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Brussels Environment

June 6, 2025

Brussels Environment – Ecobuild

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part of its digital transformation, Brussels Environment has set itself the objective of being exemplary in terms of digital sobriety. Numerous projects are underway using a ‘life cycle’ approach, which takes into account the manufacture, use and end-of-life of digital equipment and services.

In parallel with this exemplary approach, Bruxelles Environnement is working closely with Paradigm (a public interest organisation involved in digital transformation in the Brussels-Capital Region), which has launched the regional initiative Numérique Responsable. The aim of this initiative is to reduce the environmental footprint of the digital sector in the Brussels-Capital Region through a number of initiatives, but also to promote digital solutions that serve the ecological transition.

It is in this context that it seemed obvious to us to integrate eco-design into this project for a complete overhaul of the environment administration’s showcase website.

At various points in the special specifications, the notion of digital sobriety was mentioned as an integral part of the values of Brussels Environment :

In the desired methodology and approach;
In the context of the objectives and expectations described for this redesign;
In the form of appendices containing a number of best practices in eco-design and mention of certain audit tools (such as GreenIT – Ecoindex);
In the hosting solution sought.Dans la méthodologie et l’approche souhaitée .

Ecoscore Greenspector before the overhaul

Carbon impact before the redesign

Ecoscore Greenspector afterthe overhaul

Carbon impact after the redesign

Interview

Caroline Smeyers – Gestionnaire Web

What choices were made ahead of the developments?

– ‘Despite the fact that the new graphic identity had already been defined, we asked Greenspector to carry out an audit of the website’s graphic mock-ups. We knew that these had a strong impact on eco-design and we wanted to do everything we could to adjust them before launching the developments. It’s also worth noting that we had already made a commitment to choose a local provider of hosting services that uses green energy.

‘Did you use any good practices – how did you choose them in your project?’

– ‘Following the audit and the good practices recommended by Greenspector, we tried to find a balance between the application of eco-design and the requirements linked to the other objectives of the project (for example, that of guaranteeing a pleasant and warm user experience).
In terms of good technical practice, Greenspector helped us to identify the functionalities impacted and how to develop them in line with eco-design’.

How did the process work throughout the development project to ensure that sobriety was taken into account?

– ‘Following the audit of the graphic mock-ups, we wanted to benefit from the advice of the ecodesign expert to support the development team for 2 days per sprint (of 3 weeks). His role was to identify the key actions and then to choose from among the most frugal and sensible solutions to implement’.

‘Did you use any tools during the project to help you benchmark this sobriety?’

– ‘Greenspector provides a measurement tool that enables us to assess the gradual evolution of the good practices implemented and to identify any readjustments needed to achieve greater sobriety.’

Laurent Devernay

Responsible Digital Consultant

As part of a continuous improvement approach, we launched an initial audit on a sample of 30 pages from the original site. This enabled us to identify the best practices to be implemented and establish an environmental budget for the project. Subsequently, the pages equivalent to these 30 pages were measured daily (monitoring) as they were developed. In addition, here are two articles on the process of measuring and evaluating pages:

‘Was your project management partner sensitive to the approach and the implementation of the recommendations?’

– ‘The development provider saw this close support as a great opportunity to learn about this subject, which is still fairly new in Belgium. That said, a word of advice to others: make sure you clarify the roles and responsibilities within the collaboration and express the need for specific developments in a very precise way beforehand.
If you don’t clearly define the range of additional tasks required to apply eco-design with your developer from the outset, you run the risk of unpleasant budgetary surprises during the course of the project’.

‘Did you have an objective idea of the results you wanted to achieve when you started up, and how?

– ‘Greenspector proposed in its offer to carry out a Webmark, i.e. a comparative analysis of 30 pages on the old site and 30 equivalent pages on the new one. This analysis enables us to measure the impact and correct implementation of the measures taken, and results in an overall score called the ‘ecoscore’. The aim was to compare the ecoscore before and after, and above all to ensure that the minimum ecoscore was achieved. A monitoring tool and 6-month licence were also available.

‘Have you achieved these results?’

– ‘Yes, thanks to the work put in by the developers and the close collaboration with the ecodesign expert, we achieved a very fine result for the majority of the good practices implemented.’

‘How did you sustain these good reflexes beyond this project?’

– ‘It’s important during maintenance to remain constantly vigilant so that good eco-design practices remain in mind during any new development and when creating new graphic elements. It’s true that with the more general knowledge we have in-house, it’s not always easy to guarantee and above all to ensure that the right reflexes are applied at all levels.’

Laurent Devernay

Responsible Digital Consultant

In addition, specific expertise was provided on a number of subjects (comparison of interactive map solutions, etc.). As mentioned above, the success of this support is linked to the fact that the eco-design issue was taken on board as early as possible, and went well beyond simple development. The involvement of the various stakeholders was a considerable asset.

‘What best advice could you give to organisations that would like to integrate an ecodesign approach?’

– ‘Integrate ecodesign right from the start of your project, even at the ideation stage. To ensure the success of your project, get support or train the teams who will have to work with this approach. It’s wrong to think that ecodesign only affects the technical development of a site’.

‘Has this approach caused you a significant workload in the teams or had any impact on planning?’

‘Given that the audit of the graphic mock-ups identified several areas for improvement, we decided to take the time to implement most of them. This resulted in a 2-week delay in the delivery of the graphic mock-ups and a later start to development. The close support provided by the ecodesign expert and his availability of 2 days per sprint created the need for regular alignments and meetings with the development provider.
Given that certain existing or ‘ready-made’ technical solutions had to be re-evaluated in order to apply more sober solutions, this increased the workload for the developers and the whole validation chain. On top of that, it was a real bonus to be accompanied by an eco-design expert who could test the solutions and pinpoint any errors that needed to be corrected. Having worked in an agile way, this follow-up was very beneficial.

It’s up to you!

Would you like to assess the environmental impact of your digital service? Would you like to obtain Greenspector Digital Sobriety certification?

Author

Laurent Devernay

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