ClimateCam® is the world’s first greenhouse gas speedometer designed and developed right here in the Hunter by Newcastle City Council. ClimateCam is a web based measurement tool that follows the philosophy ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’.

ClimateCam has been around since 2001 and now forms a key part of the Together Today initiative because it allows us to measure the collective impact of our individual actions to help the environment.

The ClimateCam website was launched in 2001 following requests at Council’s first Energy Town Meeting to set a 2008 greenhouse gas reduction target and track the benefits of our energy-smart, water-wise actions.

Six years on, ClimateCam has successfully reported monthly greenhouse gas emissions for the City of Newcastle and has recently been revamped to include hourly updates for electricity use. The brand new ClimateCam® Billboard, located in Wheeler Place Newcastle, has been created as a city-wide power meter to show the hourly updates.

The revamp involved dividing the City up into 15 zones based on the boundaries of the electrical substations. The ClimateCam® zones have established the City of Newcastle into a research zone for the Hunter-wide Together Today.

This research zone means we can test and measure impacts of different Together Today projects. For example, installations of water smart showerheads and efficient light globes, available through the Enviro Saver Program, will soon be tracked and reported for each ClimateCam® zone and across the Hunter region. This means you can see what your suburb is doing to help the environment.

Check out www.climatecam.com

Together Today is an exciting world-first, world-class environmental initiative. With the vision to transform the Hunter to create Australia’s most energy and water efficient region, Together Today will provide a complete package of information, education, communication and action programmes focussed on energy and water efficiency.

The Together Today campaign will position the Hunter as world leaders in energy and water efficient solutions, building on the region’s solid history in exporting.

Together Today Foundation Members invite everyone from kids to corporations to pledge their support. Through smart initiatives and technologies, along with a major collaborative commitment from all sectors of the community, their collective pledge is to make a positive difference for their environment, Together Today.

The collective impact of action across the community is measured on ClimateCam®. As the world’s first greenhouse gas speedometer, ClimateCam was created by Newcastle City Council in 2001 and measures the greenhouse gas emissions in the Newcastle local government area. Consumption data and the equivalent greenhouse emissions from electricity are updated hourly and reported online at ClimateCam.com and on the ClimateCam Billboard. ClimateCam provides the unique opportunity to create a world-class testing ground for energy and water smart activities, new products and services.