Care building · Monitoring and control
Monitoring and control in care building: what the SRI measures
Monitoring and control is the building's nervous system: the building management system that coordinates installations, detects faults, reports energy use and can respond to occupancy and to grid signals.
In short
- 1Care facilities operate around the clock and have no opportunity for night setback, making the monitoring and control domain especially important.
- 2This domain carries the maximum weighting factor of 3 out of 3 points for this building type.
- 3Fault detection, hot water management and per-room comfort control are the services that influence a care facility's score most significantly.
Weight of this domain for this building type
Which services count
| Service | Lowest level | Highest level | Advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run time management of HVAC systems MC-3 · 4 levels | Manual setting | Heating and cooling plant on/off control based on predictive control or grid signals | – |
| Detecting faults of technical building systems and providing support to the diagnosis of these faults MC-4 · 4 levels | No central indication of detected faults and alarms | With central indication of detected faults and alarms for all relevant TBS, including diagnosing functions | – |
| Occupancy detection: connected services MC-9 · 3 levels | None | Centralised occupant detection which feeds in to several TBS such as lighting and heating | – |
| Central reporting of TBS performance and energy use MC-13 · A · 4 levels | None | Central or remote reporting of realtime energy use per energy carrier, combining TBS of all main domains in one interface | highest level |
| Smart Grid Integration MC-25 · A · 3 levels | None - No harmonization between grid and TBS; building is operated independently from the grid load | Coordinated demand side management of multiple TBS | highest level |
| Reporting information regarding demand side management performance and operation MC-28 · 3 levels | None | Reporting information on current, historical and predicted DSM status, including managed energy flows | – |
| Override of DSM control MC-29 · 5 levels | No DSM control | Scheduled override of DSM control and reactivation with optimised control | – |
| Single platform that allows automated control & coordination between TBS + optimization of energy flow based on occupancy, weather and grid signals MC-30 · A · 4 levels | None | Single platform that allows automated control & coordination between TBS + optimization of energy flow based on occupancy, weather and grid signals | highest level |
Worked example
If everything in this domain is at level 0, the domain contributes nothing. At the highest level for all services, the indicative total score for this building type rises by about 20 percentage points (from 26 to 46 percent, with all other domains at level 1).
Why does monitoring and control carry such weight in a care facility?
A nursing home or care centre is never empty. Occupied rooms require continuous heating, ventilation and hot water, including at night. For this reason, the building management system, the central control that coordinates technical installations, cannot simply switch to a lower mode outside operating hours as it does in office buildings.
For this building type, the monitoring and control domain (MC) receives the highest weighting factor: 3 out of 3 points. This means that improvements in this domain have a greater impact on the overall Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) score than in many other building types.
Which services make the difference?
Fault detection (MC-4) is a core function in care facilities. A broken heating or ventilation system directly affects vulnerable residents. A system that displays faults centrally and offers diagnostic functions achieves the highest functionality level within this service.
Operating hour management for heating and cooling (MC-3) works differently in care facilities than elsewhere. Because night setback in occupied rooms is usually not possible, the emphasis lies on control based on building load or predictive control, not on simple time schedules.
Presence detection (MC-9) and central reporting of energy consumption (MC-13) support comfort on a per-room basis, which in care settings is often an explicit requirement. These services show whether individual spaces can be controlled and monitored separately.
What does grid integration mean for care facilities?
Services such as smart grid integration (MC-25) and demand response (MC-28, MC-29) are relevant, but in care settings with an important caveat. The constant and large consumption of hot water and heating makes full flexibility more difficult than in buildings with varying occupancy.
A higher functionality level on these services can contribute to the score, provided that residents' basic needs are not compromised. User override of the demand response control (MC-29) remains an important safeguard in this context.
What does one central platform deliver?
One platform for automated control and coordination between building technical systems (MC-30) combines the management of heating, ventilation and lighting. For a care facility with many separate installations per department, this can create the foundation for higher scores on other MC services.
What this means for you
- Owner
- As the owner of a care facility, it is worthwhile to invest in fault detection with diagnostic functions and in a building management system capable of per-room control, since this domain carries the heaviest weight in the SRI score. Above an HVAC capacity of 290 kW, building automation has been mandatory since late 2024, and the SRI itself is expected to become mandatory from 2027 onwards for larger utility buildings.
- Tenant
- Residents and care staff notice a well-functioning system mainly through stable indoor climate per room and swift resolution of faults, without loss of comfort or hot water. A high score in this domain means fewer interruptions and a building that automatically responds to what each space requires.
- Advisor
- When assessing a care facility, pay particular attention to the functionality levels of fault detection (MC-4) and operating hour management (MC-3), since continuous operation and the absence of night setback give these services greater weight than in other building types. Also verify whether demand response (MC-25, MC-29) is aligned with the constant hot water demand, so that energy flexibility does not compromise care requirements.
Next step
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