Community Participation in Neighbourhood Energy Retrofits

The interest of this dissertation rises from the new regulation that the National Government of Turkey accepted in December 2009. As a European Directive, this regulation looks into both new and existing buildings, and promotes the improvement of the building stock for energy efficiency. The attempt is promising, since focusing on the existing built environment is a new and desired approach. So far, the regulations have often concentrated on the new constructions which are also crucial and inevitable; however, it should not be disregarded that the majority of the existing built environment continues to function unsustainably. Therefore regulation is an important step, although it is not sufficient to achieve sustainable development. The present structure and the method of operation of the national and local authorities are insufficient to generate sustainable and positive outcomes for energy efficiency in the existing building stock. This is not due to a lack of technology or know-how since they are available widely and worldwide. However, energy retrofitting is still a big challenge for Turkey as well as for many other countries. Keywords: Energy efficiency, energy retrofitting, urban retrofitting, community participation, community participation in local environmental planning and management, Güzelyali, Izmir During the last decades, the focus has been on the development of new technologies. Today, energy retrofitting, which refers to improving the existing buildings with energy efficiency equipment, requires new and innovative approaches and this is beyond technicalities. Community participation is an important component in realizing retrofits due to the fact that energy retrofits will be feasible, adequate and easy if the community is involved. With community participation, it is more likely to understand the local context, address fundamentals, overcome the resistance and implement necessary measures. Technical solutions cannot generate the solutions alone. Communities, by participating, can see the benefits and contribute positively to the final outcome. This research aims to investigate how communities can participate in neighbourhood energy retrofits. Community participation is often disintegrated into the overall programme, remaining as an add-on most of the time. The new and innovative retrofitting approach should look into integrating the concept to the process which can be done through the analysis of different elements. Therefore, the first objective in this study was to look into these elements that lead to the development of a framework for community participation in neighbourhood energy retrofits. Later, the research analyzed the potentials and limitations for a selected area located in the Güzelyal? neighbourhood, Izmir. Izmir, with its unique context, is an important case for the role of the community in local environmental planning and management. Güzelyal?, as one of the better-off neighbourhoods, was selected to conduct the fieldwork for this research due to its social context and the established community networks. A pilot area within the borders of Güzelyal? neighbourhood was further selected for an in-depth study. This research is of an exploratory and descriptive type. The approach of the study was developed firstly through the review of relevant literature by looking into different concepts for community participation in neighbourhood energy retrofits. The study was further developed through the analysis of potentials and limitations from different perspectives including the community, local government, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations with in-depth interviews in the selected pilot area in Güzelyal?. The results which are classified under the aspects of institutional environment, community capacity and existing networks show that there are both potentials and limitations in realizing community participation in neighbourhood energy retrofits. By providing relevant regulations and removing the barriers, the institutional environment in Izmir is already enabling participation in energy retrofits. However, the lack of integration of different regulations, related to energy efficiency improvement and community participation is still an important limitation. The city's experience in participatory local environmental planning and management is considerable, yet, it would be correct to say that in Izmir, participation has often been seen as participating in the action but not in decision-making since there is no official obligation for government officials. The decision-making on how to involve the community mainly depends on personal initiatives which often results in an insufficient level of participation by the communities. Community capacity is another important aspect to analyze and in this research it has been studied in terms of level of awareness and level of commitment. Despite the unfamiliarity to the concepts of energy retrofitting, a high level of awareness for neighbourhood and environmental issues in the pilot area was observed together with a high level of commitment. Accordingly, the neighbourhood even has a platform where the community gathers with the aim of improving the environmental conditions of Güzelyal?. The role of such community based organizations is essential in decision-making whereas research shows that the interaction with the community through community platforms has not yet been properly established. Instead, the local authorities use formal networks to reach the community which is also considered as an important limitation for the city. The research has looked into these opportunities and challenges in detail. Derived from the analysis of relevant literature and the findings from Güzelyal? neighbourhood, the study aimed to see whether it is possible to carry out a pilot project for community participation in neighbourhood energy retrofits in the selected area. In doing this, in order to open the way forward and provide guidelines, the research also has reviewed five relevant projects from Europe.