The "City Energy" project to avoid waste at home and reduce energy bills

It doesn't take much to avoid wasting energy at home and save on your bills : sometimes, all it takes is changing your habits and adopting a series of simple but useful measures. Indeed, due to economic difficulties caused by the crisis and rising energy costs , an increasing number of families are often having difficulty paying their electricity and gas bills , especially those with low incomes. It is precisely to help these families that the Oikos Institute and the Municipality of Milan, with the contribution of the Cariplo Foundation, have launched the " City Energy " project.

READ MORE: Tips for heating your home without waste and for facing winter in an eco-friendly way.

THE "CITY ENERGY" PROJECT – Specifically, the initiative will involve several social housing neighborhoods in Milan's Zones 9 and 3 and will provide residents with valuable support to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, reducing energy consumption, expenses, and environmental impact.

All households that choose to join the project and therefore implement a series of best practices to optimize their consumption and avoid waste will be able to receive free door-to-door consultancy carried out by specially trained "energy emergency response teams" made up of groups of students from the Milan Polytechnic.

The teams will monitor the public housing tenants for several months to verify and quantify the actual reduction in consumption and the resulting financial savings . After analyzing the homes' energy conditions and the tenants' habits, the students will be able to identify areas requiring action and behaviors to adopt.

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An initial meeting will then be followed by two more, to be agreed upon with the residents. During these meetings, the home will be re-inspected and any difficulties encountered will be discussed with the residents . In any case, the teams will ensure continuous supervision throughout the period following each visit, so they can intervene if any values ​​fall short of the established efficiency targets.

PROJECT RESULTS – Ten months after the project began, the energy emergency response teams will be able to evaluate and, above all, calculate the savings achieved by families , both environmental and economic.

In addition, several public meetings will be organized for schools , neighborhood committees, or roommates to educate and raise awareness on the topic of energy efficiency.

HOW TO SAVE ENERGY AT HOME – Sometimes it's not necessary to waste money on expensive structural repairs; just adopt a few simple practices like those we've suggested in our special feature, where you'll find plenty of helpful tips on how to cut electricity, gas, and heating costs and live in an eco-sustainable way.

To take advantage of the emergency energy service, contact the Oikos Institute at the following email address: [email protected]

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