Article
The role of SRI in the future of the housing industry
The Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) is a comprehensive assessment tool designed to evaluate the technological intelligence of buildings. It is specifically intended to assess a building's capacity to integrate smart technologies. Since its introduction in Germany in 2020, based on the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the SRI has been designed to optimise the potential of smart technologies in the building sector. A higher SRI rating indicates greater efficiency in automated self-management and energy consumption adaptation. This is intended to encourage both owners and users to capitalise on the benefits of smart building technologies.
The SRI evaluation is based on three key criteria:
- Energy efficiency and operational performance: Buildings should be capable of managing their energy consumption efficiently and adapting to renewable energies.
- User orientation: The smartness of a building is also demonstrated by how well it fulfils the requirements of its occupants and ensures comfort and user-friendliness.
- Energy flexibility: Smart buildings must be able to respond to signals from the energy grid, for example by adjusting energy demand during peak loads.
The assessment is based on the respective level of readiness, which indicates the ability of the analysed building to integrate smart services from different technical areas. The analysis encompasses the following nine technical areas: The assessment covers the following nine technical areas:
- heating
- cooling
- hot water
- ventilation
- lighting
- dynamic building envelope
- electricity
- electric vehicle charging
- monitoring
- control
The resulting SRI score provides insight into the technological maturity of the building and its proximity to optimal smartness.
The roll-out of the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) may encounter a number of challenges in terms of consistency and quality. These include:
- Overlaps and subjective assessments: Some criteria for assessing the ‘intelligence’ of buildings can overlap, and different subjective assessments lead to varying results
- Technical complexity: Comprehensive knowledge of a building's technical systems, such as heating, cooling and lighting, is required to calculate the SRI.
- Availability of data: Accurate information about the building, its operation and its technical systems is needed to calculate the SRI.
- Acceptance and implementation: The successful introduction of the SRI requires the co-operation of authorities, building owners and experts.
Despite these challenges, the SRI provides a valuable opportunity to assess the 'smartness' of buildings and improve their use of smart services.
It should be noted that the implementation of the SRI does present certain challenges. The sophisticated technology and the necessary data availability make the calculation more challenging. Nevertheless, the SRI presents a significant opportunity for the property industry to make the integration of smart building technologies a key consideration in property development. In the long term, it can contribute to improving energy efficiency, as well as facilitating the integration of renewable energies and promoting sustainable building technologies.
The SRI is currently being tested in 13 EU countries, with each country able to define its own framework conditions and test phases. In Germany, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is responsible for conducting research and practical testing of the SRI. The objective of these tests is to further develop the suitability of the SRI as an assessment benchmark and pave the way for future EU-wide standards.
Christan Wehrmaker
Leitung Produkt und Innovation, imovis
Christian Wehrmaker ist innerhalb der imovis im Bereich Produktentwicklung und Innovationsmanagement tätig – mit einem Fokus auf nachhaltigen bzw. stromgetriebenen Geschäftsmodellen rund um Mehrfamilienhäuser.
