Empowering citizens with Woningpas for energy-efficient housing

client

Vlaamse Overheid

Empowering citizens with Woningpas for energy-efficient housing

client

Vlaamse Overheid

Transforming the way citizens interact with their homes was at the heart of the Flemish government’s mission to digitalise services and achieve energy-efficient housing by 2050. As the strategic design partner for VEKA, Leap Forward was there from the very beginning. In 2018, we helped bring Woningpas to life, collaborating with multiple stakeholders to turn complex data into an accessible digital tool.

Now, six years on, Woningpas continues to evolve with new features and the upcoming launch of Gebouwenpas, its non-residential counterpart. Just like at the start, we’re still involving users at every stage—co-creating with citizens and ensuring their voices are heard throughout the project.

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Your home’s digital hub

Woningpas centralises all relevant information about a property—such as the EPC score, renovation history, and potential improvements— to empower homeowners to make informed decisions about enhancing their home’s energy efficiency. Every citizen in Flanders has automatic and free access to this digital vault containing all the essential information about their home. This unique tool, a first in Europe, was created with a clear purpose: to help achieve Flanders’ ambitious decarbonisation goals.

As Woningpas evolves, the focus is shifting from merely informing citizens to actively engaging them and motivating them to take action. Whether it’s installing solar panels, upgrading insulation, or exploring options like heat pumps, Woningpas provides the knowledge and the nudge to make these sustainable changes.

Henry van de velde awards

Best Digital product 2019

Woningpas

Woningpas is a web platform that centralises all relevant information for your home, creating a detailed digital passport to assist you in the process of buying, selling, or renovating properties in Belgium.

visit woningpas

Henry van de velde awards

Best Digital product 2019

Woningpas

visit woningpas

Collaboration at scale

Building Woningpas has been a massive endeavour, requiring seamless coordination between various stakeholders. Sponsored by five key organisations and involving multiple government agencies, technical builders, architects, and citizens, this project exemplifies the power of effective collaboration. As the central hub, Leap Forward ensures that every aspect of service design, UX, and front-end development aligns with the project's ambitious goals.

Strategic roadmapping: we engage in yearly syncs to set the roadmap and prioritise future projects, ensuring that Woningpas evolves in line with the needs of all stakeholders.

Tailored project teams: for each project phase, we assemble the right team with a tailored approach, combining expertise in service design, UX, and front-end development to deliver solutions that are both innovative and practical.

Co-creation at its core: our co-creative approach is not just about collaboration but about involving the right external stakeholders at every stage. Through interviews, workshops, and continuous feedback loops, we ensure that Woningpas reflects the diverse needs and perspectives of everyone involved.

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Putting the user first

Woningpas is built around a key principle: the user’s voice guides every decision. From the start, we’ve focused on understanding and addressing the needs of citizens, ensuring the platform is intuitive and effective.

Voice of the user: every workshop follows service design and Human-Centred Design principles, ensuring user feedback shapes every decision.
Balancing complexity and clarity: as Woningpas expands, we carefully balance adding new features with keeping the interface clear and user-friendly, ensuring the platform remains accessible and manageable.
Continuous improvement: through iterative user testing, we regularly refine Woningpas to ensure it’s both desirable and easy to use, keeping the user experience at the forefront.

Future challenges

As Woningpas evolves, the focus has shifted from simply informing citizens to actively encouraging energy-efficient renovations.

The next challenge is to scale the platform into a broader ecosystem that empowers citizens in their decision-making. This involves maintaining a user-friendly interface while integrating more complex home data, adapting to changing legislation, and linking with other platforms like Burgerprofiel—all while keeping the experience clear and accessible. This proactive approach will be crucial in driving widespread adoption of sustainable practices.

Through Woningpas and the upcoming Gebouwenpas, we remain committed to helping citizens meet the government’s ambitious climate goals, making the energy transition more inclusive and achievable for everyone.

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Don't take our word for it.

By bringing together different government agencies, an external organisation and frequent feedback from the user, we co-created a digital tool that presents scattered and complex data in a user-friendly way.