F. Better Buildings Challenge SWAP: In the U.S., commercial buildings and industrial plants account for 50% of the nation’s primary energy use and cost about $400 billion annually to operate. The goal of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Challenge (BBC) is to double American energy productivity by 2030 while motivating corporate and public-sector leaders across the country to save energy.
Energy efficiency is as boring as it is important. It struggles to capture the attention of media and citizens alike. To overcome the snooze factor, the entering agency and DOE set out to build excitement and drama around energy efficiency. The result the Better Buildings Challenge SWAP series. Inspired by reality shows like Wife Swap, DOE created an online series pitting two BBC members, The U.S. Air Force Academy and U.S. Naval Academy, against one another as they traded energy management teams for three days. The teams examine one another’s operations, call out ways to improve energy efficiency and stir up a bit of friendly competition along the way.
The video series launched on YouTube and was complemented with a dedicated landing page featuring bonus videos and images, a paid YouTube campaign, and a strategic social media and media relations campaign.
The campaign exceeded all metrics, including driving the sign up of more than 60 new BBC partners, garnering 1.6 million video views, placing 11 national media stories in outlets including the Weather Channel, Huffington Post, and Fast Company which earned 17.4 million total media impressions, and netting 2.8 million impressions on Twitter. In addition, production of another season is currently underway featuring the cities of Boston and Atlanta.
