The Problem Tree showed that trust between residents and the building management is crucial. We invested a lot of time in establishing close contact with the building manager and the building elder, whom residents already trust - Agris Kamenders, Ekodoma Ltd.

This is an excerpt from the pilot project story Energy efficiency for Latvian multi-apartment dwellings - Ekodoma working with the Make Energy Change Happen Toolkit. As one of the first steps in the development of the project Ekodoma analysed the problem they want to solve with their project in great detail. They did this by using a Problem Tree showing the causes contributing and effects resulting from the problem they target. 

Agris  liked the visualisation of the problem in a tree-format. “This Problem Tree made us understand the causes and effects of the problem we wanted to target better. It helped us to decide on how to do our project. It showed for example that trust between residents and the building management is crucial. Therefore we invested a lot of time in establishing a good and close contact with the building manager and the building elder, whom residents already trust, in order to make also the other residents feel that they could trust us.” Additionally, the problem tree analysis revealed all positive effects a building renovation including the implementation of energy efficiency measures would entail. In other words, co-benefits such as increased comfort and lower energy bills became apparent and central in the communication to residents.