A widespread roll-out of the igreen and Y Green initiatives could see greenhouse gas emissions reduced by half a million tonnes each year – the equivalent to taking 100,000+ cars off Australian roads permanently – according to a report from Monash University.
Working with local communities and secondary schools to train young people aged 15 – 25 in delivering home sustainability assessments, the Y Green program provides skills training, accreditation and paid-employment as well as national recognition for participants in the program. Following an 80-hour short course in Home Sustainability Assessment developed by Homesglen TAFE in Victoria, participants in the program are required to complete a minimum of ten household consultations providing energy and water efficiency advice, and information on products available to reduce energy and water usage in the home. An action plan is developed in consultation with the resident for each household, and then followed up six months later to check on progress.
Through Y Green more than 900 household assessments took place in NSW last year, with a further 1500 planned across NSW, Victoria, and Tasmania this year. In the pilot program, fifty-eight percent of recommended actions were reported as implemented by participating householders with an estimated saving of 1,900kg of carbon emissions per participating household per year.
Click here to download the full report (PDF)
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