Approximately one third of the world`s energy is used by the building sector for its operational activities, e.g. heating, cooling, hot water, ventilation, etc. That makes buildings the Earth`s biggest contributor to GHG emission pollutions. The growing population and urban areas are prerequisite for the future even higher energy demand (UNEP, 2013). The energy consumption in the building sector in Europe represents approximately 40% of the total energy use and is responsible for 36% of the EU´s total CO2 emissions. Therefor the reduction of the energy consumption in this area is with high priority for each of the Member States and in line with the overall EU growth vision (EC, 2013a).
The present project aims at investigating the energy refurbishment process of unique business area in Copenhagen “The Meat Packing District”. The scope of the research derives from identified gap between the vision for the area developed in 2005 and the existing situation nowadays, where the majority of the buildings are found in quite bad conditions due to the lack of maintenance. The investigation takes its point of departure in Stakeholder Theory and the concepts of Sustainable Development (SD) and Stakeholder Relation Management (SRM). The role and the interests of the different stakeholders are investigated, as well as the barriers that exist to the implementation of energy-efficient retrofit measures. In the end, the investigation makes recommendations on how the identified barriers to the sustainable growth of the White Meat City can be overcome.