TOPTEN ACT aims at empowering consumers to ACT: to purchase top energy-efficient products that will save energy over their lifetime. TOPTEN ACT develops a comprehensive market transformation strategy targeting consumers, manufacturers, retailers, large buyers, consumer associations and other key actors in 16 European countries, covering a combined population of 447 Mio inhabitants. It works with these actors to help them embrace and promote energy-efficient products, so that they become the natural choice for consumers. Project partners will: - Manage 16 Topten websites presenting up-to-date, consumer-oriented information to 2 Mio visitors per year. These websites will showcase top energy-efficient models in a number of product groups: domestic appliances, cooling and lighting equipment, consumer electronics, vehicles etc. They build on independent and reliable market surveys selecting the best available technologies (BATs) amongst hundreds of thousands of products. → Consumers identify top products, compare costs and understand the benefits of energy performance on their electricity bills and for the environment. - ‘Push’ this information to consumers through extensive use of the media, communications and partnerships with key organisations acting as multipliers. → Impartial information reaches consumers. - Work with retailers, leveraging on their unique market position, directly in contact with consumers about to ACT, to further increase purchases of energy-efficient product. → In just one click, consumers will find and buy top efficient products. TOPTEN ACT impacts are both quantitative —savings of 331 GWh/year triggered per million € invested— and qualitative: markets are more transparent, media report on top efficient products, multipliers relay the Topten message to their target groups, consumers change their using and purchasing behaviour, retailers change their range and highlight BAT products, manufacturers shift their production lines.

CIRCLEUP is a highly innovative endeavor that aims to increase the diffusion rate of circular practices at the micro level, as a vital step towards achieving a circular economy, optimizing material streams into and out of households and closing the loops wherever possible. It seeks to achieve goal by developing, testing, implementing, evaluating, disseminating an innovative behavioral intervention package consisting of consultation and information, gamification, and feedback approaches, supplemented by a technical solution to provide this intervention package. With this innovative behavioral approach, the project will shape social norms by promoting communication and encouraging participants to question the status quo. It will establish and foster the social identification of individuals as circular citizens, inviting them to engage in and organize group activities that reinforce sustainable social norms and discourage unsustainable habits. Project will leverage an innovative technology tool to stimulate and channel interactions, allowing participants to engage with people beyond their direct circle of neighbours or friends. By sharing circular stories and participating in group activities, participants will not only strengthen social bonds and satisfy the need for social connection and self-esteem. Interactive Learning Environments and simulation tools will support the transfer of insights and develop competencies for integrated analysis and model-based assessments of key sustainable consumption policy and practice topics. System dynamics mode-based tools will support scoping and appraisal of strategies and policies related to sustainable consumption. The success of this intervention package in 100 model households in four structurally and culturally different countries will demonstrate CIRCLEUP's potential to transform the way people consume, how they can benefit from the circular economy, and reduce social disparity, environmental footprints, GHG emissions.

The time for reaching the necessary cuts in energy use and CO2 emissions is running out quickly and increasing energy efficiency in households substantially is a prerequisite for reaching these goals in time. Behaviour science has provided deep insights into mechanisms of behaviour change in this domain in a large number of small-scale pilots. However, the urgency of the task makes it necessary to role-out such intervention programs lagre-scale and quickly. This requires knowledge on how behaviour science based intervention programs can be provided in real-life situations, on large scale, and resource efficient by real market actors. To address this knowledge gap, the ENCHANT consortium and research approach have been carefully designed to systematically evaluate existing knowledge on energy efficiency interventions, reanalyse existing data in the field, design realistic intervention packages, and implement them on 10 million households in six European countries with a large group of user partners of different types (energy providers, municipalities, NGOs) testing different communication channels. This unprecedented intervention program allows testing a large selection of intervention types addressing a large variety of psychological biases alone or in combination and evaluates their realistic saving potentials. ENCHANT evaluates the performance of intervention campaigns not only with respect to energy and CO2 saved, but also cost effectiveness, and effects on well-being of the participants (with a focus on gender specific effects), as well as effects for target groups in energy poverty. The knowledge created in ENCHANT will be implemented into an algorithm-based webtool which supports decision making of policymakers, energy providers, NGOs and municipalities in designing effective and targeted energy efficiency campaigns. In short, ENCHANT will bridge the gap from knowledge to impact.

The objective of Heating And Cooling Knowhow and Solutions (HACKS) is to achieve market transformation for heating and cooling (HAC) appliances by motivating consumers to replace old and inefficient equipment with new energy efficient equipment; and to encourage solutions that consume less fuel, lower energy bills and improve users’ comfort and health. In the EU, almost half of all buildings have individual boilers installed before 1992, with efficiency of 60% or less. The associated energy savings of a speedy replacement are immense. To achieve these goals, 17 HACKS partners in 15 countries will raise awareness on HAC economic and environmental benefits via a communication campaign, and 15 dedicated national online platforms that will provide clear, understandable information. The focus will be on HAC appliances (e.g. boilers for space and water heating, local space heaters, etc.), but also on solutions that lower the energy consumption and avoid the installation of new equipment (shading systems, thermostats, taps and showerheads). HACKS will engage consumers by assisting them during the purchasing process of new HAC equipment. The online platforms will provide tools to receive customized information, interactive comment functions, product information, and direct links to the suppliers of the product. The online platforms will also provide guidance on how to improve consumers' situation while avoiding the purchase of unnecessary equipment as well as how to use and maintain devices. Finally, HACKS will work with all relevant stakeholders (“the multipliers”) that participate in the decision-making process of consumers by setting up strategic partnerships to promote and facilitate the purchase of energy efficient installed appliances. HACKS will place a strong emphasis on installers, retailers and consumer organisations because of their proximity to the consumers and capacity to involve and bring guidance on energy efficient equipment directly to them.