The European Commission invites the member states are to contribute to the optional pilot testing of the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI), a rating scheme designed to assess the buildings’ capacity to accommodate smart-ready services. Introduced in the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and its subsequent regulations, the SRI will help raise awareness of the benefits smart building technologies bring for creating healthy, energy-efficient and comfortable buildings, including via building automation and electronic monitoring of heating, hot water, ventilation and lighting.

Buildings are the single largest energy consumer in the EU, and account for more than a third of its greenhouse gas emissions. A refurbished and modernized building stock is therefore crucial for achieving the EU’s energy and climate goals, and the SRI play a key role in it by encouraging technological innovation and creating an incentive for integrating cutting-edge smart technologies in buildings.

What makes a building smart

The ‘smartness’ of a building refers to its ability to sense, interpret, communicate and actively respond in an efficient manner to changing conditions in relation to:

• the operation of technical building systems,
• the external environment (including energy grids)
• demands from building occupants.

The SRI rates the smart readiness of buildings (or building units) in their capability to perform 3 key functionalities:

• optimize energy efficiency and overall in-use performance
• adapt their operation to the needs of the occupant
• adapt to signals from the grid (for example energy flexibility).

Through the implementation of the SRI framework, technological innovation in the construction sector is supported, which creates an incentive for the integration of cutting-edge smart technologies in buildings.

Learn more about the SRI methodology and SRI rating.

SRI Testing and Implementation

EU countries are invited to launch a test phase of the SRI scheme, with the support of the European Commission and the technical support team. EU countries and regions may decide to implement the SRI on (part of) their territory, for all buildings or only for certain categories of buildings.

The Commission will provide support and guidance to EU countries and regions that undertake a test phase of the SRI. Those who are interested in receiving specific support are welcome to contact the team in charge of technical assistance by mail: support at smartreadinessindicator.eu.