Image from here: www.instagram.com/p/DO6Z-F_jY3...

Striking photos of Milan after recent heavy rain. The Bosco Verticale in the middle is often used as a lazy shorthand image for the future of sustainable design, but here it's so clearly detached from the city's climate challenges

Interested to hear if this has happened to anyone else and for @octopus.energy to sort it out once and for all please!

From my design perspective it's another good example of problems caused when we leave gaps in the user experience of home decarbonisation. Metering is a point where responsibilities span multiple companies and no customer is going to fully understand the intricacies - they just want it gone.

It seems like it’s harder to digitally remove a gas meter than physically remove one (flipping the pace layers model on its head) - looks like the meter ID still exists and it shows up in energy suppliers systems. I don’t know if there’s a process that should have happened somewhere that got missed?

I had my gas meter removed nearly 2 years ago by @octopus.energy after installing a heat pump (woo!) - but the meter continues to live on in its own spooky digital afterlife. It comes and goes from my account and in the last week I’ve received over £700 of gas bills for my phantom supply...

We’re really keen to connect with government teams and other organisations working on design-led approaches to policy challenges. You can also join us at Policy Live in London on 11 September and join our session on exploring design techniques for policy teams.
www.nesta.org.uk/event/policy...

How is design helping us to do policy differently at Nesta? New blog from me outlining how we’re increasingly using design and policy skills in tandem, and supporting the emerging practices of public design and test and learn in government.
www.nesta.org.uk/blog/how-is-...

We’ve (@nestauk.bsky.social) published an update to our coordinated switching work - as we think households and industry could benefit from a more coordinated approach to low carbon heat.

We’ve brought all our content on this theme into one place www.nesta.org.uk/coordinated-...

We’re continuing to deliver and improve the service with a number of new features in development. Looking forward to seeing what happens next - and if you haven’t already, go visit or sign up to become a host!
www.visitaheatpump.com

For me it also demonstrates how important good service design is to making decarbonisation happen. Uptake of new tech is messy - we need to focus on real and whole problems people face, like seeing how a heat pump would fit in their home, which might be long before they take any action.

Visits make a measurable impact on people’s likelihood to switch to low carbon heating, both in their choice of tech and the speed that they act. It works for the installation industry too - we’re seeing a range of installation companies using the service and integration with their sales journeys...

Over 400 hosts across the country have signed up to open their home for over 600 visits. They’re largely motivated by the fact they have something to offer and can make a difference locally...

My team @nestauk.bsky.social has designed and delivered Visit a Heat Pump, a UK-wide service to help people see a heat pump near them and learn first hand about what it's like to live with one.

6 months in we’re sharing what we’ve learnt: www.nesta.org.uk/report/seein...

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