A group in Wilmington, Ohio, is creating an online game – Dropoly – for homeowners to share energy efficiency ideas and find out how much they can save by implementing changes. Dropoly stands for drops in cost, carbon and kilowatts.
University of Dayton Professor Kevin Hallinan helped create the concept and website for the game, which will be tested by 300 users in January.
“The purpose of Dropoly is to let people know in a fun and easy way how to find free savings through behavioral changes and what they can do through low-cost investments,” said Hallinan.
The game will help homeowners measure such things as changing to energy efficient lighting and unplugging some devices in the home.
The creators of Dropoly are also hoping to make money from their game by finding investment partners among utilities, government agencies, advertisers and businesses. Hallinan said the Dropoly group is negotiating with three different utilities that may be interested in participating by alerting their customers about the game. Ultimately, the group would like to expand the game to commercial businesses.
The idea of creating an energy-efficiency game isn’t new. In Pittsburgh, the Green Workplace Challenge, which took place from September 2011 through October 2012 engaged more than 50 businesses in a competition that produced a combined energy savings of 67 million kWh per year.