Project Overview

CommonPlaces Interactive developed a custom website application that brought all the robust functionality of the Cool Block program online and to mobile devices which now allows participants to select from 112 action recipes that lower carbon emissions, increase their disaster resiliency, and enhance the liability of their block.

“Three cheers for the web development team — great job! SO much easier to navigate, register, and work the Actions. You guys really delivered. Thanks so much for your hard work, please know it’s appreciated and will help lead to the success of the program."
- Sandra Slater, Project Director - The Cool Block
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Goals

A large challenge with the Cool Block website was mobile-friendly integration with the Cool Block program itself. The program features 112 actions in 8 topic areas and the related content is substantial. Making that work on mobile screens seemed daunting at first, but with close communication and ideation sessions with Cool Block Project Leaders, we were able to come up with an ideal solution for the complexity of calculating carbon saving in each area.

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Solution

The focus of this project was Building, not just a website, but a Community. The website was built in Drupal using an agile development process of edit and review cycles in close communication with Cool Block Project Leaders to cover each section of the site. Cool Block was an integral part of the development team to make decisions during the project, and as a result, the site was completed in six weeks by five developers, which met all the community pilot dates.

CommonPlaces developers employed accordions within each of the action plans to house the activities and data input fields. The CP team overcame several technical hurdles and timetables to deliver the project and surpass the client’s expectations. 

The site was completed in six weeks by five developers, which met all the community pilot dates. Participants are now able to access a customer portal, both on a computer and on a mobile device, log in and input their activities to seamlessly track and improve their actions across all eight areas within the program.

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