Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)

Summary

Aurion Learning supported the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) in assisting businesses across Ireland to become more energy-aware and energy-efficient.

SEAI also wanted to support organisations to address their energy use rationally, to improve their competitiveness and to reduce their costs and environmental impact.

To address this challenge, a robust, intuitive digital learning solution was developed and rolled out. Spanning 4 years so far, the online solution has provided learning resources to over 9000 users across a range of business types, all with the aim of promoting behavioural change that sees a reduction in energy consumption and therefore energy costs for these businesses.

About SEAI

Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland is the national energy agency.

Their role is to invest and deliver sustainable solutions to transition to a clean energy future.

SEAI offer services to support organisations in addressing their energy use and in doing so, help to improve their competitiveness, reduce costs, and reduce their eco impact.

The Challenge

SEAI recognised that although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) individually consume moderate amounts of energy, collectively, they account for a significant portion of global energy demand. They wanted to provide free online training resources to these businesses to help raise awareness of the impact their energy use has on the environment and what they can do to mitigate and reduce this.

The Objective

The objective was to develop a new online programme of support for SMEs, to assist them in becoming more energy-aware and energy efficient. Education through an online accessible platform for business is an important part of the development of the wider SEAI programme for sustainability and efficiency.

The Approach

Aurion Learning took a multi-faceted approach to the design and development of the 'Energy Academy' solution.

Working closely with the key stakeholders in SEAI, they refined the user requirements specification (URS) for the LMS, working to configure this in preparation for the deployment of content. The content development followed our tried and tested five-stage methodology, which includes designing the content in collaboration with subject matter experts on each topic.

To create maximum impact, Aurion addressed the key challenges within each area, focusing on engaging the learner with interactive digital learning content, developed as short 15-20 minute modules developed in Articulate Storyline 360. This included engaging, interactive screens, digital stories, graphics, images and assessments.

The Results

Since the launch in April 2020, there have been over 10,000 registrations who completed at least one course on the Energy Academy.

The eLearning content is rated on average 4.91/5 across all courses with:

• 95% of users agreeing that the content is clear and easy to understand.
• 80% of respondents agreed the Energy Academy helped them to better understand their energy use.
• 85% agreed that their behaviour around energy use had improved following the completion of the Energy Academy, and they are now more conscious of how they use energy in their business/home.
• 86% felt the Energy Academy helped them to learn more about energy efficiency and practical energy-saving ideas.
• 61% of respondents said that as a result of what they learned they have been able to influence the behaviour of others.
• 56% of respondents have invested or plan to invest in energy-efficient upgrades following completion of the course.
• 91% would recommend this course to others, with one learner citing,

“Informative and stimulating course that helped reinforce the idea that small changes can make a difference in producing a more energy efficient business and also in encouraging the individual to do more.”

The course helped reduce learners’ energy use, some by up to 50%, with 78% of respondents having already invested or planning to invest in renewable energy, helping SEAI meet their goal of reducing their environmental impact.

Alison Donnellan, Programme Executive – Business Supports at SEAI said:

“SEAI is delighted to provide a comprehensive learning solution for all businesses and energy users in Ireland to access high-quality training that can provide businesses with significant potential cost savings.”