In recent years, the interest in building control and automation systems has increased considerably: now they are considered by guidelines and standards as a fundamental element to achieve the ambitious energy efficiency objectives of the European Union, while maintaining a high level of comfort in all situations. The revision of the EPBD, published in 2018, introduces for the first time an indicator of building intelligence which, although of voluntary use, will represent an important factor in the promotion of these technologies in the future.
The energy efficiency and performance of buildings has been the focus of attention of planners, builders and end customers since the EPBD was published in 2002. In 2010 there was a first revision of the Directive and eight years later a second one was published. When EU countries implemented the first version of the standard, numerical indicators were established to classify buildings according to their energy performance: in the energy performance certificate (EPA) in use in Italy, for example, it is necessary to indicate the energy demand in kilowatt hours per square metre and per year. The most recent revision of the directive aims at spreading intelligent technologies as much as possible inside buildings; for the world of home automation and building automation this latest version is therefore particularly significant, since one of the objectives is to actively promote the widespread use of these systems.
But can one evaluate how much intelligence is present in a building and how it impacts on its performance?
To this end, the directive introduces a building intelligence indicator which, although optional, is very interesting in order to provide information to all interested parties: designers, investors, end users, operators and service providers.The official name in the Directive, i.e. ”intelligent building readiness indicator”, may not be the maximum of clarity (it is in fact the literal translation of the Smart Readiness Indicator, in short SRI), but it could be improved in the national transposition measure, which must take place by 10 March 2020. This indicator will allow to assess the capacity of buildings (or building units) to adapt their functioning to the needs of occupants, also optimising energy efficiency and overall performance, and to adapt their functioning in response to signals coming from the network with a maximum of energy flexibility.
The Directive states that ”The indicator for intelligence capability of buildings should measure the ability of buildings to use information and communication technologies and electronic systems in order to adapt their functioning to the needs of occupants and to improve the energy efficiency and overall performance of buildings. The indicator of intelligence of buildings should raise awareness among owners and occupants about the value of building automation and electronic monitoring of technical building systems and should reassure them about the real savings of these new improved functions. The use of the system to assess the suitability of buildings for intelligence should be optional for Member States.”
The objective
The main objective of the SRI indicator is to raise awareness of the benefits that can be achieved by the use of intelligent technologies and ITC (Information and Communication Technology), in particular from the energy point of view, motivating to accelerate as much as possible the investments in these technologies.
What does “intelligent readiness” mean?
The three key functions of a building’s “intelligent readiness” can be summed up as follow:
- ability to ensure the energy efficiency and the operation of the building, adapting its energy consumption (for example through the use of energy from renewable sources);
- ability to customise the operation to the needs of the end users, providing the right attention to simple use, the maintenance of comfortable climatic conditions and the ability to provide relevant information on energy consumption;
- flexibility of the overall electricity use including the ability to participate actively and passively and to take into account the conditions of the network (in demand-response mode), for example through the flexibility and the ability of moving the load.
Who it is addressed to
To the end users, owners and investors, the SRI indicator will provide information about the features that the building makes available; having reliable information about the intelligence of the building (and about its potential improvements) could positively influence their investments decisions. For the end users, in particular, the transition to smarter buildings will lead to multiple benefits: these include a higher energy efficiency and better healthy conditions, wellness and comfort. System integrators and generally professionals of the field will also be interested in the indicator, as they will be called to manage the intelligent systems and they will be able to influence investment decisions. There will also be positive developments for the different facilities providers, including network operators, the producers of technical systems of buildings, planning and engineering companies and many others. The indicator will allow them to position the offering services, providing a neutral and common framework where the ability of their intelligent facilities can be directly compared to the ability of their competitors, including facilities based on non-intelligent technologies of the most traditional type. In the end, by providing a common tool to all the interested parties, the SRI indicator will be a key element in promoting the market of smart technologies.
The definition
Unfolding the usual orientation function, the european directive describes the main objectives of the indicator, but it doesn’t go as far as its definition of detail which must take into account a series of technical elements and therefore requires specific skills. For its definition, the European Commission (DG ENERGY) has commissioned a first study to a partnership that includes several realities: VICO, Waide Strategic Efficiency, Ecofys and OFFIS. The report has been published in August 2018 and provides a quite realistic idea of how the future indicator will be. The methodology proposed in the study is based on the evaluation of the “intelligent facilities” which are in the building. These facilities are created by one or more smart technologies and they are defined in a neutral way, for example like the “ability of controlling the power emitted by the artificial lighting”.
10 Domains
The facilities in the building covered more branches (for example the heating, the lighting or the recharging of electric vehicles) and they can produce different effects (for example the energy saving, the improvement of comfort or the flexibility to the power supply system).Ten branches has been defined to which an additional section is added (“various”) which can include facilities that nowadays are not in the scope of application or they are not enough mature to be include. Each facility can be created with different levels of intelligence; in the example of the control in lighting, this can range from the simple execution of the “manual on/off control” to more efficient controls like “the automatic turning-on and turning-off according to the availability of natural light” or also “the automatic dimming according to the availability of natural light”.
8 Impact criteria
In the study has been taken into account eight different impact categories. In the final SRI indicator the impact terms could evolve further – for example to an easier set – to make the employment and the use of communication purposes easier.Facing this multiplicity of branches and effects, to work out the indicator has been suggested a method of evaluation which leads to the application of weighting coefficients (weights) to reflect the contribution of the different sections and effects in the determination of an overall aggregate score.
The result of the evaluation can be presented in different ways:
- as an overall score (for example a dimensionless number);
- as a relative score in percentage terms (for example by indicating that a building reaches 65% of its intelligence potential);
- as a categorisation (for example a label showing class ‘B’).
However secondary scores could be presented (for example, 72% on energy saving and 63% on comfort); the results of some case studies have in fact shown that the presentation of secondary scores is precious for end users. In addiction, the efficiency of the indicator could probably increase if, besides the numerical result, they were presented to end users, owners or to the managers of the recommendation on the opportunities available for increase the intelligence of their building.Nowadays the working group commissioned by the European Commission is engaged in the second project step which will define the common plan to be adopted for all member states and whose conclusion is expected in July 2020.
Source: 2017/SEB/R/1610684, study carried out under the authority of the European Commission (DG Energy).
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