Engagement and strategic business development expertise

Cecille Weldon is considered Australia’s foremost expert on residential energy efficiency + property value + property marketing. She has a deep understanding of the property marketing industry and the emerging property technology sector and the systems and processes which drive perceptions of value. At the same time, she has had direct experience in the research, governance and sustainability sector.

This unique and agile cross-sector knowledge has enabled her to craft well-targeted value propositions and engagement strategies for companies from both “worlds” seeking to widen their market share.

Repositioning sustainability for a wider market

Cecille’s qualifications in the study of meaning and the relationship between language and social values informs much of her unique approach to message framing, strategy, brand, business development and trend forecasting. She has a nuanced understanding of the drivers for consumer engagement at point of sale or rent. In particular, positioning sustainability/energy efficiency within the residential property market.

Her expertise in the market positioning or repositioning of “sustainable” products, services and business development strategies is focussed on igniting “curiosity” and empowering homeowners, renters and investors to “lean-in” to the opportunity to create and find their best home.

She developed marketing guidelines for the selling of Net Zero Energy homes in the volume housing industry which were applied by Frasers Property in their Ed Square development as part of their ZEH Home Arena Grant – all 51 town homes were sold using these guidelines. For this commission she worked with the inhouse marketing team and their advertising agency.

Thought leadership - Keynote Speaker

Cecille is an experienced public speaker who provides timely insights for the property, technology and data sectors on the new value opportunities catalysed by residential energy efficiency at point of sale or rent and what this means for their customers and the homes they market, manage, upgrade and finance.

A Proptech entrepreneur in her own right, she helps property professionals understand what the new consumer wants from them and how a changing climate, rising running cost and impending regulation are about to change the way they do business.

With an 11% uplift in property value on offer and new commercially exciting property data beginning to flow through the system about energy efficiency property features (including energy ratings) it’s not surprising Cecille is passionate about building capabilities across the residential property sector.

Property and new property upgrades are a key target for new regulation as our homes need to be healthy, cheaper and more comfortable all year round to respond to the challenges of the future.

Entrepreneurship - Impact + Value

Cecille has a proven track record in developing engagement strategies for complex system level change - building effective solutions to complex problems.

Proptech Energy Efficiency Features Standard

Most recently she has initiated the industry-led Proptech Energy Efficiency Features Standard (proptechfeaturesstandard.au) supported by the Proptech Association of Australia.

This is an industry-led initiative to clean up and refine the energy efficiency property features (data points) in the back end of property technology. This will support consumers in their property buying, selling, investing journey, catalyse the new property upgrade opportunities and enable the sector to step up in readiness for Home Energy Ratings. This will also drive energy efficiency literacy and deliver a more direct connection into your new green loan product and enable a simple cross-sector alignment between the property marketing experience and the finance and valuation sector new climate risk framework.

To date, a key group of founding signatories who have agreed to collaborate on this energy efficiency standard:

These encompass large key players which cover the whole property experience - these companies alone will create system level change is they adopt these features (which they have agreed to do)

• The top 4 data companies in Australia: Proptrack, CoreLogic, Valocity, Domain Insights

• The top 3 property listing portals in Australia: realestate.com, domain.com, view. com.au

• The top real estate CRM company : MRI: who provide strata, sales, Property management CRM solutions for real estate sector

Liveability Real Estate Framework - acquired by CSIRO

In 2011 she pioneered new strategies to successfully position the benefits and value of sustainable property features in property marketing - leading with the “lifestyle benefits: comfort, reduced running costs”, through “layering” of information.

She utilised the language property “features” to deliver this simple and effective value proposition into the point of sale or rent. This “message-framing” was tested in full-page advertisements in the Domain section of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers and has since been validated by research.

These findings were later developed into her Banksia award-winning Liveability Features Framework and Liveability Appraisal Proptech tool for real estate agents which was incubated within LJ Hooker. The framework was acquired by CSIRO in 2016. This “features-based” marketing framework provided insight into existing property marketing systems and processes – identifying a trusted pathway to identify and verify key property features (including a home energy rating) during a free property appraisal and was complementary to mandatory or voluntary disclosure.

In essence, Liveability was a consumer engagement solution which identified a cluster of 17 Liveability Property Features that deliver the potential for running costs and comfort at the point of sale or rent, which provided a clear and robust list of property features for buyers, renovators and investors and a clear “upgrade” pathway. During her 3 years working with CSIRO energy she was able to bring deep property marketing sector knowledge into their research eco-system.

Residential Housing Research Projects

Cecille has been a key industry participant in numerous research projects and advisory boards with a focus on communicating the value of sustainability/energy efficiency including, CRC for Low Carbon Living as follows:

• RP3016 EnergyFit Homes Enhancing the Market for Energy Efficient Homes: Implementing a national voluntary disclosure system for the energy performance of existing homes RP3016: Participant Annual Forum 2014 - CRCLCL Exemplar 3: Influencing Low Carbon Choices at Point of Sale

• RP3039: Liveability Real Estate Framework Training and Cross Sector Professional Development Opportunities

• RP3009e1: Mainstreaming High Performance Housing - The Net Zero House (Balanced Energy House) Marketing Guidelines Report for Frasers and MJ Homes

• Your Home Consultative Committee

• Stakeholder Reference Group for Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings

• Cohousing Advisory Group Member Cohousing Advisory Group Institute For Sustainable Futures

Upskilling the “Influencer’s” of value

Reframing sustainable building design for the sales and property marketing context

Cecille holds a BADip Ed and is an experienced and award-winning course creator and facilitator and was a member of property services skills review which resulted in new course electives for real estate agents with a focus on energy efficiency property features.

She has been a tireless advocate for change in the real estate sector and for real estate agent skills to include knowledge of property sustainability features and how to market these effectively - as a baseline skill.

She recently founded Future Agent (futureagent.com.au) Australia’s first course marketplace dedicated to upskilling property professionals on how to identify and effectively market energy efficiency property features.

Development and Delivery: Energy Efficiency Training Courses for Property Professionals

Cecille has created, developed and facilitated the following training courses:

• “Selling Better” Up-selling Energy Efficiency Features piloted for Ray White NSW – customised 3-hour course for sales agents and property managers

• “Identify and Effectively Market: Energy and Water Efficiency Features in Property” CPPREP4507_Provide Property Sustainability Information in Real Estate – face-to-face course developed for REINSW

• Sustainable Property Features – The Value-Add Opportunity Developed for Real Estate Training Solution (RETS) online course content to align with competency CPPREP4507 - Provide property sustainability information in real estate.

• Elective for Real estate certificate CPPREP4507_Provide Property Sustainability Information in Real Estate – online course developed for Real Estate Training Solutions (RETS)

• Future Agent: Get up to Speed with BASIX and Home Energy Ratings – developed in partnership with NSW OEH and the REINSW

• Communicating sustainability features to your buyer’s webinar – developed for REINSW CPD: CPDSI21v2

• Selling Better – Upselling Energy Efficiency Developed for NSW DPIE utilised Meld Studios research – course for volume housing industry salespeople

• Updated 4 short online sustainability courses for the construction industry for Pointsbuild

• Liveability Real Estate Specialist – online training course for CSIRO

• Banksia award-winning Liveability Real Estate Specialist – face-to-face course for LJ Hooker.