Only when they are accepted, or better even embraced by the people, they can be implemented swiftly without any major delays. In the past, retrofitting projects have sometimes created a strong opposition as inhabitants were never asked if they were in favour of any building improvements. Worse, they were just presented with a bill for the renovation costs.
To avoid such a conflict, the City of Lund in Sweden has embraced its inhabitants in a democratic process to take part and decide on a number of renovation measures to reduce CO2 emissions. At the same time, the city has ensured that the investments of the individual measures all made economic sense to the inhabitants. Thanks to this policy, the ambitious targets of 2020 climate and energy plan of the European Union seem likely to be achieved.
By Corinna Barnsted
30 October 2017