Using a pledge, learn, act model, TEC provided The Port of San Diego access to TEC’s online employee engagement portal, energygoals.org to motivate its employees to reduce energy use at work and at home. As a result, 94% of campaign participants reported that they are likely to save energy in their everyday life.
The Energy Coalition partnered with the Port of San Diego and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to develop an internal employee engagement and education campaign aimed at inspiring action around energy efficiency and conservation. The campaign, “Energy Goals,” motivated employees to learn about environmental stewardship and take energy-saving actions through interdepartmental competition.
The Challenge
To be effective, the Energy Goals campaign had to encourage participation across the Port’s workforce—from engineers, accountants and administrative staff to harbor police and employees who primarily spend their time in the field—in a topic area employees had varying levels of knowledge and interest in. TEC’s customized approach and high-touch engagement strategies helped the Port to customize an engagement solution that worked for them.
Our Strategy
Energy Goals is delivered through TEC’s online learning and engagement platform, energygoals.org, and is based on a “pledge, learn, act” framework. The pledge introduces employees to the campaign with engagement materials such as videos featuring staff and Port landmarks. The learn phase includes energy-themed customized education modules with videos, quizzes, text, and local resource connections. Employees then act in weekly challenges, documenting their actions via photos, interacting with the Energy Goals website, and competing to earn points, level up, and win prizes.
Energy Goals’ success was rooted in its train-the-trainer model. TEC trained and supported a core group of “Energy Champions” who served as ambassadors for the campaign within their departments. Energy Champions helped guide customizations to make campaign engagement as relevant and exciting as possible for their team, resulting in participation from every Port department, with some departments achieving 100% participation! Surveys led by Energy Champions, along with built-in analytics on the Energy Goals platform, helped measure and record knowledge, behaviors, attitudes, and actions.
Results: Unprecedented employee engagement, measurable energy savings, and lasting behavior change
Energy Goals ran for a total of four weeks and resulted in the highest participation the Port has ever seen in an internal campaign. Employees’ energy actions, documented via photos on the Energy Goals platform, achieved energy savings for the Port and encouraged lasting behavior change at work and at home.
800+
Energy saving actions
37%
Employee participation rate
1,214 kWh
Inferred energy savings
90%
Staff likely to save energy in everyday life
What’s Next
New research suggests that over 50% of energy efficiency opportunities can be realized with simple behavior change and operational improvements*. Engagement campaigns like Energy Goals are an important strategy for educating employees about easy and fun ways to save energy, reducing energy use and increasing employee engagement. Over 80% of staff surveyed said they would participate in future Port-sponsored environmental campaigns, indicating that Energy Goals reinforced the Port’s culture of learning and inspired staff to continue taking an interest in how their actions can support the environment. Learn more about Energy Goals on TEC’s campaign platform, energygoals.org.
*Source: Which Is Better for Efficiency: Retrofits or Behavior Change?, https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/which-is-better-for-efficiency-changing-behavior-or-install-equipment#gs.byomcb
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