

2. Trialability: the ability to try an innovation improves the prospects for adoption and diffusion;

3. Observability: the extent to which potential adopters can "see‟ the benefits of the innovation (and, indeed, physically see the innovation) improves the prospects for adoption and diffusion;

4. Communication channels: the paths chosen by opinion leaders to communicate an innovation affect the pace and pattern of diffusion;

5. Homophilous groups: innovations spread faster amongst homophilous [roughly, "like-minded‟] groups;

6. Pace of innovation/reinvention: some innovations tend to evolve and are altered along the way of diffusion whilst others remain stable; the former tend to diffuse more quickly than the latter;

7. Norms, roles and social networks: innovations are shaped by the rules, hierarchies and informal mechanisms of communication operating in the social networks in which they diffuse;

8. Opinion leaders: "opinion leaders‟ or catalytic individuals affect the pace of diffusion;

9. Compatibility: the ability of an innovation to coexist with existing technologies and social patterns improves the prospects for adoption/diffusion;

10. Infrastructure: the adoption of many innovations depends on the presence of some form of infrastructure or of other technologies that cluster with the innovation.

We often focus on one of the dynamics, e.g. observability of solar panels or other energy saving measures such as display energy monitors. Observability is closely linked to the 'build it and they will come' mentality that has characterised energy efficient demonstration projects in the past, where it was thought that just setting a good example that others could see, would be sufficient to encourage them to copy it. In practice, successful demonstration projects use as many of the ten dynamics as possible. A good example is Harriet and Chris Martin's Old Home Superhome energy efficient retrofit of their home in Bournville. This scores well on trialability and comparability because it coexists with a 1930s home; and infrastructure, because they have chosen measures for which there is a developing supply chain rather than going for something flashy but which it is difficult for potential copiers to get hold of. This is in addition to the observability which all demonstration projects have. The approach taken by Chris and Harriet is in contrast to some high-profile low-carbon new build and retrofit housing projects, the type that sometimes feature in Sunday newspapers, which score highly on observability but low on trialability, comparability and infrastructure. Harriet and Chris' approach is the more likely to be emulated by others.

Brooke Lyndhurst concluded that:

1. Pro-environmental behaviours should be seen as social innovations. This is a significant shift for most environmental people who only think of pro-environmental behaviours in purely environmental terms. We need to think laterally about how pro-environmental behaviours can have social and economic outcomes. Examples might include:
• Cycling and walking are good for your health
• Shopping local is good for the economy and supports more jobs than supermarkets
• Hanging the washing on the line means you can have a chat with your neighbour.

All persuasive arguments, and not a single mention of carbon footprint is needed.

2. An understanding of diffusion theory, such as the ten dynamics listed above, is key to understanding how pro-environmental behaviours will permeate the population.
Altruism is the greatest motivation of influential individuals. This means that there is a good chance they will not only be good neighbours who want to help their fellow residents, but also good citizens who want to save the planet. Finding them is an important part of making schemes like Birmingham Energy Savers a success.

"Never doubt that a small number of committed citizens can change the world", wrote Margaret Mead. But what are the characteristics and attributes that those committed individuals need to have in order to do so?

A recent report for Defra by Brooke Lyndhurst investigated the role of influential individuals in spreading pro-environmental behaviour, and their relationships to issues of identity, trust and social norms. These individuals are known by a variety of overlapping terms - catalysts, early adopters, opinion formers, influencers, persuaders, protagonists, connectors, change agents, boundary spanners and even 'mavens' - all of whom have certain characteristics or attributes in common. These terms are interchangeable, and I use them as such.

Being catalysts is a part of their personality. It isn't something they learned at school or on a training course, it's just something they like to do. The crucial thing about them is that they are able to play a special role in spreading new ideas and behaviours. Gregarious, sociable, opinionated, positive, altruistic are the terms used to describe them. How many of those describe you? (I am definitely the last three and sometimes the first two). Their influence derives largely from 'internal consistency' - they mean what they say; do as they say; persuade people directly and also indirectly because people want to be like them. They 'get things done' and if a suitable network doesn't exist, then create one.

Defra's research interviewed twenty-two catalytic individuals - not specifically environmental influencers, but 'general' influencers from all walks of life. They told the interviewers that pro-environmental behaviour could be appended to other behaviours, such as health and money saving.

There is no tick-box approach to finding influential individuals. They cannot be identified through market research questionnaires in the way one might identify people from a random sample of shoppers who are most likely to use a new variety of soap powder, sign a petition to save Birmingham's markets or vote for a particular political party. Our experience confirms that catalysts don't put themselves forward in this way. Finding them is time-consuming but ultimately cost-effective. A sociometric approach needs to be used to find them. 'Snowballing' is the sociometric technique that Brooke Lyndhurst used, which involves researchers hanging around school gates and shopping centres (in the nicest possible way) - without a questionnaire - and asking people a series of questions about who does what in the local community. Eventually they will find the right person.
Influential individuals are creative, thoughtful and idiosyncratic (who, me?) and don't like being told what to do. They don't just pass on information or innovations, they use their own judgement, they think laterally to adapt and modify it to suit them and the people they wish to help.

There are ten critical dynamics in spreading innovation, and influential individuals will use as many as are necessary. The ten dynamics, as listed in the Brooke Lyndhurst report, are:

1. Relative advantage: the more potential value or benefit is anticipated from an innovation, the faster it will diffuse;

2. Trialability: the ability to try an innovation improves the prospects for adoption and diffusion;

3. Observability: the extent to which potential adopters can "see‟ the benefits of the innovation (and, indeed, physically see the innovation) improves the prospects for adoption and diffusion;

4. Communication channels: the paths chosen by opinion leaders to communicate an innovation affect the pace and pattern of diffusion;

5. Homophilous groups: innovations spread faster amongst homophilous [roughly, "like-minded‟] groups;

6. Pace of innovation/reinvention: some innovations tend to evolve and are altered along the way of diffusion whilst others remain stable; the former tend to diffuse more quickly than the latter;

7. Norms, roles and social networks: innovations are shaped by the rules, hierarchies and informal mechanisms of communication operating in the social networks in which they diffuse;

8. Opinion leaders: "opinion leaders‟ or catalytic individuals affect the pace of diffusion;

9. Compatibility: the ability of an innovation to coexist with existing technologies and social patterns improves the prospects for adoption/diffusion;

10. Infrastructure: the adoption of many innovations depends on the presence of some form of infrastructure or of other technologies that cluster with the innovation.

We often focus on one of the dynamics, e.g. observability of solar panels or other energy saving measures such as display energy monitors. Observability is closely linked to the 'build it and they will come' mentality that has characterised energy efficient demonstration projects in the past, where it was thought that just setting a good example that others could see, would be sufficient to encourage them to copy it. In practice, successful demonstration projects use as many of the ten dynamics as possible. A good example is Harriet and Chris Martin's Old Home Superhome energy efficient retrofit of their home in Bournville. This scores well on trialability and comparability because it coexists with a 1930s home; and infrastructure, because they have chosen measures for which there is a developing supply chain rather than going for something flashy but which it is difficult for potential copiers to get hold of. This is in addition to the observability which all demonstration projects have. The approach taken by Chris and Harriet is in contrast to some high-profile low-carbon new build and retrofit housing projects, the type that sometimes feature in Sunday newspapers, which score highly on observability but low on trialability, comparability and infrastructure. Harriet and Chris' approach is the more likely to be emulated by others.

Brooke Lyndhurst concluded that:

1. Pro-environmental behaviours should be seen as social innovations. This is a significant shift for most environmental people who only think of pro-environmental behaviours in purely environmental terms. We need to think laterally about how pro-environmental behaviours can have social and economic outcomes. Examples might include:
• Cycling and walking are good for your health
• Shopping local is good for the economy and supports more jobs than supermarkets
• Hanging the washing on the line means you can have a chat with your neighbour.

All persuasive arguments, and not a single mention of carbon footprint is needed.

2. An understanding of diffusion theory, such as the ten dynamics listed above, is key to understanding how pro-environmental behaviours will permeate the population.
Altruism is the greatest motivation of influential individuals. This means that there is a good chance they will not only be good neighbours who want to help their fellow residents, but also good citizens who want to save the planet. Finding them is an important part of making schemes like Birmingham Energy Savers a success.