Are you already up to speed on what SRI is bringing to the property world?
If you work with properties, then you may have already come across the abbreviation SRI. It stands for Smart Readiness Indicator, and it is something that the EU has working on for some years already. Project-based preparations for the creation of the index began in December 2018.
Below, we explain briefly the goals of SRI and what it seeks to measure.
The objectives of SRI
In essence, the EU’s objective for SRI is one that is both noble and also somewhat familiar. The aim is to raise awareness of the benefits that smart technologies offer for different properties, with the focus being primarily on energy saving.
This is a logical approach, as the money saved through measures that reduce energy consumption can justify making the needed investments. The EU also has the ulterior motive of wanting both to encourage decision-makers to take smart building technologies into account in their investment decisions and also to support technology innovation.
At the same time, a common assessment scale is being introduced to measure how smart a particular building is. This should make it possible to fully compare the smartness assessments for different buildings – or almost fully, at least.
Scoring essentials and property-specific customization
The SRI is the score given to a building. This score changes as technical improvements are made to the property.
For example, if ventilation is initially time-based and the owners then switch to ventilation control based on measured carbon dioxide values, the building’s score will improve.
The scoring takes into account a wide range of factors, ranging from the mechanics of heating control to the use of demand response. The maximum score is not the same for all properties, however.
In the following section, we explain in more detail the importance of the scoring system.
The scoring categories are divided into three areas:
1. Energy saving and overall building performance
2. Meeting user needs
3. Meeting electricity network needs
(this section only covers issues related to demand response)
These three main categories include their own criteria for measuring different aspects of the property.
The property processes examined include:
1. Heating
2. Domestic hot water
3. Cooling
4. Ventilation
5. Lighting
6. Electricity (e.g. own energy production and storage)
7. Electric vehicle charging (and utilising vehicle batteries for demand-side flexibility)
8. Dynamic building envelope (sunscreens, means for controlling opening of doors and windows and their impact on other areas)
9. Property monitoring and control
Only things that are relevant to the property in question are taken into account in the scoring process. For example, if the property under assessment is right in the city centre and does not have its own parking area at all, it is not penalised for lacking charging facilities for electric cars.
In the end, the total points received are set against the requirements which are relevant for that particular property. This result is an index that can be used to compare different properties.
At the end of the previous paragraph, I noted that the SRI almost makes it possible to compare properties: that was because if two properties receive a SRI index of 70%, for example, there may still be practical differences in their technology level due to the relevance assessment included in the scoring process.
A smart building works just as it should
All in all, the SRI has a noble objective, and a commensurate measurement method has been sought after within the property sector. All measures that encourage building functionality and the spread of smart solutions are indeed welcome measures.
We´d like to emphasise here the word ‘encourage’, because each property is its own entity, both in terms of its needs and its users. For any property, it is important to understand its current level of functioning and how this level fits with its intended use – regardless of whether we use SRI or not.
Interested? Contact us to find out more.
