Future-proofing and smart-readiness
Future-proofing buildings are resilient, adaptable and sustainable over time. A key factor is smart-readiness — the building's ability to sense, interpret, communicate and respond efficiently to changing conditions, environments and occupants' needs.
Key elements for achieving successful future-proofing of modern buildings
- Modern buildings should be constructed with sustainable materials, provide good indoor environmental quality and be energy-efficient.
- The key is to have a well-insulated building with a reliable building system to provide cost-balanced results.
- The building and all systems should be controlled based on occupancy and demand, with air quality parameters as vital.
- All active building components are then connected to cloud services for monitoring, analysis and troubleshooting.
- Identification of building-related problems should be able to access remotely for swift responses.
- Digitalisation is key to create and maintain a well-functioning HVAC building system during both the design and operational phases.
- The rapid evolution of remote data and digital systems can lower costs, decrease man-hours and make people more satisfied—from building owners to tenants.
Data transforms modern buildings – We share HVAC expertise
We cannot foresee the future, but we can take significant steps to prepare for it - especially when it comes to constructing modern buildings, ensuring a good indoor climate and achieving energy efficiency across all building systems. We focus on ensuring the results with future-proofing buildings using monitoring of HVAC systems with remote access leading to pptimising functionalities for indoor climate and energy efficiency in buildings.
Read our Update&Insight 'Data transforms modern buildings – We share HVAC expertise'
We live in a world where people and technology meet. Technology alone does not optimise a building. Monitoring data alone does not drive efficiency. Without people, there would be no high performing HVAC building systems. We need the knowledge and skills of people who fine-tune the building's operation and provide meaningful results.
— Excerpt from the Swegon Air Academy webinar: 'The Blue House with green ambitions - The importance of monitoring advanced HVAC systems to optimise energy efficiency and indoor climate'.
ADD pablos commnet instead
https://build-up.ec.europa.eu/en/news-and-events/news/pablo-carnero-melero-when-it-comes-decarbonisation-and-smartness-buildings
The role of the EPBD and the SRI
The Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) is a policy initiative from the EU Commission under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) that measures your building’s ability to use smart technologies. These technologies support decarbonization and offer more comfortable and efficient indoor environments.
The EPBD Recast, supported by the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI), envisions buildings as integrated energy systems — capable of producing, using and storing energy while providing a healthy and comfortable indoor environment through effective HVAC systems and advanced building services.
The SRI is a common and standardised European framework to assess building smartness, and it includes a binding legal framework and a flexible technical model that is adaptable to Member States.
What is the building's smartness?
The buildings need to communicate and actively change operations based on the efficiency of their technical building systems, external weather and energy conditions, and based on building occupants' preferences and needs.
What are smart buildings for?
- Smart buildings are responsive and can adapt operations and processes to fulfil many needs.
- Building smartness has a wider impact on the environment around and within a building.
- It is the key to healthier and more comfortable buildings with lower energy use and carbon emissions while facilitating the integration of renewable energy sources into the energy system.
Smart-ready buildings addressing people's needs and meeting tomorrow's challenges
Linking buildings with smart technologies across Europe achieves multiple goals: reduced energy bills, improved health, lower emissions and protection of the environment.
Smart building technologies like automation and electronic monitoring of systems promotes innovation in construction, energy efficiency optimisation, and adaptation of building operations to suit the occupant's needs.
Smart-ready technologies can help improve occupants' comfort and buildings' energy consumption
- Occupancy detection sensors help improve air quality and save energy.
- Providing information to occupants about the energy consumption of each technical building system can stimulate responsible behaviours.
- Fault detection systems can support the effective maintenance of building systems.
- Heating, cooling, and domestic hot water systems can be operated based on signals from the grid to provide flexible services without decreasing occupant comfort.
SRI is making the indoor environment visible through a mandatory IEQ monitoring system
Using the EPBD and SRI to make the indoor climate both visible and valued by everyone, is a step in the right direction but there are still significant gaps to address.
Today, no methodology is defined at the EU level to describe the cost optimality of smartness upgrades, including enhancing or improving indoor environmental quality (IEQ). There are methodologies to monetise energy savings and the flexibility services provided to the grid. However, there is still a clear challenge in standardisation in translating the improvement of indoor environmental quality into economic value across different building categories.
Currently, the SRI framework focuses on assessing smart readiness, and while it includes elements like BACS (Building Automation and Control Systems), IEQ monitoring for non-residential buildings will soon become mandatory. Within the next two years, it will be crucial to establish a methodology and a clear message to communicate the value of IEQ to building owners and occupants. This effort will ensure that IEQ is not merely seen as a regulatory requirement but as an asset that enhances building value and occupant satisfaction.
SRI already makes the indoor climate more visible by prioritising user needs, with its scoring system rewarding buildings that enhance health, well-being, accessibility, comfort and convenience. However, the missing link lies in translating these features into financial terms. While the SRI emphasises responsiveness to user needs and includes indoor climate as one of its three key functionalities, connecting these benefits to economic metrics is still critical. Doing so would ensure that IEQ improvements are not only visible but also demanded and valued by all stakeholders in the building sector.
This is an excerpt from the Swegon Air Academy webinar: 'Future-proof your expertise: Smart-ready buildings and the EPBD recast' with Pablo Carnero Melero, SRI expert from REHVA.
Watch: Future-proof your expertise: Smart-ready buildings and the EPBD recast
Lecturers: Pablo Carnero Melero & Mikael Börjesson
Webinar recording from Swegon Air Academy, 2024
Can your building optimise energy efficiency, adapt to the grid and improve the indoor environment based on occupants' needs? Our experts discuss the building's smart readinessness level (Smart Readiness Indicator, SRI), an EU Commission policy under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD recast) measuring your building's ability to leverage smart technologies for improved energy efficiency, supporting decarbonization and enhancing indoor environments.
We cover:
- The journey of SRI from the first Technical Study to the present.
- Key EU regulations shaping smart-readiness.
- The SRI assessment process and a real-world case study from the ventilation domain.
The smartness of buildings should be a means to an end and not a goal in its own right. Smartness should serve the purpose of providing with a better building in terms of energy performance, health, convenience, etc.Stijn Verbeke