In mySMARTLife, the city of Helsinki, together with stakeholders and experts, created a program with 9 key actions to support energy renovations of the Helsinki private housing stock. It is called the Energy renaissance program. One of the actions in the program is to support the forming of local neighbourhood forums for condominium housing associations.
While the majority of actions of the Energy renaissance program focus on the upgrade of the city’s services for the condominiums, the potential benefits of peer support and information exchange are too great to discard.
The housing association ownership model of Finnish condominiums requires joint decision making from the homeowners. The elected board of a housing association has great responsibility to make and propose decisions regarding the development of the condominium. Although the professional property managers offer their services and support in everyday management, the initiative for energy saving measures usually comes from the homeowners.
Through the forums, the condominium boards can plan joint projects and exchange information. Energy renovations are usually very profitable investments for condominiums but a lack of information and examples slows down new projects. What is more, the forums will offer an important channel for the city to promote the new energy advisory services.
To boost the formation of housing association forums, the Taloyhtiöklubi project (Housing association club) financed by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment started in October 2020. The project will initiate and host pilot forums in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa. The project will also produce a model for forums for other Finnish municipalities.
More information on the project webpage (in Finnish).
