Woningpas to become a community-driven platform thanks to Demo-BLog
Woningpas, one of the five digital building logbooks (DBLs) pilots of Demo-BLog, is currently testing its potential to become a community-oriented platform. The tool, which is owned by the Flemish government and available to any homeowner in Flanders, will offer its users the possibility to join energy-efficiency initiatives in their neighbourhood.
The development of this ‘functionality’ as part of Demo-BLog adds a new feature to the single user platform and gives citizens the chance to join a group initiative set up by energy cooperations in various cities in Flanders. This collective approach will help people living in the same area share information and learn from each other in their steps towards the decarbonisation of their buildings.
In the current testing phase, Woningpas is inviting homeowners to voluntarily join a community for the installation of heat pumps. If the test runs smoothly, other initiatives such as the installation of solar panels or thorough insultation could be further explored.
It gives homeowners the necessary ‘relief’ when purchasing and installing a heat pump for example, and this is a very important convincing factor for those who do not know how to get started,
says Tine Vande Casteele, Project Manager of Woningpas at Vlaams Energie – En Klimaatagentschap.
For now, suitable candidates identified by the system based on EPB and EPC data, and owners of ‘heat pump-ready homes’, automatically receive an invitation to join. However, any Woningpas user can sign up for one of these group initiatives and informative meetings are available to anyone interested.
To meet the decarbonisation goals in Flanders -most dwellings must obtain an A rating for their energy label by 2050-, making heat generation more sustainable is crucial. That is why the first phase of the test is focusing on the installation of heat pumps, to promote an alternative that can have an impact in achieving the long-term goals.
Demo-BLog partners Leap Forward have led the creation process by guiding and steering the design of this new development and organising multiple co-creation workshops and user testing with VEKA. The collaboration with A.C.A Group, REScoop.Vlaanderen and VITO, has also been key for this achievement.
