Industry and manufacturing: what the SRI measures

What does the SRI measure in an industrial building?

The Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) assesses only the building and its systems. The production process itself falls outside the assessment. This distinction is important, because in industrial buildings process and building are often tightly interwoven.

The methodology works with nine domains and, using the extended method B, 54 smart-ready services. Each service receives a functionality level from 0 to 4, which is assessed against seven impact criteria. For industrial buildings, the separation between process and building management is decisive for a correct score.

Which domains weigh most heavily?

In industry and production, electricity and monitoring and control receive the highest weighting factor, namely 3. Heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting and electric vehicle charging weigh with factor 2. Hot water weighs lighter, with factor 1, and the dynamic building envelope does not count here.

This distribution reflects where the gains lie in industrial buildings. Energy management often already exists for the process, but is rarely linked to the building management system (BMS). That connection is precisely what the SRI rewards.

Where lie the opportunities for industrial buildings?

Industrial buildings typically have a large electricity connection. Flexibility, the temporary reduction or shifting of electricity demand, is therefore literally worth money. A high score on the key functionality flexibility can make this potential visible.

Waste heat from the process also offers opportunities. When that heat is used for building heating, it improves the score in the heating domain. This does require a building automation and control system (BACS) that aligns process heat and building heating.

When does the SRI become relevant for this sector?

The SRI is currently voluntary, as set out in article 15 of the EPBD (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive). Many industrial buildings have an installation capacity above 290 kW, the threshold above which building automation has been mandatory since late 2024.

That same threshold is expected to form the basis for the delegated act that the European Commission must adopt by 30 June 2027. For utility buildings above 290 kW, including many industrial properties, the SRI is expected to become mandatory.