Sustainable Neighbourhoods – Approaches to Improve the Energy ...

Sustainable Neighbourhoods

Approaches to Improve the Energy Efficiency of Residential Areas

Interim Brochure of the INTERREG IV B Project Urb.Energy

Part-financed by the European Union (EuropeanRegional Development Fund and EuropeanNeighbourhood and Partnership Instrument).

Published by:

German Association for Housing, Urban and Spatial Development (DV) e.V.Littenstr. 10, 10179 Berlin, Germany

Christian Huttenloher | Michael Färber

Design by:VorSprung Design & KommunikationBochumer Str. 19, 10997 Berlin, Germany

Disclaimer: This publication has been produced with the assistanceof the European Union. The content of this document isthe sole responsibility of the author and can in no waybe taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

In addition, the project Urb.Energy is supported by theGerman Federal Program Transnational Cooperation ofthe Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and UrbanAffairs.

October 2011

www.urbenergy.eu

Imprint

Part-financed by the European Union (EuropeanRegional Development Fund and EuropeanNeighbourhood and Partnership Instrument).

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1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2. The Project Urb.Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.2 Project Idea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.3 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.4 Thematic Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.5 Financial Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3. The Energy Efficient Modernization of the Housing Stock in the Context of the European Energy Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3.1 Tackling European Energy Challenges on a Local Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4. Integrated Urban Development Approaches with Focus on Energy in the Land Brandenburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4.1 Overall Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84.2 Land Brandenburg Example Cities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104.3 Methodological Approaches to Energy Efficient Urban Renewal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114.4 Plausibility-Check Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124.5 Further Experiences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5. The Target Areas of Urb.Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Piaseczno, Poland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Rakvere – Seminari Street, Estonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Lida (Grodno Oblast), Belarus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Jelgava, Latvia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Riga-Jugla, Latvia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Šiauliai, Lithuania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Case Study Berlin, Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

6. Conclusions – Key Elements and Obstacles of Integrated Approaches for Energy Efficient Urban Renewal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Table of Contents

By taking a closer look at urban space with the ma-jority of people living in urban areas with high en-ergy consumption, it becomes clear that two mainaspects ‘energy’ and ‘urban settlements’ can not beconsidered independently. Households in particu-lar need more than one fourth of the final energyconsumption. Hereby heating takes e.g. in Ger-many up to 70% of households energy consump-tion. Energy efficiency measures in the context ofenergetic refurbishment offer possibilities to re-duce heat energy consumption e.g. by insulationof roofs and walls. Developed in the last years, newurban renewal concepts use an integrated ap-proach and work on an upgrading based on aneighbourhood level. Integrated concepts con-sider all aspects of urban development and urbanrenewal and aim for increased quality of residen-tial neighbourhood, increased energy efficiencyand decreased energy consumption. Thus, in inte-grated urban development concepts energy effi-cient refurbishment of individual buildings iswidened to energy efficiency in an urban context.By pooling the tasks and goals in a concept, the ac-tion taken is coordinated and control is simplified.

The development of integrated concepts for sixsample neighbourhoods is one of the main aims ofthe Urb.Energy project. The gained experiences es-

pecially regarding integrated approaches and en-ergy efficiency will be presented within the projectand in the produced materials in order to promotemore energy efficiency in the Baltic Sea Region.Even though the different neighbourhoods havecertain concordances – the majority of them areresidential areas and predominately characterizedby the typical multi-apartment buildings of the so-viet time – each area has to deal with the specificsituation on the spot and to develop its own ap-proaches for the general target of the project: Amore efficient use of energy and an enhancementof the overall living quality in the neighbourhoods.

On the following pages this brochure provides youwith general information about the Urb.Energyproject. Insights of the EU energy policies reflectthe project work in a European perspective. Shownexperiences in Brandenburg, Germany illustratedifferent approaches to deal with integrated urbandevelopment and energy efficiency. A descriptionof the Urb.Energy target areas and their specificchallenges, potentials and perspectives for an in-tegrated upgrading follows. Finally the conclusionssummarize interim results and findings and givefirst recommendations for overcoming existingbarriers.

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Sustainable Neighbourhoods – Approaches to Improve the Energy Efficiency of Residential Areas

1. Introduction

2. The Project Urb.Energy

2.1 BackgroundDue to climate change and limited energy re-sources, improved energy efficiency in buildings,increased use of renewables and energy saving set-tlement structures gain importance.

The European housing stock is one major contribu-tor to energy waste and CO2 emissions. At the sametime the refurbishment rate especially in the newEU member states is extremely low and mainly con-centrates on particular urgent “standard measures”.However, the quality of life and the contentednessof the residents do not only depend on technicalstandards but are more and more influenced by thequality, design and the usability of the spaces out-side of one´s home. The attractiveness and future-orientation of the entire urban quarter is becominga crucial aspect that needs to be considered. Hence,energy efficient rehabilitation measures on thehousing stock should be combined with the re-newal and further development of the energy sup-ply infrastructure (making increasing use of renew-able energy sources) and the improvement of thequality of the residential environment of the wholeurban quarters. The actions to be implementedmust be embedded in integrated urban develop-ment concepts which are to be developed by in-volving residents and the relevant stakeholders ina continuous participation process.

2.2 Project IdeaUrb.Energy focuses on the elaboration and partlyimplementation of transferable integrated urbanconcepts and strategies for the sustainable and fu-

ture-oriented energy rehabilitation of residentialareas in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR).

By this, Urb.Energy not only responds to TerritorialAgenda of the EU and the Leipzig Charter for Sus-tainable European Cities emphasising sustainableurban development strategies as a prerequisite forattractive and competitive European cities as wellas to current energy and climate EU policies butalso to the fact, that from 2007 on, EU structuralfunds can be used to finance measures in housingwithin integrated urban development concepts.

2.3 ObjectivesUrb.Energy builds upon the results of the BSR In-terreg III B project BEEN – strategies to promote theenergy efficient refurbishment of the prefabricatedhousing stock – and combines the approach of in-tegrated urban development with the increase ofenergy efficiency of the building stock, the mod-ernisation of the energy supply infrastructure, therevaluation of the residential environment and theidentification of innovative financing instruments.

[3]Objectives of the project Urb.Energy

IntegratedUrban

Development

EnergyEfficientRenewal

InnovativeFinancialSchemes

2.4 Thematic Issues Urb.Energy works on three complementary and in-terlinked overall thematic issues:

Integrated Urban Development – Improve-ment of Residential QuartersStrategic focus: Enhance the application of inte-grated development approaches for urban re-newal as important conceptual basis to increase the energy performance of urban quarters. Integrated urban development approaches re-alise a) important synergies between the fields of

action energy efficient refurbishment of buildings and modernisation of energy sup-ply infrastructure;

b) revaluation of residential environment and improvement of the social and economic infrastructure and

c) motivating owners and residents to realise investments.

Energy Efficient Rehabilitation – Improve-ment of Buildings and Energy Supply Infra-structureStrategic focus: Conception and partly realisa-tion of energy efficient refurbishment (EER) for buildings including the renewal of the supply infrastructure in the urban target areas. The conceptions, measures to be implemented con-sist of an optimised complex package of re-

furbishment measures, new conceptions for district heat supply (incl. renewable energy sources) and include the participation, involve-ment of the concerned stakeholders (energy providers, municipality, owners, housing com-panies etc.).

Stetting up Financial Instruments – Improved Affordability of InvestmentsStrategic focus: Improvement of the mecha-nism for providing financial means for inte-grated urban rehabilitation measures. Based on the analysis of the existing funding possibilities, appropriate funding instruments will be deve-loped that lead to an improved affordability of investments in EER of residential buildings and integrated urban development measures. Spe-cial attention will be paid to EU structural funds and revolving funds.

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Residential environment improvement inGuben, Germany

Financial Instruments for urban renewal andenergy efficiency Source: chocolat01/PIXELIO

Residential energy efficiency measures in Šiau-liai, Lithuania

2.5 Financial SupportUrb.Energy is funded by the Baltic Sea Region (BSR)Programme 2007–2013 and national co-financingfrom the project partners. The BSR Programme2007–2013 is an EU Structural Funds programmefor transnational cooperation under the EuropeanTerritorial Co-operation objective. The programmeaims to make the Baltic Sea Region an attractiveplace to invest, work and live in. The BSR Pro-gramme is divided into four priorities. Urb.Energy isallocated to priority 4. which aims at the “Promo-tion of Attractive and Competitive Cities and Re-gions”.

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Source: Lilo Kapp/PIXELIO

The European Union has to find answers for theircrucial challenges in the field of energy: Safety ofenergy supply, stable energy prices and climatechange.

Therefore the European Council adopted the Euro-pean Energy and Climate objectives ‘EU 20-20-20’in 2007:

reducing CO2 gas emissions by 20%, reaching a share of 20 % of renewable energyand to increase energy efficiency by 20% until the year 2020.

This presents a core aim within the new Post Lis-bon Strategy Europe 2020 which builds the frame-work for European policies until 2020.

The building stock accounts for around 40 % of theEU’s total final energy use, of which two thirds areconsumed in the residential sector. Therefore, buil-dings offer the largest single potential for energyefficiency.

The EU has responded to this fact with various re-gulations and initiatives where building infra-

structures, urban and regional structures play animportant role, not only within the Europeanenergy policy but also within research and regio-nal policy. Inter alia to mention are here the re-casted Energy Performance of Buildings Directive(EPBD), the strategy ‘Energy 2020’ and the ‘EnergyEfficiency Plan 2011’.

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3. The Energy Efficient Modernization of the Housing Stock in the Context of the European Energy Policies

3.1 Tackling European Energy Challenges on a Local Level

Beside the European strategies and regulationsalso questions on financing and exchange of expe-riences and knowledge are of major importance.The most important initiatives and instruments are

JESSICA (e.g. revolving integrated urban deve-lopment funds, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund),

CONCERTO (energy efficiency and use of rene-wable energies within the built urban context, co-financed by the framework program),

the Convenant of Mayors (development of stra-tegic energy action plans in cities)

ELENA (European Local Energy Assistance, co-funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe Pro-gram within the Competitiveness and Innova-tion Program),

Smart Cities and Communities Initiative (for more sustainable and efficient cities rely on the organisational framework of the EU’s Strategic Energy Technology (SET)-Plan within the 7th framework research program).

Against the background of the economic crisissince 2009 in all member states the European Re-gional Development Fund (ERDF) can be used forenergy efficiency and renewable energy invest-ments in housing with an available amount of upto 4% of the total ERDF allocation.

To reach the European Energy and Climate objecti-ves further efforts regarding efficient use of energysupply systems and energy efficient refurbishmentof the existing housing stock are necessary especi-ally in the new Member States. To implement theEuropean objectives different fields of activity haveto be taken into account: building infrastructures,urban and regional structures. Thereby it is impor-tant not only to develop smart technologies and toimplement single actions such as the renovation ofsingle house components but to bring togetherthese components within an integrated territorialapproach that brings together different stakehol-ders such as architects, urban and regional plan-ners, housing companies, energy suppliers and po-litical responsible persons on local and regionallevel.

In the Leipzig Charta on sustainable European Ci-ties the member states’ ministers responsible forurban development declared 2007 that energy ef-ficiency of buildings must be improved, both exis-ting but also new buildings. The renovation of hou-sing stock can have an important impact on energyefficiency and the improvement of resident’s qua-lity of life. To realize energy savings – and to intro-duce more renewable resources – the local level isone of the most crucial fields of activity.

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The Land Brandenburg, represented by the Minis-try of Infrastructure and Agriculture (MIL) as a pro-ject partner in Urb.Energy, can draw upon exten-sive experience on the way to an integrated urbandevelopment. In the 20 years after the fall of 1989,all towns went through comprehensive transfor-mation and development processes. Since then

city development strategies and instruments haveexperienced a continuous development, which canserve as inspiration, particularly for midsize andsmaller cities in Eastern Europe. Experience in im-plementing integrated approaches and in energyappreciation of neighbourhoods are processedand incorporated into the Urb.Energy project.

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4. Integrated Urban Development Approaches with Focus on Energy in the Land Brandenburg

Geographical

Integrated Urban Development

Region

City

District

Neighbourhood

Departmental

Urb

an P

lann

ing

Envi

ronm

ent/

Ener

gy

Tran

spor

t

NN

Dep

artm

ent

Three dimensions of integrated urban developmentSource: based on EBP

Participational

4.1 Overall StrategyThe Land Brandenburg with its 2.5 Mio inhabitantsis situated in the east of Germany and covers a re-gion of about 30.000 km². The federal state facesthree main challenges as there are the continuingeconomic fragility, the restricted financial room formanoeuvre in the communities (and the federalstate) and the consequences of the demographicchange. In result a high complexity of task occurredwith an enormous amount of parallel strategiesand many complex funding schemes which led tothe development of a new urban developmentstrategy for the Land Brandenburg. This combinesthe spatial, departmental and participatory dimen-sions using a holistic integrated approach.

The Urban Renewal Masterplan of the Land ofBrandenburg is a main aspect of the strategy whichincludes a funding policy for urban developmentand housing on the basis of Integrated Urban De-velopment Concepts (IUDCs), also called INSEK. AnIUDC bundles all relevant strategies of urban deve-lopment of a city or community as a communal

“framework strategy”. It provides the basis for fi-nancial and organisational support for cities in linewith their circumstances. The single processes ofthe IUDCs are implemented in individual sub-citydivisions. Therefore several integrated divisionalconcepts either on a structural/ geographical or ona functional basis are part or developed from theIUDC for parts of a city. They are derived on thebasis of comprehensive analysis of existing condi-tions and they serve to intensify action and projectplanning at a smaller geographical level.

To obtain a broad spectrum of commitment andparticipation among the people on relevant issuesand future urban development matters the FederalState is using a top-down as well as a bottom-up-participatory approach with guidelines and state-ments of objectives from the politicians and admi-nistration and also ideas, proposals and projectsfrom the citizens. Additional an urban renewal mo-nitoring system is used to analyse the urban rene-wal process on a city-wide, divisional and eventbuilding level to monitor and manage a predictiveand preventive urban development policy.

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Implementation of integrated urban development in the Land BrandenburgSource: based on EBP

INSEK

Implementation of Measures

Federal State Level

Community Level

Neighbourhood Level

Building Level

Urban Renewal Masterplan

Div

isio

nal C

once

pts

Div

isio

nal C

once

pts

Div

isio

nal C

once

pts

4.2 Land Brandenburg Example Cities

For the Urb.Energy project ten examples of Bran-denburg were selected to show how to assist andhow to foster the new development strategy. All ofthem – as a prerequisite for the project – concen-trate on issues of energy efficiency and the use ofrenewable energy in an urban context and use newmethodical approaches to energy efficient urbanrenewal. A large variety of thematic issues is shownas there are projects working on the rehabilitationof valuable old houses like in the city of Prenzlau oron the modernisation of social infrastructure for in-dividual needs like in the city of Spremberg. On theneighbourhood level works the creation of a schoolcampus in the city of Finsterwalde or the model re-furbishment as part of the district energy conceptin Luckenwalde. A city-wide strategy is followed bythe development of an integrated energetic con-

cept in the city of Lübbenau/Spreewald. Moreoverthe network BraNEK connects similar departmentsof different cities by fostering the exchange ofenergy related knowledge and experience and the-refore acts on a national and regional level.

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No. Region/Municipality Project Spatial Reference

Method. Approach

Region Spreewald-Triangle Regional energy concept National/Regional

Top-Down

Land Brandenburg (Neuruppin, Eberswalde, Frankfurt (Oder), Cottbus, Luckenwalde, Jüterbog, Brandenburg a. d. Havel)

BraNEK – Network for energy efficiency and climate change prevention

National/Regional

Top-Down

Guben Integrated energy strategy City Top-Down

Lübbenau/Spreewald Lübbenaubrücke –Municipal energy concept

City/Neighbourhood

Top-Down/Bottom-Up

Luckenwalde Model refurbishment as part of district energy concept

Neighbour-hood/Building

Bottom-Up

Spremberg Energy efficient renovation of aneducational and leisure centre

Complex ofbuildings

Bottom-Up

Prenzlau Energy efficient renovation of heritage protected housing

Complex ofbuildings

Bottom-Up

Vetschau/Spreewald Energy efficient renovation andconversion of heritage protectedschool building

Building Bottom-Up

Cottbus High energy efficient renovation of school building

Building Bottom-Up

Finsterwalde High energy efficient renovation of sports building

Building Bottom-Up

Examples of energy efficient refurbishment in the Land of Brandenburg

Map of Land Brandenburg

Brandenburga.d. Havel

Eberswalde

Wittenberge Prenzlau

Cottbus

Frankfurt(Oder)

Berlin

Neuruppin

PotsdamSPREEWALD

4.3 Methodological Approaches to EnergyEfficient Urban Renewal

The projects of the Land Brandenburg used twoapproaches to develop concepts for energy effi-cient development. The Region Spreewald-Trian-gle or the city of Guben followed a Top-Down-Strategy which is a concept-oriented approachconcentrating on the development of an energyconcept as part of an IUDC as framework conceptin a first phase. On this level of municipal govern-ment, strategic plans may include neighbourhoodenergy concepts as well. In a second phase urbandevelopment measures implement the ideas of theconcept level through realizing several projects.Hereby generated new experiences in terms ofways of implementation, stakeholders or financinggive usable help on following projects.

A three-phase Bottom-Up-Strategy is used by thecities Luckenwalde and Finsterwalde. This project-oriented approach starts on the project level withindividual projects of excellence that are carried outin the municipality. The experiences gained here,e.g. organisation and relations of stakeholders, ex-ploiting experiences, technical solutions or the eco-nomy of projects, are used in the second phase onthe concept level for the development of an energyconcept as part of an IUDC. Here as an intermediatestep neighbourhood energy concepts may be de-veloped as well. In a third phase for implementationurban development measures derived from theconceptual level and experiences of the projectlevel as well are working on the realization of diffe-rent integrated and energy efficient projects.

In all example cities the energy efficient conceptsare an instrumental step for identifying and evalua-ting the potential and possible threats that are oc-curring on the urban and neighbourhood level withrespect to minimising the use of primary energyand implementing alternative energy sources.

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“Top Down” and “Bottom Up“ approaches for integrated urban developmentSource: based on BMVBS/BTU Cottbus

Energy concept as part of integratedurban development concepts (IUDC)

”Top Down”-Strategy (2 phases): Concept-oriented approach

Optional:Neighbourhood energy concept

Concept level

Urban developmentmeasures

Urban development measures

Neighbour-hood-orientedaspects

Phase1

Project AProject A

Project BProject B

Project ...Project ...

Project level

Phase2

Experiencesetc.

Energy con-cept as partof IUDC

”Bottom Up”-Strategy (3 phases): Project-oriented approach

Optional:Neighbourhoodenergy concept

Model project

Concept level

Experiencesetc.

Phase2

Project AProject A

Project BProject B

Project level

Phase1

Phase3

4.4 Plausibility-Check Energy

Within the development process of IUDCs it be-came clear that there was a need for a special in-strument, assessing the work ability of measurestowards energy efficiency. Thus the instrument“Plausibility-Check Energy“ was designed for anenergetic optimised IUDC. The check providesknowledge on the expected energy demand in ty-pical settlement structures with their typical buil-ding typologies. An optional fine check evaluatesthe energy demand and efficiency in detail. Thusan evaluation of whether measures are physicallyand economically making sense in relation thecosts implied is allowed. The “Plausibility-CheckEnergy” works well on neighbourhood level andcan be aggregated towards higher urban levels be-cause a high amount of precision and judgementof the feasibility of measures is allowed.

4.5 Further ExperiencesOther experiences of the Land Brandenburg pro-jects concern social aspects, funding and supplysystems. The sustainable implementation of energyefficiency in urban development is a social processas well for which the project Lübbenaubrücke inLübbenau/Spreewald represents example experi-ences. The implementation in long term policy aswell as the acceptance among all stakeholders in-cluding administration, companies and inhabitantsis a precondition for success and therefore for moreenergy efficiency.

The example of the refurbishment of the commu-nity centre in Vetschau/Spreewald shows that thecombination of funding with minimum energy-saving requirements raises the proportion ofenergy related measures in projects. Furthermorethe project of the city Prenzlau illustrated the needof combinations of funding options for high energyefficiency refurbishment where a combination ofgranting and minimum energy-saving require-ments was used to increase the energy efficiencystandard.

Beyond the energy efficiency at building level, thecreation of efficient energy supply systems givespotentials for more energy efficiency. In the futuremore emphasis is needed for an integrated deve-lopment regarding issues of energy generation,energy distribution and energy consumption at va-rious geographic levels.

Experiences in incorporation of individual initiati-ves into general strategies for city-wide and regio-nal considerations by interlinking aspects are madein the regional energy concept of the Spreewald-Triangle. Advantages result in economically sound,ecologically justifiable and socially compatible stra-tegies.

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Interplay of the plausibility check EnergySource: based on BTU Cottbus

Thematic conceptEnergy

Thematic concept

Economy

Thematic conceptPolitics

Thematic concept

Culture & Sport Thematic

conceptEducation

Thematic concept

Municipal Adminis-

tration

Thematic concept

Social Infra-structure

Thematic concept

Infra-structure

Thematic conceptHousing

Targets & Action

Plan

Plausibiliy Check

”Energy”

For six target areas in Piaseczno (Poland), Siauliai(Lithuania), Jelgava and Riga-Jugla (Latvia), Rakvere(Estonia) and Lida (Belarus) are Urban Develop-ment Concepts (IUDC) elaborated within the proj-ect Urb.Energy. While the target areas consistmainly of soviet prefabricated buildings, the size ofneighbourhood differs and brings in very differentworking levels, concepts and approaches. The tar-get area in Rakvere is based on one street concern-ing around 800 inhabitants. Other target areas inPiaseczno, Siauliai, Jelgava and Riga-Jugla aremedium-sized neighbourhoods with 10.000 to27.000 inhabitants. Finally the target area in Lidaconsists of around 98.000 inhabitants.

SWOT-Analyses for each target area are startingpoints in Urb.Energy. They show the different char-acteristics and point out weaknesses and poten-tials regarding building and energy structure, in-habitant structure or energy efficiency. Based onthese findings specific and coordinated ap-proaches are developed within the IUDC for everyneighbourhood.

The preparation of German experiences with en-ergy efficient refurbishment (EER) in IUDCs gives acentral input to the project partners. Therefore twodifferent neighbourhoods show their progress andresults that had undergone energy efficient refur-bishment based in IUDC in recent years. Both ofthem are situated in Berlin. Similar to most of thetarget areas the neighbourhood “Frankfurter AlleeSüd” consists of typical industrial prefabricatedhousing estates. The second area “Kaskelkiez” is atypical old building neighbourhood with smallerbuildings and diverse building structures. The de-

velopment of both quarters regarding urban de-velopment and energy efficiency consists of impor-tant knowledge which enables target areas to de-velop IUDCs including EER.

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5. The Target Areas of Urb.Energy

Urb.Energy participating project partners

Potsdam

BerlinPiaseczno

GrodnoGrodno

Vilnius

Siauliai

Jelgava

Riga

Rakvere

Tallinn

Kiel

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General information:Piaseczno is with about 67,000 inhabitants a middle-sized municipality, located in the centre of Poland andin the direct neighbourhood of the southern part of War-saw. It is the seat of the county authorities.

Current situation in the Target Area:Due to the vicinity to Warsaw the neighbourhood is atypical sub-urban residential area characterized by mid-dle sized apartment buildings and a high number ofopen green spaces between the buildings. A significantshare of the residents used to work in a nearby factorybut due to the reduction of labour force a relatively highnumber of inhabitants was laid-off. This cause to someextends social tensions. Despite the fact that the TargetArea is located in a rapidly developing district of Pi-aseczno, the development pressure on the neighbour-hood itself is rather low and therefore the emphasis onfuture activities lays on the stabilization and enhance-ment of residential environment.

Apart of four re-furbished building, the energy perform-ance of the existing building stock is rather poor with anurgent need for improvement. The entire Neighbour-hood is connected to a central heating system that sup-

plies the area with heating energy. However, the warmwater supply is organized by apartment-related individ-ual boilers and the project targets on the developmentof new integrated solutions regarding a combined heat,warm water and energy production.

Major challenges regarding the urban structure of theneighbourhood is the improvement of the quality of theopen spaces in terms of social use and security. Due tothe strong rise of the private car ownership, in compari-son to the construction period, there is a need to de-velop appropriate solutions for the internal traffic andparking solutions. The residents are showing their strongcommitment to take over responsibility for the greenareas in between the buildings by self-organized gar-dening activities.

The municipal administration considers the deve-lop-ment of the integrated development concepts withinthe frame of the project as driving force to engage both,local owners and the municipality to initiate working,communication and decision patterns for the overall de-

Location of the target area

Target Area PiasecznoPoland

Key figures:

Size 8.26 ha

Number of inhabitants 2,079

Number of buildings 26 apartment buildings

Period of construction 1961–1974

Owner structure30% housing cooperative

70% individual owners

Current annual energy consumptionof multi-apartment buildings *

229.7 kWh/m²

* Average annual final energy demand of a typical not modernized building (Space heating + hot water preparation)

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velopment and in particular for the enhancement of theenergy efficiency of the neighbourhood.

Perspectives: On behalf of the city of Piaseczno the Polish NationalConservation Agency (NAPE) develops an integratedconcept for the energy efficient upgrading of the neigh-bourhood.

Parallel to the energy related topics, the concept takesin account as well the aspects for a general improvementof the residential environment in the neighbourhoodand will come up with a prioritized package of measuresfor a general accompanying upgrading of the area. Theconcept becomes, after the approval by the city council,a local bylaw.

Based on the integrated concept the city implements theprioritized package of measures for the public space. Toenable the self-organized enhancement of the buildingsin the neighbourhood, the concept includes as well de-tailed proposals for the technical upgrading of the 26buildings in the quarter as well as financial supportingresources for the owner associations and housing coop-erative respectively. In the frame of the project work allbuildings are the subject to an energy audit in order toprovide to the owner a solid basis for tailor-made furtherrefurbishment activities in respect to the special condi-tions in the neighbourhood.

The focus of the enhancement of energy efficiency is onone hand the modernization of the building shells andon the other hand the development of more adequatesolutions for the up to now apartment-related warmwater supply. Due to the specific conditions of the dis-trict heating system (seasonal heat production only anddifficult property rights) the emphasis of the possible so-lution approaches lies on decentralized building-relatedco-generation devices.

Based on a survey among the residents of the neighbour-hood the focus of the upgrading activities of the residen-tial environment is on the improvement the amenityvalue in front of the local supermarket and the enhance-ment of the green areas in between the buildings.

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General information:The city of Rakvere is situated in north Estonia and theadministrative, economical and cultural centre of theLääne-Viru County. According to the Estonian settlementsystem Rakvere is considered as one of the so called oldcounty centres and with about 17,000 inhabitants the7th lar-gest City in Estonia. The city has joined the Cove-nant of Mayors as first city in Estonia and wants to be-come the leading city in energy saving in Estonia.

Current situation in the Target Area:Seminari Street was founded in 1920ies as a part of ageneral extension of the historic city. Today the street isbordered by houses originating from different times aswell as different architectural styles and sizes. One cansee wooden and stone houses from prewar era as wellas typical apartment houses from Soviet time. Single-sto-ried houses are rowed up with five-storied panel colos-suses.

The multi-apartment buildings bordering the street arethe dominating structure in the area. The thermal con-ditions and the appearance of the apartment buildingsdo not correspond to con-temporary needs or expecta-tions and more and more attention is paid on the recon-struction of the façades of those buildings.

The population has been quite stable in Rakvere over thelast years, although there is a tendency to move from theareas with a high density – like the target area – to sin-gle-family house areas. In order to encourage a morecompact and energy efficient settlement structure, it isof public interest to enhance the living quality in the ex-isting building stock and to improve the overall quality ofurban environment in the target area. In compliancewith the Master Plan and the Sustainable Energy ActionPlan of Rakvere city government the overall upgradingof inner-city areas shall inhibit diffused urbanization andcontribute hence to a sustainable settlement structure.

Despite the poor condition of the buildings, residentsare rather hesitating towards refurbishing activities. Thisis due to the fact that the majority of the residents havea very limited financial capacity and little access to infor-mation about support possibilities. Therefore, the majorchallenge of the project lays on the development of pro-posals for tailor-made solutions for the upgrading of thebuilding stock by the owner associations.

Perspectives: The goal of the project is energy saving, enhancing themore efficient use of the public space and connecting thecentral part of the city with the town’s green corridor.Also, more attention should be paid on the importance ofshaping the living environment and development ofgood design examples for increased energy efficiency.

In the target area a step-by-step approach is applied. Inthe first stage, a public idea competition is carried out in

Target Area Rakvere – Seminari Street Estonia

Key figures:

Size 80 ha

Number of inhabitants 800

Number of buildings 18 apartment buildings


Owner structure

97% individual owners

2% institutional (rental)ownerships

1% cooperatives

Current annual energy consumptionof multi-apartment buildings*

170–180 kWh/m²


order to get the best solution to develop Seminari Streetto a linear park and to get ideas for the renovation of thefaçades of the houses surrounding the area. Both, archi-tectural as well as landscape architectural aspects arecombined in the idea competition. The City Governmentof Rakvere expects architectural solutions for renewingthe façades of the typical Soviet-style apartment housesand landscape archi-tecttural solutions for re-designingSeminari Street in order to alter it to an attractive urbanlandscape and connecting corridor between the heartof the city and city forest in the south. The goal is to getan integral solution where both elements of the task aresolved in a mutually complementing manner: forming aunited and integral urban environment. The next step ofthe project is the preparation of specific renovation proj-ects that are carried out on the basis of the attained ideasolution in cooperation with the house owner associa-tions of the area.

Those building projects are the basis for future renova-tion works on apartment houses in order to make the

houses energy efficient and adding to the more attrac-tive urban environment. The intention of Rakvere’s CityGovernment is, by investing in the compiling of thebuilding project docu-mentation, to inspire the differentindividual owners of the housing associations to take upthe actual renovation works.

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Contribution the architectural competition at Seminari Street

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General information:The Housing Department of Grodno Oblast ExecutiveCommittee (administration of the Province Grodno) is responsible for the majority of the existing housing stockin the entire Province of Grodno. The Executive Commit-tee selected the city of Lida as a Target Area within theproject Urb.Energy. In Lida an integrated developmentconcept will be developed that covers the entire area ofthe core city. As a preparatory step, three sample build-ings (that are representative for the housing stock inLida) will be analysed and refurbished.

Lida is the fourteenth largest city in Belarus, situated110 km east of Grodno.

Current situation in the Target Area:The city of Lida is a very old city with roots back to the13th century. However, the city suffered serious dam-ages during WW II and nowadays the city is predomi-nately characterized by multi-apartment buildings fromthe soviet era. The major part of the Target Area is con-nected to the central heating system.

Recently, large renovation activities has been carried outin order to upgrade the public spaces in the city centreand to improve the general conditions of the buildings.

However, still a major part of the housing stock in thecity lacks sufficient insulation. Regarding the districtheating system there is an urgent need to install individ-ual meters as well as to modernize generation plants andnetworks.

Currently the major energy resource is gas and local en-ergy sources (like fire wood, peat and sawdust). There isthe intention to increase the share of cogeneration(3–4% at the moment) but currently there are no specialfinancial programmes available to support the exten-sion. At the present time there are no renewable energy

sources in use in Lida. This is due in particular to the lackof experiences and certain scepticcism about the effi-ciency of renewable sources.

The buildings 43 Sovetskaya St (type 1), 35 Tavlaya St.(type 2) and 24 Mitskevicha St. (type 3) are typical build-ings in Lida. The type1 is a brick building, meanwhiletype 2 and 3 are concrete slab buildings. Together thereare 535 buildings in Lida of the same typology.

Currently they have a very poor overall energy per-for-mance, insufficient internal heating systems and they arenot embedded into an overall energy concept of the sur-rounding neighbourhood.

Target Area Lida (Grodno Oblast) Belarus

Key figures:

Number of inhabitants in Lida 98,000

Number of buildings in Lida 6,250

Owner structure

Type 1: Sovetskaya, 43: constructed1979; 5 stories, 40 flats

Type 2: Tavlaya, 35: constructed1980, 9 stories, 60 flats

Type 3: Mitskevicha, 24: con-structed 1972, 5 stories, 5 flats

Current annual energy consumptionof multi-apartment buildings*

237.7 kWh/m²


Perspectives:For the sample buildings the project partner developsand implements a comprehensive refurbishment con-cept. The so gained experiences are an important partof the awareness rising activities to promote the en-hancement of energy efficiency of the existing buildingstock.

Parallel the Executive Committee elaborates – supportedby an consultant – an integrated urban developmentconcept for the city of Lida that consider in an integratedway approaches to refurbish the housing stock, to pro-mote the use of local and renewable energy resources as

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Lida city centre

Mitskevicha street 24

Sovetskaya street 43

well as the modernization of the district heat supply sys-tem. The concept addresses as well the possibilities to ac-tivate financial support for the modernization and to en-hance the living environment around the buildings.

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Target Area Jelgava Latvia

General information:Jelgava is located in the central part of Latvia, the largestcity of Zemgale planning region and, according to terri-tory and population, ranks fourth among the cities inLatvia. Leading industries in Jelgava are food processing,textiles production, metal-working, machinery buildingand wood-working industries. Most of the active busi-nesses in Jelgava are engaged with trade.

Current situation in the Target Area:The target area is situated in the city centre of Jelgavaand is a mixed type residential and business buildingsarea. It consist beside shops and public buildings a num-ber of multi-storey residential buildings.

After World War II 90% of buildings in Jelgava were de-stroyed. The reconstruction started in the central part ofthe target area in the late 1940ies to the 60ies withmostly individual planned buildings in the common So-viet-style of this time. In the 1970–80ies the area wascompleted with standardized multi-storey apartmentbuildings. Also located in the target area are some im-portant cultural historic heritage sites as like the mu-seum Academia Petrina and the Tower of St. TrinityChurch. Great part of the territory is under protection ashistorical site of national importance.

With around 20,630 inhabitants approximately one thirdof the total population of Jelgava is living in the targetarea. The neighbourhood is well connected to the pub-lic transport network and contains retail, public servicesand cultural institution. Furthermore the area is wellequipped with public and green spaces as well as witheducational and health institutions.

The major part of the area is connected to the centralheating system. The former pipeline-system from the So-viet period was mostly replaced and two co-generatingpower stations provide heat and feat-in into the electricpower grid. Both power stations were re-developed to amodern standard of cogeneration on the basis of natu-ral gas with the option in both systems for a future in-stalment of biomass as the basis of energy production.

The technical conditions of the main structures of build-ings in the neighbourhood are relatively good. On owninitiative of the residents especially windows were re-

Key figures:

Size 170 ha


Number of buildings 220 apartment buildings;Public buildings and shops


Owner structure 94% individual owners

Current annual energy consumption of multi-apartment buildings*

188 kWh/m²


Aerial view of the target area

placed to avoid heat losses. However, insulation and theinternal utilities remain rather poor.

As the main challenge for the further development ofthe neighbourhood the municipality identified the en-ergy related modernization of the building stock and theenhancement of the living environment.

Perspectives: With the integrated urban development concept (IUDC)the city government of Jelgava develops a comprehen-sive for the enhancement of the neighbourhood. Themajor emphasis of the upgrading activities lays on therise of the energy efficiency of the multi-storey residen-tial buildings within the area.

Parallel, approaches are developed to improve theamenity values of the yards of the multi-storey buildings,the development of modern recreation areas and playgrounds as well as the modernization of parking lots andaccess roads.

After the approval of the IUDC by the city council, prior-itized activities will be integrated into the municipal In-vestment Plan.

The city supports the refurbishment of the buildings byproviding sample energy audits to for the most commonbuilding types to the owner associations.

To promote the idea of energy efficiency, the municipal-ity provides trainings for house managers and organizeregular information activities for flat owners and generalpublic.

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[22]


Target Area Riga-Jugla Latvia

General information:Riga is a modern city with 712,000 inhabitants and anarea of 304 km². The target area is situated in the Juglaneighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of the city.

Current situation in the Target Area:Jugla is part of the Vidzeme district, since the year 2010– centre district and the second largest neighbourhoodthroughout Riga. It is divided from the planning perspec-tive in five smaller units with very different characters.

The main development as residential area began in the1960s when multi-apartment blocks were built in thearea. Today, there are major housing estates and one-family house areas, but predominately the neighbour-hood is characterized by the Soviet-era high-rise (mainly5-storey) residential buildings constructed in the 1960sand 70s.

In contrast to the overall development in Riga, where thenumber of inhabitants is decreasing, the number of in-habi-tants in Jugla is very stable with slight increase inlast few years. Since the neighbourhood itself offers onlya little number of employment possibilities, the major-ity of the residents are commuters or retired persons.

Even though Jugla is predominately a residential area,elements of a centre can be found along the main arte-rial road and there are sub-centres situated across theentire area for the provision with convenience goods.The location at the eastern edge of the city and close toforests and lakes offers a high potential for recreationand leisure.

The entire area is covered by a central heating system.Like in most parts of Riga the local heating company“Rīgas Siltums” is maintaining the central heating net-work and provides heat mainly to high-rise apartmenthousing estates and all kinds of public as well as service

buildings. Individual homes – and to some extent – newresidential apartment projects use often autonomousheating on a gas or solid fuel basis.

The heating pipeline network is relatively old but it ispartially replaced with prefabricated pipes and is still un-dergoing the renovation process which stabilizes the av-erage technical condition of the heating grid in Jugla.

Key figures:

Size 1,400 ha



Period of construction

Till 1950: 8%1951–1960: 12%1961–1970: 67%After 1979: 13%

Owner structure Almost 100% individualowners


207 kWh/m²


In particular the Soviet-era multi-apartment buildings,like many other places in Riga and Latvia, are facing largeheat losses and a poor internal infrastructure. Installationof energy efficiency measures together with overall ren-ovation and refurbishment of the buildings is the mainchallenge for future in this field. Energy price increase to-gether with physical poor condition of the buildings willbe the catalysts for renovation and refurbishment works.

Major challenges in Jugla are to initiate a refurbishmentprocess of the buildings in the context of a very hetero-geneous owner structure and to find solutions for the re-duced working load of the two existing central heatingplants that supply heat to the neighbourhood. Parallelthe share of renewable energy sources (currently 2% inRiga) should be fostered. From the urban planning per-spective major challenges are the inner accessibility onfoot, by bicycle and public transport as well as the park-ing situation and the insufficient street lightening. Dueto the uniform construction style the neighbourhoodlacks a visual identity.

As a prerequisite to start an upgrading process it is veryimportant to identify and communicate financial possi-bilities for complex approaches, to involve the public andto clarify legal issues about property questions.

Perspectives: The city of Riga prepares an integrated concept for Juglafor the overall upgrading of the neighbourhood. It ad-dresses local planning issues, architectonic solutions andpossibilities to enhance the energy efficiency of the en-tire area. The public is involved during the entire prepa-ration process.

Since the majority of the apartments in Jugla are ownedby individual owners the success of a development con-cept depends on the activation of them. It is importantto enable individual owners by influencing unfavourableframework conditions and providing information. There-fore, the possibi-lity to establish a special municipalbuilding renovation company as well as a municipal re-volving fund is assessed.

To provide better information to the end-user, a specialinternet portal for online monitoring informs about in-door climate and consumption parameters of renovatedand not renovated buildings.

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[24]


Target Areas Šiauliai Lithuania

General information:Šiauliai is the fourth largest city in Lithuania with 130,000inhabitants and covers an area of 81.13 km². Within theproject the city administration develops integratedurban development concepts for two target areas.

Current situation in the Target Area:Both target areas, Lieporiai as well as Miglovaros, are pre-dominately characterized by the standardized multi-storey apartment buildings from the soviet time. Mean-while Lieporiai is a typical major-housing estate withneighbourhood related schools, park area and shops forthe local supply, the target area Miglovaros is a smallerpure residential area.

The two target areas were selected on one hand becausethey are very typical regarding their structure and theexperiences in the target areas can be used as samplesfor further municipal activities regarding the develop ofapproaches for the moder-nization of the “soviet plan-ning legacy” in the city. On the other hand there are ac-tive communities and NGOs in the target area that couldbe a favourable factor to promote the modernizationprocess in the area.

The residents of both target areas started with own ac-tivities to enhance the energy efficiency of the buildings.However, these activities vary widely in terms of qualityand complexity and are mainly focused on apartment-re-lated measures. Activities that require a general structuralchange or activities of the entire house owner commu-nity are rarely applied. For this reason the general refur-bishment rate is still very low – as in the entire municipal-ity of Šiauliai – and there is the urgent need to prepareintegrated concepts for a holistic overall upgrading of thetwo neighbourhoods that take into account a commondesign and an integrated approach. Those concepts arethe precondition for the implementation of National Pro-gramme of Refurbishment of multi-storey buildings.

Key figures AREA 1 – Lieporiai

Size 91 ha




Owner structure

97% individual privateowners

3% institutional (rental)ownership


95–170 kWh/m²


Target Area 1 – Lieporiai

Both areas are connected to the central heating system ofthe city. However, the heating grids are in poor conditionand there are high energy losses up to 40%. Due to thelosses the price for district heating is very high. Residentsas well as the energy supply company are very reluctantabout the introduction of renewable energy sources.

A major challenge of the upgrading activities in bothneighbourhoods is to enable the different house ownercommunities to start with own coordinated refurbish-ment activities. For this reason it is necessary to provideadapted technical and financial solutions.

Perspectives: The major objective of the project in Šiauliai is to assurethe sustainable and integrated development of the twotarget areas. For this reason the city supports on onehand the thermo-modernization of the building stockand of the energy supply system. On the other hand itcarries out accompanying measures to improve the living environment of the two target areas.

Both activities are coordinated in a holistic way in thetwo neighbourhood related integrated urban develop-ment concepts (IUDC). The IUDC becomes a bindingdocument (approved by the city council) that has to beconsidered at all public and private construction andrenovation activities.

As a precondition for further upgrading activities as wellland property issues are addressed within the project.Solutions are developed to clarify the property rights ofthe related area in the surrounding of the buildingswhich has not been so far part of the land titles of theapartment owners.

Special focus of the enhancement of the living environ-ment is the quality of the public space, playing groundsand the Lieporiai park. Additional the supply with publictransport, parking space, infrastructure for disabled per-sons is improved and the cycleway network is extended.

To encourage the enhancement of the energy efficiencythe city provides owners with information about financ-ing possibilities and adequate technical approaches forthe specific situation in the different building types. Forthis reason the city organises energy saving days andmeetings with the heads of the housing communities.

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Key figures AREA 2 – Miglovaros

Size 6,1 ha

Number of inhabitants 998

Number of buildings 18 apartment buildings;18 single family-homes


Owner structure

98% individual privateowners

32% institutional (rental)ownership

Target Area 2 – Miglovaros

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Case Study Berlin (Frankfurter Allee Süd/Kaskelkiez)Germany

General information:The area “Frankfurter Allee Süd and Kaskelkiez” is locatedat the Eastern inner city periphery in the district of “Licht-enberg”. With a number of 260,000 inhabitants Lichten-berg is the seventh biggest of the 12 districts in Berlin.

Since the early 1990ies integrated urban deve-lopmentplanning is being executed in the two neighbourhoods.Although the improvement of energy efficiency of build-ings and supply infrastructure was not the major focus ofthe activities from the beginning, both areas have beencomprehensively modernized step by step during thelast 20 years.

The Case Study Berlin documents integrated urban de-velopment approaches and solutions to implement EUenergy/climate measures and elaborates a critical evalu-ation on retrospective measures and plans for the twovery different residential areas.

Situation in the areas before modernization:The neighbourhood Frankfurter Allee Süd is a large hou-sing estate with prefabricated buildings and a predomi-nantly residential use. Very typical for the urban structureof the neighbourhood are the large green spaces bet-ween the buildings. The area is well connected to publictransport and in the north it borders on one of the mainarterial roads in Berlin. With about 5 km distance to theEastern City centre of Berlin, the neighbourhood is loca-ted at the periphery of the inner city.

In 1992 Frankfurter Allee Süd was characterized by a re-latively balanced social structure. The area was lackingfacilities for youth and elderly and had a high deficit indesign of public green space and squares.

The neighbourhood possessed a district heating systemthat covered the entire area but had an urgent need formodernization. The building stock had a poor energy

Key figures AREA 1 – Frankfurter Allee Süd

Size 44.5 ha


Number of buildings

22 prefabricated multi-apartment buildings37 others (church, schools,etc.)


Owner structure

66% owned by one buil-ding association (rentalownership)

34% owned by cooperatives

Almost 100% tenants

Annual energy consump-tion of multi-apartmentbuildings 1991*1)

190 kWh/m²(range 160–340)


87 kWh/m²(range 84–220)

*1) Average annual final energy demand of sample buildings before modernization (Space heating + hot water preparation)

*2) Average annual final energy demand of sample buildings after mo-dernization (Space heating + hot water preparation)

performance with defects in the façade as well as in thetechnical equipment.

Kaskelkiez is located south of Frankfurter Allee Süd, sepa-rated by railway tracks. The neighbourhood has a tradi-tional European urban fabric, composed of a scheme ofroads and blocks. The blocks are predominantly built upwith attached 4-5-storey buildings. In World War II thearea was marginally destroyed and for this reason theneighbourhood is rich of historic buildings. Kaskelkiez isan area with mixed use, but still holds a large proportionof residential buildings.

In 1992 the area was characterized by a relatively highunemployment rate (19%) and about 15% of the house-holds had an income below the official minimum livingvage. Furthermore, there was an unclear ownership si-tuation and a lack of infrastructure facilities. Only fewgreen areas existed and public space as well as the yardswere lacking amenity values.

Most of the buildings in the neighbourhood sufferedvery desolate structural and poor energy conditions.About 76% of the households were using coal-burningstoves.

Integrated planning activitiesUrban development of the case study area has beensteered in several planning processes throughout thelast 20 years. The integrated aspect of energy efficiencyhad been followed imminently in the 1990ies but wasfostered strongly and explicitly only since the past years.

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Key figures AREA 2 – Kaskelkiez

Size 21.7 ha


Number of buildings

284 traditional europeanurban fabricPredominately attached 4–5 storey brick buildings


Owner structure

Today: 15% building asso-ciation

85% private owners, ‘fragmented ownership’

(in 1992 about 50% indivi-dual ownership, 50% of thebuildings were under publiccontrol due to unsettledproperty rights)


340 kWh/m²


200 kWh/m²(range 60–360 kWh/m² depend on the refurbish-ment status)

*1) Average annual final energy demand of sample buildings before modernization (Space heating + hot water preparation)

*2) Average annual final energy demand of sample buildings after mo-dernization (Space heating + hot water preparation)

Frankfurter-Allee-Süd Kaskelkiez

In the first planning phase (1990–1995) basics for deve-lopment and first integrated concepts were set up. Afterhaving concentrated on constructional qualities andmeasures in the first years after the fall of the Berlin wall,one started to include social issues more intensively intothe urban development planning processes during thesecond planning phase (1995–2000). The third planningphase (2000–2005) is characterized by integrated con-cepts reacting to population decrease. Only since theforth planning phase (2005–2010) energy efficiency ex-plicitly becomes an important issue.

Since 2002 the public sector conducts energy-efficientrefurbishment of the social infrastructure and from 2005onwards specific superior energy-efficient measures areconducted by housing societies on residential buildings.Measures for the energy-efficient improvement of buil-dings and supply infrastructure by public and privateowners now are an integral part of the activities.

Various stakeholders (mainly housing societies, munici-pal and private supply companies) and residents wereinvolved in legally binding and legally non-binding plan-ning processes. In Kaskelkiez the residents were invol-ved through an institutionalised residents’ board (Betrof-fenenvertretung) between 1993 and 2008, when theneighbourhood was formally designated as redevelop-ment area.

In addition to that several social, labour market-orientedand educational measures had been realized on the

neighbourhood level, such as the ”Climate Office Lich-tenberg” (”Lichtenberger Klimabüro”), project ”energyconsultants” (Energieberater) or the opening of a sam-ple “show-flat” by the housing association HOWOGE todemonstrate possibilities for energy saving.

Balance of the achievements until today:During the last 20 years numerous different measureshave been implemented to improve energy efficiencyand the living conditions in the two neighbourhoods. Inboth areas it was possible to halve the total primaryenergy consumption between 1992 and 2010.

Selected measures in Frankfurter Allee Süd:Refurbishment of 100% of the residential buildings, includinginsulation of façade and ceilings, replace-ment of windows and the modernization of the supply equipmentPartial renovation of schools and kindergartensConstruction of a new neighbourhood centre Reconstruction of a multi-storey building as Europe’s biggest low-energy building, which is now equipped with a combined heat and power unit. Renovation and maintenance of the district heating systemReorganization of traffic routeing, traffic calming measures, rearrangement of parking lots as well as the improvement of path networkReorganization of the allocation of public and private

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Surface-related energy parameters 2010 and reduction in comparison to 1992

spec. heating energy demand-40% 78 kWh/m²a

spec. final energy demand-11% 103 kWh/m²a

spec. primary energy demand-52% 60 kWh/m²a

CO2-emission-70% 16 kWh/m²a

Frankfurter-Allee-Süd

spec. heating energy demand-25% 152 kWh/m²a

spec. final energy demand-42% 184 kWh/m²a

spec. primary energy demand-46% 205 kWh/m²a

CO2-emission-63% 40 kWh/m²a

Kaskelkiez

green, greening of the main streets and construction of a new green corridor in the neighbourhood Realization of several awareness rising, educational, social and labour market-oriented projectsEstablishing of good cooperation between housing associations and public authoritiesA municipal housing company (HOWOGE) was foun-ded and buildings and land properties were transfer-red to the company. The juridical constitution of the existing housing company was changed.

Selected measures in Kaskelkiez:The existing residential buildings were returned to the former owners (restitution)Modernization of more than 60% of the residential buildings and construction of 323 new flats Replacement of existing stove heating by decentrali-zed heat generators. For cost reasons at later stage the connection to the central heating system of the neighbouring district was not carried out. Installation of several solar heating systems, photo-voltaic or biomass furnaces Establishing of a new neighbourhood centreExtension of the kindergarten supply, refurbishment of a school buildingStepwise increase of the number of shops, cafés, arts and crafts enterprises Reorganization of traffic routeing, traffic calming measures and rearrangement of parking lotsRedesign of all existing and construction of additio-nal green spaces and playgrounds Organization and implementation of an intensive communication process during the entire moderni-sation process by formal committees, informal mee-tings and publications

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Low-energy building

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An integrated approach of urban development hasthe potential to transform sophisticated, technicalmodernisation measures of individual buildingsinto an overall rehabilitation strategy of urbanneighbourhoods with a sustainable supply infra-structure. Thereby the combination of energy effi-ciency measures with neighbourhood upgradingmeasures offers multiple enhancements on differ-ent levels.

Based on the national but especially transnationalexperiences, integrated approaches of urban de-velopment are suitable instruments to activate energy efficiency potentials in urban areas and im-plement upgrading measures. Based on this Inte-grated Urban Development Concepts (IUDC) withenergy efficiency measures follow holistic ap-proaches with manifold fields of action in build-ings, green space, public space, mobility, technicalinfrastructure, energy supply and also behaviourchange and mobilisation of inhabitants. For a suit-able implementation a strong basis of the legal, ad-ministrative, actor-related and financial frame isneeded in order to set up an IUDC. Legal stability,administrative capacity, well-proved participationmodels, financial funds and awareness raising arefurther important key elements. Finally upon fol-lowing aspects actions should be taken to success-fully elaborate an IUDC:

1. Analysis of the current situation,2. Securing the management and integrated,

cross-sectoral approach,3. Organisation of the participative process,4. Development of a target and implementation

oriented action plan and 5. Securing the political and financial support.

However, it is clear that integrated concepts for en-ergetic urban renewal alone will not be sufficientto solve the retrofit dilemma. Experiences showthat there are different fields to work on for over-coming existing barriers:

Integrated urban development approaches need to be integrated into the planning process at city level, but also in national urban policy and planning law with a focus on energy issue. Comprehensive and differentiated analyses of the energy standards and the saving potentials of the building stock interlinked with the most suitable energy supply systems are needed. These are prerequisites to identify and realize suitable refurbishment measures and also measures to adapt the energy supply.The ownership structures in housing areas needs to be regarded and corresponding diffi-culties need to be coped with. Especially in the new member states these structures require adjustments in e.g. energy efficient measures

6. Conclusions – Key Elements and Obstacles of IntegratedApproaches for Energy Efficient Urban Renewal

or financing possibilities. Findings of the pro-ject Urb.Energy show importance of home-owners’ association support in e.g. the clarifica-tion of their legal status or property rights. The affordability of energy efficient refurbishment remains to be the core question for home-owners. Suitable and long-term financing schemes are essential to e.g. support integrated urban plan-ning processes as well as refurbishment meas-ures on buildings. Here variable financing in-struments need to be available, giving support by long-term revolving loan programs and ad-dressing diverse parts and bodies of the inte-grated process. Occasionally grants can serve as incentive for investments of sole owners. Communication strategies between govern-ments, property owners, housing companies and tenant’s initiatives as well as residents in

general are to be developed, financed and maintained.Continuity is a relevant factor, therefore not only financing of investments has to be estab-lished but human support and mentoring is important.Capacities of local governments need to be en-hanced to initiate and coordinate a lasting re-furbishment process, e.g. by setting up special rehabilitation units within the city administra-tion or specialised (external) agencies.

Awareness raising and information campaigns aswell as technical support (e.g. by a local agency)are crucial instruments and need to be used to in-form residents on potentials and benefits of inte-grated and energy efficient measures. To changeconsumption patterns and behaviours needs in-vestment in human resources is needed.

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[32]

Notes

Germany

German Association for Housing, Urban and Spatial DevelopmentProject Lead PartnerLittenstrasse 10 | Berlin 10179 | GermanyChristian Huttenloher [email protected] Fä[email protected]

Housing Initiative for Eastern EuropeProject CoordinatorFriedrichstraße 95 | Berlin 10117 | GermanyBritta [email protected]

Center of Competence for Major Housing Estates Riesaer Str. 2 | Berlin 12627 | GermanyRalf [email protected]

Ministry for Infrastructure and Agriculture (MIL), Brandenburg Henning-von-Tresckow-Straße 2-8 | Potsdam 14467 | GermanyPeter [email protected]

Potsdam Chamber of Commerce and IndustryBreite Strasse 2 a-c | Potsdam 14467 | GermanyJan-Hendrik [email protected]

Ministry of Science, Economic Affairs and Transport of Land Schleswig-HolsteinDüsternbrooker Weg 94 | Kiel 24105 | GermanyDieter SörnsenDieter.Soernsen@wimi.landsh.dewww.wirtschaftsministerium.schleswig-holstein.de

Poland

City and County Piasecznoul. Kosciuszki 5 | Piaseczno 05-500 | PolandJanusz [email protected]

Lithuania

Housing and Urban Development Agency (HUDA)Svitrigailos g. 7/A. Vivulskio g.16 | Vilnius 03001 | LithuaniaSimona [email protected]

Siauliai City Municipality AdministrationVasario 16-osios g. 62 | Siauliai 76295 | LithuaniaRasa [email protected]

Latvia

City of RigaRatslaukums 1 | Riga 1539 | Latvia Valdis [email protected]

City of Jelgava11 Liela iela | Jelgava 3001 | Latvia Gunita [email protected]

Estonia

Credit and Export Guarantee Fund KredExHobujaama 4 | Tallinn 10151 | Estonia Mirja [email protected]

City of RakvereTallinna 5 | Rakvere 44306 | EstoniaAnu [email protected]

Baltic Union of Cooperative Housing Associations (BUCHA)Sakala 23 a | Tallinn 10141 | EstoniaMarit [email protected]

Belarus

Grodno Oblast Executive Committee, Housing DepartmentLida-business incubator, Sovetskaya str. 43 – 4 | Lida, Grodno 231300 | BelarusLeonid [email protected]://region.grodno.by

Contacts of Urb.Energy Project Partners

www.urbenergy.eu

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