Browsing by Subject "residents"

This thesis offers views on the resident interests and participation in energy refurbishment processes by qualitatively analysing nine thematic resident interviews. Urban areas and buildings largely contribute to energy consumption and carbon emissions. The ageing building stock across Europe offers a window of opportunity for large scale energy refurbishments. Urban sustainability and participatory planning, the framework theories of this thesis, are both threaded by the lack of social focus, reflected in the lack of residential focus in housing refurbishments. Residents' main interests include economic reasoning, quality of life, and energy and environment. Economic reasoning includes concern of costs, interest in energy bill savings and stable living costs, and property value increase, indicating a rising market demand. Quality of life includes building condition, comfort, visual aspects, ease of maintenance, interest in technology, and preference on either shared or private systems. Environmental motivations vary and seem to correlate with one's faith in the effect of individuals and communities in solving climate issues. Good process practices facilitating trust include: activation of different information channels when refurbishments are approaching, personal and technical planning support, and a strong house strategy communicating residents the justifications and their areas of interest. Neighbourhood examples motivate residents and help them plan their own projects. As refurbishments make residents more proudly develop their houses and neighbourhoods, resident ambassadors can be used to replicate the experiences. Sharing and networking are already in place, but lack of promoting the sense of community may hinder such development. Existing co-planning reflects residents' strong position as stakeholders. Differences in participation power are found between housing cooperative boards and other residents. The boards dominate planning, justifying it with technical expertise and the difficulty of including everyone. This is accepted if an open communication culture is on place, as house meetings offer other residents a place to get informed and participate in decision making. The idea of including residents into planning is emerging. Participation benefits include residents offering good ideas, gaining knowledge, and achieving a stronger sense of community. Information and inclusion make residents more engaged to the development, speeding up decision making. A process model for participatory refurbishments is presented. Apart from the resident drivers active in house and neighbourhood levels, four challenging resident groups are identified: the unsocial, the objectors, the uninformed, and the unheard. Resident segmentation offers a good tool for identifying motivators to engage residents, as well as identify their needs as project participants.

The housing sector plays a crucial role in global energy consumption and emissions, with the European Union (EU) emphasizing citizen participation in sustainability, and Finland targeting carbon neutrality by 2035. Despite legislative efforts, the extent of residents' active involvement in sustainability remains uncertain. Current housing sustainability studies often overlook the role of individual actors like residents, who actively participate in various phases of sustainability initiatives. This study focuses on resident-driven sustainability projects in housing and understanding residents' perspectives, and then comparing them with those of housing experts in the Helsinki metropolitan region. Utilizing qualitative interviews, this study investigates the perspectives and experiences of both residents (n=9) and housing experts (n=9) regarding sustainability initiatives in housing. The thematic data analysis focuses on understanding residents' priorities, their experiences of sustainability initiatives in housing, and the factors influencing their engagement. The analysis identifies resident-driven sustainability projects that benefit housing communities, including adding biodiversity to the yard areas, neighborhood collaboration, shared investments (bikes and cars), energy repairs, material changes, insulation improvements and urban farming. The results reveal differences in perspectives between housing experts and residents. Residents prioritize practical benefits and cost-efficiency and express the need for low-threshold avenues for communication. Knowledge determines residents' perceptions and engagement with sustainability initiatives. Moreover, transparent governance, accessible communication channels, and inclusive decision-making processes encourage the feeling of ownership within residents and therefore foster their active participation in shaping sustainable housing. Housing experts draw attention to the lack of strategies in housing companies and the slow decision-making processes, where housing companies often react rather than act strategically. They emphasize the importance of tailored engagement strategies. The study highlights the need for strategic planning, including ongoing education and awareness-building efforts to address residents' limited understanding of the practical benefits of sustainability. By presenting sustainability as a solution to everyday housing challenges and recognizing its tangible benefits for residents, housing management can enhance resident buy-in and support for sustainability initiatives. The study calls for a holistic approach to sustainability in housing, integrating the perspectives and experiences of all residents to create more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable communities for the future. This study contributes to the field of housing sustainability by shedding light on resident-driven sustainability initiatives and creating more resilient and inclusive housing.