Newsletter Issue 1 December 2018
PROJECT MANAGER’S MESSAGE
Welcome to the inaugural edition of the S&L Times – a short, punchy, monthly newsletter with regular updates on key developments of the project.
To date, I am very pleased to say that all stakeholders have made appliance energy efficiency a growing reality in South Africa, empowering and inspiring citizens to actively engage. This is crucial and beneficial for our nation and environment. Equally important is making the “back-end” of the process easier for everyone involved – from industry to testing facilities and the regulator. Ultimately, cutting edge tech tools like the Energy Efficiency Calculator smartphone app, dynamic in-store activations and mainstream and social media communications campaigns indicate that our message is getting out there. Now is the time to build on the foundations we co-created in 2018. There’s much more to come, as you’ll read below. For now, thank you all for our positive co-operative relationship in the last year and I look forward to working with you in 2019.
Theo Covary
WIN-WIN SITUATION – ENERGY EFFICIENCY SURVEY & COMPETITION
South Africans now have a fantastic opportunity to win appliances to the value of R100 000 – just by completing a quick online survey about their current household devices!
The thinking behind this is simple: The better we understand South Africans’ household appliance purchasing patterns, the more strategic our decision-making can be in influencing them. At the same time, our experience shows that energy efficiency awareness must not only be promoted, but actively incentivised until it takes root. This current survey/competition (running till 31 Jan 2019) fulfils both needs; it creates a modus operandi that we can use in future to gain more insight into SA household appliance use, while simultaneously promoting an ethos of energy efficiency.
A SINGLE ONLINE RECORD: APPLIANCE DATABASE & QR CODING
The big benefits of a single, easily accessible, electronic record of the appliances regulated by VC9006 and 9008 – and seamless online registration procedures for new models coming onstream – are obvious to all stakeholders.
These range from expediting the ‘factory to retail floor’ process for industry to allowing the Department of Energy to track and assess the impact of regulations.
Great progress has been made so far!
A test version of the site has been completed and made available to key stakeholders. Their valuable feedback will then be incorporated before taking it further. Eventually, a QR code on appliances will also allow ordinary citizens to access the user manuals and vital information via their smartphones on the same platform. This fantastic forward-thinking technology makes the process more seamless and transparent for all!
NEW LIGHT ON A FAMILIAR SUBJECT
In an exciting development, mandatory standards for (household) service lamps and directional lamps for general illumination, (incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, high-intensity discharge, LED and other light sources) are being set in 2019.
So look out for a detailed update in the next edition. See you then.
