Shared housing workshop: 7 ideas for a greener, friendlier building

We pass our neighbours in the lift, but do we really know them? The Ecofrugal Shared housing workshop brings together the residents of a building — owners and tenants alike — to share their tips, help each other and come up together with simple actions to live better, spend less and reduce the building's impact. It's free, friendly and open to all: the facilitation booklet guides you step by step.

In English too. Workshops can be run in English. The booklet is written in French and its English version is being prepared: contact us to receive a translated copy.

Why hold a workshop in your building?

A building is a great place to take action: residents share spaces, equipment, service charges… and often a lot of waste. Some actions are decided at home, others together, and others can be proposed to the co-owners' council. The workshop helps you sort things out, in a good mood, and leave with a real action plan for the building.

The 7 ideas for an eco-frugal building

These are the 7 ideas for action discussed during the workshop. For each one, there is what everyone can do at home, and ideas to submit to the co-owners' council, which is free to follow them up.

1. Let's reduce our waste

Bulk buying, homemade, a "no junk mail" sticker on the letterbox, offering food to neighbours before going on holiday… You can also organise a zero waste get-together or neighbours' party, or visit the home of a neighbour who is already well advanced on the subject.

For the co-owners' council: a shared composter, a give-box in the hall for books, small items and clothes, Christmas decorations made from salvaged materials, "no junk mail" stickers for all letterboxes.

2. Let's sort and recycle as well as we can

In France, since 2023, all packaging goes in the recycling bin everywhere (glass stays separate): a useful reminder in the bin room! You can also take bulky items to the recycling centre together, or set up a box to collect batteries and bottle caps.

For the co-owners' council: clear sorting instructions in the bin room, a visit to a sorting centre with the town hall.

3. Let's exchange goods and services

Lending your drill, looking after a neighbour's plants, sharing a subscription, ordering together, sharing a car or a trailer, taking turns to walk the children to school… Mutual help between neighbours saves money and brings people together. A building chat group, a car boot sale or a Repair Café between residents are good starting points.

4. Let's use less water and energy

Closing the shutters at night, putting a lid on saucepans, washing at low temperature, switching off power strips, setting your heating to 19 °C… Small habits add up. To go further, the free citizen challenges called Déclics (formerly "Familles à énergie positive"), available in many French regions, support households who want to cut their energy and water use.

For the co-owners' council: motion sensors and LED lighting in the common areas, an energy audit, individual water meters, rainwater harvesting, and for renovation projects, the support of the French public service France Rénov'.

5. Let's help biodiversity

Plants on the balcony, herbs, a wormery… within the building's rules.

For the co-owners' council: a shared vegetable patch or garden, nesting boxes, a green roof or courtyard, pesticide-free upkeep of green spaces, with local plants that need little water.

6. Let's reduce noise

Slippers rather than heels, headphones for music, a note before a party (and why not an invitation!), washing machines run at reasonable hours… Good neighbourliness often starts there. In case of conflict, mediation between neighbours is better than a registered letter.

7. Let's look after our building

Airing your home ten minutes a day, maintaining your ventilation system, using eco-friendly cleaning products at home.

For the co-owners' council: asking the cleaning contractor for eco-labelled products, providing a protection kit for house moves, installing ashtrays outside.

Want to go further? The Zero waste, Energy saving, Saving water and Biodiversity workshops explore several of these ideas in more depth.

How does a shared housing workshop work?

1. You create your workshop on monatelier-ecofrugal.fr and announce it with the poster to put up in the hall.
2. You bring 8 to 12 neighbours together, owners and tenants, at your home, in a common room, in the courtyard or in the garden.
3. You run it with the booklet: a ready-to-read script and questions to get everyone talking. The length is flexible: we recommend one hour. The group chooses the ideas it is most interested in, and picks up the others at a later meeting.
4. The group leaves with its action list: what everyone does at home, what neighbours organise together, and what is proposed to the co-owners' council.

The golden rule: no debate, we talk about solutions. It's not a general meeting of co-owners! Everyone talks about what they do or would like to do, we give each other ideas and good addresses, and learn from each other. It feels more like a neighbourhood party than a managing agent's meeting.

Because the workshop is much more than a list of tips: it's a chance to discover the hidden talents of your neighbours — the handyman on the third floor, the gardener on the ground floor — and to grow together the wish to act. At a time when we often live side by side without knowing each other, it helps bring back community, connection and mutual help, right on your landing.

A recognised tool

Mon Atelier Ecofrugal is listed by ADEME Académie (the French Agency for Ecological Transition) among the facilitation tools that support behaviour change. Since 2018, more than 1,000 Ambassadors have organised workshops all over France, and more than 10,000 participants have taken part.

Ecofrugal survey of members, July 2024. See what it changes

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to be an owner or a member of the co-owners' council?

No. The workshop is open to all residents of the building, owners and tenants alike. Ideas about the common areas can then be proposed to the co-owners' council.

Do I need to be an expert to run the workshop?

No. The solutions come from the participants: your role is to introduce the topics and give everyone the floor. The booklet gives you the whole running order.

How much does it cost?

Nothing. Signing up, the facilitation booklet and the workshop are free, and the Ambassador who runs it is a volunteer.

How do I invite my neighbours?

By sending them the link to the workshop, slipping a note into the letterboxes, or putting up the poster provided with the booklet in the hall.

Do we receive any materials?

For shared housing workshops, a box of documentation and small gifts can be sent to the organiser as soon as 7 participants have signed up, in addition to the organiser, while stocks last, in mainland France and Corsica.

To go further

Find many solutions for sharing, maintaining, saving water and energy in the Housing section of Le Guide Écofrugal (Leduc, 2025, in French), with a foreword by Fabrice Bonnifet. More than 500 solutions to save money and reduce your ecological footprint, at work and at home.