Search Results (17)

The digital transition and decarbonization are strategic European objectives, supported at different levels by the Green Deal, the Energy Performance Building Directive (EPBD), and policies and tools such as the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI). The SRI measures a building’s ability to use intelligent technologies to reduce its consumption and increase the energy awareness of occupants for energy efficiency. Furthermore, today, it has a limited impact on national regulations and public decision-making. Its application presents challenges including those related to heritage conservation. This paper contributes to the Italian SRI framework through an experimental application in the renovation of a historic building in the metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria (Italy). The analysis evaluates the SRI’s adaptability by comparing its pre-renovated state, current state, and pre-design plan. The SRI calculation integrates assessment tools with BIM models for a potential future digital twin approach. The study, part of a funded national research project, aims to enhance policies for digitalization in the green transition. The paper is organized into the Introduction; Materials and Methods, which contains the methodological approach; Results; and Discussion and Conclusions. Following the experimental application, the results show that standardizing the SRI approach could enhance energy efficiency and digitalization in buildings. Full article

For European competitiveness, energy efficiency must be increased. An important part of energy efficiency depends on an efficient building stock—the sector with the greatest potential for energy savings, as more than a third of all primary energy is consumed in buildings. A new instrument, the smart readiness indicator (SRI), is being prepared to accelerate the implementation of smart solutions in buildings and establish a market that would require and accelerate the implementation of such solutions. In this paper, we examine how the SRI score of a shopping center (with an already relatively advanced automation system) changes if we perform an energy optimization worth approximately 6.6 million EUR. As all the upgrades suggested by the SRI methodology cannot be implemented, this paper is the first of its kind to define the maximum feasible SRI score. The necessary measures are elaborated comprehensively, analyzed, and evaluated both technically and financially (IRR, ROI, and payback time). This type of approach is suitable for less developed EU markets without smart grids, DSM, and predictive functions. Full article

The European Union is planning to introduce a new tool for evaluating smart solutions in buildings—the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI). As 54 energy efficiency categories must be evaluated, the triage process can be long and time-intensive. Altogether, 228 data points (or inputs) about the smartness of the buildings are required to complete the evaluation. The present paper proposes an alternative calculation method based on genetic programming (GP) for the calculation of Domains and linear regression (LR) for the calculation of Impact Factors and the total SRI score of the building. This novel calculation requires 20% (Domain ventilation and dynamic building envelope) to 75% (Domain cooling) fewer inputs than the original methodology. The present study evaluated 223 case study buildings, and 7 genetic programming models and 8 linear regression models were generated based on the results. The generated results are precise; the relative deviation from the experimental data for Domain scores (modelled with GP) ranged from 0.9% to 2.9%. The R² for the LR models was 0.75 for most models (with two exceptions, with one with a value of 0.57 and the other with a value of 0.98). The developed method is scalable and could be used for preliminary and portfolio-level screening at early-stage assessments. Full article

The transition towards energy-efficient and sustainable buildings is a cornerstone of global efforts to combat climate change. Building automation and control systems (BACSs), standardized under EN ISO 52120, and the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) have emerged as pivotal tools for optimizing energy performance, integrating smart technologies, and enhancing building adaptability. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the current research landscape and practical applications of these frameworks, focusing on their role in advancing energy efficiency, occupant comfort, and environmental sustainability. Key contributions include an exploration of challenges in SRI evaluation, considering the limitations of simplified methods, the need for long-term validation, and gaps in integrating advanced control functions. This study emphasizes innovative solutions for adapting SRI assessments to diverse building types, climate conditions, and regulatory frameworks. Furthermore, it presents original insights into leveraging advanced technologies, including Building information modeling (BIM) and digital twins (DTs), to refine SRI evaluation methods and optimize BACS designs. These findings contribute to the development of sustainable, intelligent buildings that align with EU climate goals. The authors conclude by highlighting promising directions for future research to further enhance smart energy and strategic facility management practices. Full article

The construction industry is embracing advanced digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things and automation systems, to enhance energy management and occupant comfort in smart buildings. Recognizing the need to assess the readiness of buildings to support energy-efficient and adaptive functionalities, the European Commission introduced the smart readiness indicator (SRI) in 2018. While the SRI provides a standardized framework, its adoption, limitations, and potential to drive the evolution of smart buildings remain underexplored. This study addresses these gaps through a systematic literature review, incorporating bibliometric and qualitative analyses to evaluate the state of research on the SRI. The bibliometric analysis reveals that research on smart readiness is growing rapidly, with a strong focus on energy efficiency and smart buildings. This literature primarily evaluates and promotes the adoption of the SRI within buildings, aligning with the need to explore the paths for the evolution of smart buildings. The qualitative review summarizes six understudied research topic required to drive the evolution of smart buildings in the literature: The applicability of the SRI to different contexts, including various building types and climatic conditions; the subjectivity in the framework; the alignment with other certificates and standards; the SRI as a tool for smart retrofit; expansion to the neighborhood and district levels; and the score correlation with energy performance. The findings show that, although the SRI was originally introduced for buildings, it has much wider applicability, at the more detailed building component level as well as at the broader neighborhood and district levels. Future research could focus on the role of the SRI in evaluating smart readiness at the neighborhood scale and determining the minimum acceptable SRI score. Full article

This paper aims to evaluate how well the increasingly popular, market-based real estate energy efficiency improvement projects support the EU’s high-level smart energy transition targets. The implications of these EU-level targets for buildings are described in the smart readiness indicator (SRI) framework. As the SRI becomes mandatory, it is important for the industry to understand whether current market practices align with the SRI framework. This study is based on a qualitative analysis of 49 energy efficiency improvement project proposal reports for properties located in Finland. We use the SRI framework to evaluate the potential impact of the various energy efficiency improvements proposed in the reports on the smart energy transition targets. Three expert interviews were also conducted to gain the interviewees’ interpretations of the industry. While energy efficiency improvement projects are obviously aimed at improving energy efficiency, the results indicate that they are beneficial for some parts of the SRI, mainly within the SRI’s main categories of heating, controlled ventilation, and monitoring and control. Some proposed actions also contribute to increased smart readiness in the categories of cooling and lighting, but the remaining four main categories are generally not being taken into consideration. Full article

According to the European Energy Efficiency Directive for Buildings, member states are required to develop long-term strategies to adopt more sustainable, secure, and decarbonized energy systems in buildings by 2050. In this line of approach, an optional common regime has been established to define and calculate the smart readiness of buildings and assess their ability to adapt their operation to the needs of the occupants and the network. Thus, the smart readiness indicator (SRI) emerged, which assesses technological readiness by examining the presence and evaluation of the functionality level of various smart services, aiming at energy savings, the ability of the building to respond to users’ needs, and energy flexibility. This paper focuses on examining the SRI calculation methodology’s application to an office building, which is currently being deeply renovated. Initially, there is an analysis of the SRI, its calculation methodology, and its goals. This is followed by the practical calculation part of the SRI for a typical office building located in Greece and belonging to the climate zone of southern Europe. The results indicate that the SRIs application is not a straightforward issue since parameters that need to be considered are not regulated to the same degree. On the other hand, SRI can provide a stimulus for exploiting the renovation potential of buildings, precisely by integrating the various aspects and linking those to the use of innovative technologies. Full article

The Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) is a newly developed framework that measures a building’s technological readiness to improve its energy efficiency. The integration of data obtained from this framework with data derived from Building Information Modeling (BIM) has the potential to yield compelling results. This research proposes an algorithm for a Recommendation System (RS) that uses SRI and BIM data to advise on building energy-efficiency improvements. Following a modular programming approach, the proposed system is split into two algorithmic approaches linked with two distinct use cases. In the first use case, BIM data are utilized to provide thermal envelope enhancement recommendations. A hybrid Machine Learning (ML) (Random Forest–Decision Tree) algorithm is trained using an Industry Foundation Class (IFC) BIM model of CERTH’S nZEB Smart Home in Greece and Passive House database data. In the second use case, SRI data are utilized to develop an RS for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system improvement, in which a process utilizes a filtering function and KNN algorithm to suggest automation levels for building service improvements. Considering the results from both use cases, this paper provides a solid framework that exploits more possibilities for coupling SRI with BIM data. It presents a novel algorithm that exploits these data to facilitate the development of an RS system for increasing building energy efficiency. Full article

The Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) was included in the third version of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and has since been used in research involving a variety of building types and climate zones. While numerous studies highlighted the qualitative characteristics of the current SRI framework, this work describes a methodology for adding quantitative features to it. It uses indicators for each effect area and proposes multiple standards as rating assessment factors. We specify the integration of this crucial component enhancing the framework. This enhanced framework is applied to a hypothetical use case, and the outcomes are compared with those of the current framework. The results demonstrate that the SRI score was increased after adding quantitative elements to the SRI framework. Full article

The Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) is an assessment scheme for the intelligence of buildings, which was introduced by the European Commission in the directive for the Energy Performance of Buildings in 2018. Since its introduction, many activities related to the maturation and employment of the SRI have been initiated. One of the adaptation needs of the SRI, revealed through public consultation with relevant stakeholders, is the requirement for a tailored SRI for different types of buildings. The aim of this study is to analyze possible scenarios to optimize the smartness performance, as addressed by the SRI score, in educational buildings. The subject of this study concerned campus buildings of the Kaunas University of Technology, in Lithuania. For the definition of the SRI, the calculation sheet developed by the European Commission was used. The effect of the improvements in the smartness performance of buildings on their energy efficiency was examined with the use of a whole-building, BIM-based energy assessment tool (IDA-ICE). The findings of this study revealed that despite the improvement in the automation and control levels of the building heating system, the maximum SRI values achieved deviate significantly by a high-smartness level. This study revealed the importance of services at a city level towards achieving the optimal smartness levels at a building unit level. It also delivered useful findings related to the linkage between energy and smartness performance of a building. The policy implication of the study findings also covers topics relevant to utilities management at a district level, as well as on the need for tailored SRI services catalogs for different types of buildings. Full article

Improving energy efficiency and increasing the level of intelligence are two main factors determining the current development trends for new and modernized buildings. They are especially important in the perspective of development of prosumer installations and local microgrids. A key tool to achieve these goals is a well-designed and implemented Building Automation and Control System (BACS). This paper presents a new hybrid approach to the design and technical organization of BACS based on the provisions of the EN 15232 standard and the guidelines of the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) defined in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2018 (EPBD 2018). The main assumptions of this hybrid approach along with examples of functional BACS designs for small prosumer installations organized according to them are provided. Potential impact on building energy performance is discussed as well. Finally, a SWOT analysis of the possibility of merging the EN 15232 standard guidelines and the SRI assessment methodology to develop uniform technical guidelines for the BACS functions design and evaluation of their impact on the buildings’ energy efficiency are discussed. Full article

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2018/844/EU introduced the smart readiness indicator (SRI) to provide a framework to evaluate and promote building smartness in Europe. In order to establish a methodological framework for the SRI calculation, two technical studies were launched, at the end of which a consolidated methodology to calculate the SRI of a building basing on a flexible and modular multicriteria assessment has been proposed. In this paper the authors applied the above-mentioned methodology to estimate the SRI of the Italian residential building stock in different scenarios. To this end, eight “smart building typologies”, representative of the Italian residential building stock, have been identified. For each smart building typology, the SRI was calculated in three scenarios: (a) base scenario (building stock as it is); (b) an “energy scenario” (simple energy retrofit) and (c) a “smart energy scenario” (energy retrofit from a smart perspective). It was therefore possible to estimate a national average SRI value of 5.0%, 15.7%, and 27.5% in the three above defined scenarios, respectively. Full article

Non-residential buildings contribute to around 20% of the total energy consumed in Europe. This consumption continues to increase globally. Smart building proposals (focused on Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB), air quality monitoring, energy saving with thermal comfort, etc.) were already necessary before 2020, and the pandemic has made this research and development area more essential. Furthermore, the need to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and obtain technological solutions based on the Internet of Things (IoT) requires holistic contributions through real installations that serve as spaces for measuring, testing, study and research. This article proposes a “measure–analyse–decide and act” methodology to quantify the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) for university buildings as a reference environment for energy efficiency and COVID-19 prevention models. Two conceptual spaces (physical and digital) within two dimensions (users and infrastructures) are designated over an IoT three-level model (information acquisition, interoperable communication, and data-driven decision). An IoT ecosystem (sensoriZAR) was implemented as a proof-of-concept of a smart campus at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. Focused on CO₂ and energy consumption monitoring, the results showed effectiveness through real installations, demonstrating the IoT potential as SDG-enabling technologies. These contributions allow not only experimental lab tests (from the authors’ expertise in several specialties of Industrial, Mechanical, Design, Thermal, Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering) but also a reference model for direct application in academic works, research projects and institutional initiatives, extendable to professional environments, buildings and cities. Full article

In 2018, the European Commission adopted the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) concept in the recast of the directive on the energy efficiency of buildings. The set of SRIs is a measure of the intelligence of buildings systems, and its promotion is expected to contribute to the energy savings of the building sector. These indicators are relatively new and were developed only at the beginning of last decade, within European standards. This study introduces and elaborates on these indicators, as delivered in the final report of the European Commission. Some first results, which are obtained using a tool developed by the European Commission, are also presented. The work identifies gaps and perspectives for improvement of this system, as well as predicting the evolution of its implementation in the coming years, through specific numerical scenarios. Full article

In 2018, the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) included for the first time the application of a smart readiness indicator (SRI). Based on the fact that load shifting in and across buildings plays an increasingly important role to improve efficiency and alleviate the integration of renewable energy systems, the SRI is also aimed at providing an indication of how well buildings can interact with the energy grids. With the clustering of buildings into larger entities, synergies related to the integration of renewable energy and load shifting can be efficiently exploited. However, current proposals for the SRI focus mainly on qualitative appraisals of the smartness of buildings and do not include the wider context of the districts. Quantitative approaches that can be easily applied at an early planning stage are still mostly missing. To optimize infrastructure decisions on a larger scale, a quantifiable perspective beyond the building level is necessary to evaluate and leverage the larger load shifting capacities. This article builds on a previously published methodology for smart buildings with the aim to provide a numerical model-based approach on the assessment of whole districts based on their overall energy storage capacity, load shifting potential and their ability to actively interact with the energy grids. It also delivers the equivalent CO₂ savings potential compared to a non-interactive system. The methodology is applied to theoretical use cases for validation. The results highlight that the proposed quantitative model can provide a meaningful and objective assessment of the load shifting potentials of smart districts. Full article