In urban transitions, one issue is the improvement of building stock energy performance. The current reasoning is often that the promise of increased comfort and health is attractive to residents. However, this does not always result in acceptance and long-term energy reduction. We draw lessons from case studies of renovation projects. It turns out that hardly any neighbourhood is suitable from scratch. Key findings are: an observed innovation-focused process optimized resident participation but risks excluding them from shaping their future. Conversely, an observed resident-led process did not achieve its initial goal due to process barriers, but developed locally based, transferable, organisational learning.@en