How Sitback Turned Complex Energy Policy Into Practical Digital Tools

Building public-facing tools for energy rebates and savings estimates required translating complex policy rules and modelling systems into interfaces ordinary users could navigate. A new case study from Sitback describes how the agency worked with the New South Wales Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to deliver two Drupal-based decision-support platforms.

The project focused on two connected services: Energy Savings Finder and Energy Savings Calculator. According to the case study, the tools were designed to help households and businesses identify eligible government energy programs and estimate annual savings from upgrade pathways based on real modelling data.

The significance of the project lies in the technical challenge behind the simplified user experience. Eligibility calculations depended on multiple variables, including property type, concession eligibility, ownership or rental status, energy sources, and whether the property was residential or business-based. Sitback said the tools required extensive conditional logic to ensure questions and recommendations adapted dynamically to user responses.

The calculator is supported by modelling data covering more than 1.8 million energy-upgrade scenarios. The case study notes that savings could not be treated as additive values because changing one upgrade pathway affected the projected savings of others. To address this, the platform recalculates full scenarios whenever users add or remove upgrades, accounting for climate zones, home characteristics, and residential or business-specific savings values.

The implementation used a headless Drupal and React architecture with shared infrastructure across both tools. Sitback said the platform included a reusable Drupal module, configurable eligibility logic, token-based result persistence, and shared email delivery systems. The agency also stated that the project was developed to align with accessibility requirements, NSW Digital Design System standards, and government security testing processes.

According to the case study, the Drupal-based rules engine allows government teams to modify rebate eligibility logic, update question flows, and manage programme changes without requiring developer intervention. The system also includes taxonomy-driven energy-saving recommendations and nested conditional survey flows.

The tools launched in line with ministerial delivery expectations, according to Sitback. The agency said the resulting platform now enables NSW households and businesses to compare upgrade pathways, review estimated annual savings, and revisit stored results through tokenised links.

The post primarily documents implementation architecture and modelling integration rather than introducing new Drupal modules or reusable open-source components. While the case study provides substantial detail about the decision-support logic and platform structure, it does not include code-level implementation examples or technical release documentation.