Pictured: Resident Jean Allison has used less energy and saved money thanks to taking part in the smart meter project

Birmingham residents have done their bit to save the planet thanks to an international energy project.

In 2009 the UK's second city was one of four selected across Europe to take part in a European Union funded project to test methods to reduce household energy consumption and cut carbon emissions. Two years later the project has ended and the results are in.

Sixty households in Summerfield and Lozells signed up to a pilot scheme which saw Family Housing Association install smart meters in their homes to help them understand more about how much energy they used and how they could reduce this and cut their energy bills. 

As well as fitting the meters, Family Housing Association supported residents to use the system, which included an online facility to calculate energy use patterns and the households' carbon footprint. 

Other partners in the project included Digital Birmingham - Birmingham City Council - which was managing the Birmingham side of the project, Be Birmingham, Summerfield Residents' Group and Kate Foley, the South Lozells Neighbourhood Manager.

By testing the system in Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Bulgaria, the Save Your Energy project is being used towards developing a user-friendly smart meter product for use in homes across Europe.

The association also set up focus groups to enable residents to give their views on how easy the meters were to operate, whether they were effective, and how they could be improved to make them more user-friendly. 

Feedback from the focus groups across Europe were then acted upon to improve the product and how it was supported for three separate cycles of experiments across the two years, each of which saw more  households introduced to the project.

The results show that 92 per cent reported that they had reduced the amount of energy they used because of the awareness they had gained from taking part in the scheme.

Seventy-eight per cent said that being involved in the project helped them better understand the energy consumed by different appliances.

In addition, compared to answers given at the beginning of the project, there was a 27 per cent increase in the numbers of people who now rated environmental impact as high as cost when using energy.  

Selena Ellis, project coordinator, said: "As an affordable housing provider our top motivation has always been how our residents can lower their bills, but the fact that they can do this while improving the environment is a win/win situation.

"We have learnt a lot through our participation, not least what methods work best to encourage people to change their behaviour. Perhaps not surprisingly allowing people to share and compare their results with others has proved to be invaluable.  

"What's always fascinating, however, is to discover outcomes that we didn't expect. Interestingly, the greatest shift in motivation away from cost of energy to environmental impact was amongst people who have lower incomes. This is priceless information and something which we can share with the housing association sector. The other surprise for me was that, of those that took part in the project, men said that they were more likely to reduce the amount that they used their electrical appliances to reduce their energy use than women." 

Jean Allison, a resident in Handsworth, who took part in the project, said:

"I now understand how using appliances relates to the amount of energy we use and how much I have to pay. Before it didn't matter if the kettle was filled a little bit more, or when or how often I did the washing. But by using the meter I've seen how small changes make a difference to the amount of energy we use.

"It has also helped save me money. My monthly direct debit for electricity has gone down from £90 per month to £55. And I'm going to make sure that this has a lasting effect. 

"Because of our feedback the smart meter has been made easier to use. More recently it has expanded to include gas use. But for me the most important thing to help me was being able to see how much energy I use compared to other people in my area, and with people who live in similar homes. It gave me something to judge myself against and of course I didn't want to look like I was wasting more energy than others, which was an incentive to remain careful.

"I'm really glad that I was involved."

The top three behaviour changes made by people taking part in the project were:

• Generally being more careful about their energy use

• Turning off their appliances when they were not in use

• Reducing the amount of lighting they used.

The project builds on other eco-work already pioneered by Family Housing Association, including the delivery of the Green Doctor service and the installation of solar panels on homes in Summerfield and South Lozells, funded by Birmingham City Council and Urban Living.