Alert from the world of eco-business innovation: New York City-based start-up Climate Culture has developed an ingenious way to build a business by helping consumers and the towns they live in reduce their eco-footprint.

 

Sophisticated resource-efficiency software is at the heart of the company's strategy. Dubbed the Personal Energy Advisor, it comes wrapped in a Web 2.0 website including a carbon footprint-reduction game and also featuring personal islands that reflect each player's progress. In the game participants can compete against each other and earn points to enhance their status level, and their avatars get cooler as their energy consumption declines.

Let's face it: most of us have bad habits. Some of us eat too much; most of us consume too much energy. Increasingly, a consensus is emerging about the best protocol for tackling challenges like these. Key aspects include setting targets, developing an optimized strategy, having a solid support system, and providing consistent guidance and feedback. This is how Climate Culture's Personal Energy Advisor proposes to wean us from our energy obesity. 

In essence, Climate Culture's software is a virtual coach and cheerleader. In this regard, its product is not unlike Nintendo's popular Wii Fit offering, which provides online support to consumers who want to get in shape.

Despite its social-network gloss, Climate Culture (which will soon be changing its corporate name to Efficiency 2.0) is primarily a technology licensing company. Developed by students at Yale Law School and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, the software enables people to develop highly customized energy-reduction plans with 300 different options. It also suggests optimal paths based on the individual's personal characteristics—for instance, for one person, low first cost might be important, while someone else might care more about the total return on investment.

According to chief marketing officer Andy Frank, Climate Culture is planning on reaching its target market mostly by going through influential institutional intermediaries, especially utilities, which can reduce overall energy consumption and possibly avoid having to build new power plants by offering the software to their customers.

Climate Culture will also partner with local governments to help residents reduce their eco-footprint. In conjunction with partners Earth Markets and SmartPower, Climate Culture will launch a pilot project in Connecticut to help towns become more energy-efficient. Under the EnergySmart Connecticut program, the towns will promote the Personal Energy Advisor to their residents. Earth Markets will provide a strong on-the-ground presence, for example by delivering energy-efficient compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) to citizens, while SmartPower will provide traditional marketing support.

Participating towns in Connecticut will enjoy multiple benefits. The friendly intra-state competition will build community spirit. Also, towns that hit specific resource-efficiency goals will be given energy-reducing devices such as LED street lights provided by the coalition to cut their footprint even further. EnergySmart Connecticut is expected to launch this spring with four towns participating.

Climate Culture's business model is to work with partners to generate revenue by having the residential energy savings certified by the state. These savings will be packaged as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), which will be sold to energy suppliers in New England to help them meet their legal mandate to purchase a set yearly percentage of their power from renewable energy sources.

Climate Culture's business model is intriguing in that it targets consumers mostly indirectly. Institutions of every sort are coming under increasing pressure to be more socially responsible and resource-efficient. Climate Culture provides the software to help them achieve these goals.