The ladder of influence by Arnstein (1969) shows steps from manipulation to citizen control. The level of interaction between citizens, authorities and institutions can be placed on this ladder. In the Netherlands new strategies for empowerment in the field of energy performance are emerging, for instance the Climate Festival, the mobile energy office, the ClimateSreet Party. Positive activities such as the IdeaBrewery focus on the quality of the public domain and show many social interactions, including interactions between the local authorities and citizens. Some of these processes aim at sustainable quality of cities, including household energy savings and signal new forms of local democracy. Studies on energy consumption in dwellings by Guerra Santin (2009) show that only part of the difference in energy consumption between households in similar houses can be explained by differences in behaviour, but her results present an important new picture of user influence on energy use. The National Dutch Tenant Association (Woonbond) follows bottom up processes in the field of CO2 reduction strategies, as part of the National Energy Covenant for the social housing sector. Top down processes that are managed by local authorities and housing associations are connected to bottom up processes by neighbourhood groups. This paper explains how behaviour in dwellings and participation in planning and maintenance are related