Renovation of co-owned apartment complexes: dream first, then decide

To refurbish apartment complexes, the majority of voting co-owners must be in favor of renovation activities. Collective decision-making is never easy. And if it involves money, well, it is even harder. To cater for that difficulty, the Local Energy and Climate Agency of Grenoble metropolitan area – ALEC, created a participatory workshop called “Refurbish my condominium : what a program!”.

A place for exchange

“How would you like your condominium to be in 10 years ?” This is how the 2 hours workshop begins. This moment allows people to think about what can be done, discuss ideas and vote collectively on prioritizing actions. But no decisions are taken.

 A step back for co-owners

The workshop’s aim is to help co-owners take a step back regarding refurbishment and the Mur|Mur2 campaign. The campaign is a package helping owners to renovate thermally their home, thanks to financial subsidies and technical support. As it has been observed during the 1st campaign Mur|Mur1, presenting the advantages of retrofitting is not enough. Indeed, it seems that owners need a period of reflection before decision-making.

 A 5 step approach

The workshop follows 5 steps. The first 2 steps are dedicated to learn about the co-owner’s wishes and evaluate their readiness to invest in retrofitting activities. The 3rd step presents the thermal specifications of the co-owners’ building. The 4th step reviews the Mur|Mur2 campaign and its terms. And finally, the last step makes owners prioritise ideas they have listed at the beginning of the workshop.

Ranking priorities

The 1st workshop showed that a large majority of co-owners voted for global thermal insulation as first priority of activities, followed by investing in “a silent and efficient ventilation system”.

By allowing the co-owners to imagine their residence in 10 years’ time, this workshop made them realise that a thermal refurbishment is a priority for their comfort and the market value of their building. Now let’s hope this will lead to the right decisions. To be continued …

Contact : genevieve.goubel@alec-grenoble.org