Industry and manufacturing · Domestic hot water
Domestic hot water in industry and manufacturing: what the SRI measures
Domestic hot water covers the boiler or storage tank: is water heated on a fixed schedule or based on use, can the system use cheap electricity or solar heat, and is the circulation pump controlled smartly.
In short
- 1This page shows how the Smart Readiness Indicator assesses domestic hot water in industrial and manufacturing buildings.
- 2It concerns only the building and its installations, not the production process itself.
- 3For this building type, the domestic hot water domain counts as 1 of 3 key functionalities in the score.
Weight of this domain for this building type
Which services count
| Service | Lowest level | Highest level | Advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control of DHW storage charging (with direct electric heating or integrated electric heat pump) DHW-1a · A · 3 levels | Automatic control on / off | Automatic on/off control, scheduled charging enable and demand-based supply temperature control or multi-sensor storage management | at least level 1 |
| Control of DHW storage charging DHW-1b · A · 3 levels | None | Automatic charging control based on local availability of renewables or information from electricity grid (DR, DSM) | at least level 1 |
| Control of DHW storage charging (with solar collector and supplementary heat generation) DHW-1d · 4 levels | Manual selected control of solar energy or heat generation | Automatic control of solar storage charge (Prio. 1) and supplementary storage charge, demand-oriented supply and return temperature control and multi-sensor storage management | – |
| Sequencing in case of different DHW generators DHW-2b · 5 levels | Priorities only based on running time | Control according to dynamic priority list (based on current AND predicted load, energy efficiency, carbon emissions, capacity of generators AND external signals from grid) | – |
| Report information regarding domestic hot water performance DHW-3 · A · 5 levels | None | Performance evaluation including forecasting and/or benchmarking; also including predictive management and fault detection | at least level 1 |
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 9 percentage points (from 31 to 40 percent, with all other domains at level 1).
What does the domestic hot water domain mean for an industrial building?
In industry and manufacturing, the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) focuses on the building and its technical installations. The production process itself falls outside the assessment. Domestic hot water here refers mainly to facilities such as showers, canteens and sanitary spaces, not process water.
Yet this domain is not insignificant. Industrial sites often have large electricity connections and sometimes generate waste heat from their process. That waste heat can be used to preheat tap water, which can improve the score in this domain.
Which smart-ready services are assessed?
The methodology distinguishes various smart-ready services within the domestic hot water domain. Each service has functionality levels from 0 to 4, where a higher level means more automation and control.
- DHW-1a and DHW-1b: control of domestic hot water storage charging, for example with an electric heat pump or based on available renewable energy.
- DHW-1d: control of charging via solar energy combined with supplementary heat generation.
- DHW-2b: sequencing when multiple heat generators are present, from fixed priority lists to dynamic control based on efficiency and grid signals.
- DHW-3: reporting on domestic hot water system performance, from simple current values to predictive management and fault detection.
For a building with only sanitary tap water facilities, not all services will be relevant. The score reflects which installations are actually present.
Why does this domain count relatively lightly?
In industry and manufacturing, domestic hot water is typically one of three key functionalities on which the score is built, alongside other domains that carry more weight. This is because heating, cooling and building energy management often play a larger role in total energy consumption.
Still, a smartly controlled boiler or storage tank can contribute to a better score, especially when the system is already linked to an existing energy management system for the process.
What this means for you
- Owner
- As the owner of an industrial building, it is useful to assess whether the tap water installation is already linked to existing energy management systems, since such a connection often already exists for the process and can be easily extended. A higher score in this domain usually requires limited investment compared with other domains, while flexibility on the main connection can add extra value.
- Tenant
- A tenant or user of an industrial property will notice this domain mainly in sanitary facilities, for example through hot water that becomes available faster or wastes less energy outside working hours. There are no direct effects on the production process, since that falls outside the assessment.
- Advisor
- An advisor must clearly distinguish between process water and tap water for sanitary purposes in industrial buildings, since only the latter is assessed in this domain. Also pay attention to possible integration with waste heat from the process, as this can affect the functionality level of services such as DHW-2b.
Next step
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