Our Project
The ambition of the CASH project is to propose new solutions and promote new policies for the sustainable renovation of social and affordable housing units in the European Union.
CASH is a network of 11 partners (10 cities and one region) led by Echirolles City. As a contribution to Climate Change issue, the network seeks to reduce the energy consumption of buildings and in buildings. It looks for new solutions to renovate social and affordable housing units, in order to improve their energy efficiency (EE) and to influence users’ behavior through citizens’ involvement.
Development phase (25.11.2009 - 18.07.2010) - Partners have exchanged on their diagnosis, experience and best practices on the subject, during a Peer review consisting in joint visits to each city and have elaborated with the Lead expert a baseline study.
Implementation phase (19.07.2010 – 19.01.2013) – Through the organization of 6 thematic seminars on renovation and EE and through the elaboration of local action plans with local support groups created for that purpose, partners will exchange and provide knowledge, experimental and technical know-how. Major outputs will be a global guideline on energy efficient renovation of social housing “Cities Advices for Sustainable Housing” dedicated to European cities and professionals (including technological, legal, financial, governance, management aspects) and a compendium of cities actions with pilot projects and actions in course and planned “Cities Actions for Sustainable Housing”.
Sustainable renovation of social and affordable housing
Challenges
Fighting against greenhouse gas emissions is a priority. Improving energy efficiency is decisive for meeting European Union’s (EU) commitments on climate change made under the Kyoto Protocol. There is significant potential for reducing consumption, especially in energy-intensive sector such as buildings which represents 40% of the EU total energy consumption. Bad energy efficiency of existing buildings, mainly housing stock is a key issue.
Most of social and affordable rental housing units are aging and have low environmental standards. The homebuilding sector is now expert in building new houses and buildings of high environmental quality. But there is still a lack of experience and expertise in the field of sustainable renovation of buildings.
Our challenge consists in filling this gap... at least, launching the process!
Key point of focus
CASH will look for solutions of diverse kinds:
technics and technologies of homebuilding and energy saving (e.g. thermical insulation, production of energy),
logistics (e.g. management of waste),
sociological factors (common practices),
educative and prevention toward inhabitants,
financial engineery of such works...
A word from the lead partner
What motivates you to be part of the URBACT adventure ?
As a part of the european programmes URBAN II and URBACT I (as partner in the network Participendo), we have seen, in Echirolles, how the action of the European Union allowed concrete realisations and brought solutions to our citizens.
Trough the meetings and the exchanges with other European cities is developed common knowledge ans intelligence that are the catalyser of progress for each of us.
The projects developed in the framework of URBACT are essential for the cities and Europe. We are convinced that our point of focus in CASH, reducing the gas housing emissions and the energy bill of modest households in the same time, is one of these essential subjects.
In a context of raise of energy costs, modest households are the first concerned by the growing energy. They should be the first beneficiaries of the implementation of renovation policies of social and affordable housing too. Each partner city will set up a local action plan to carry out such policies. Moreover, our local support groups as well as our institutional and technical partners will help to disseminate the outputs of our CASH project. It should give it a wider impact, to the benefit of European citizens.