Municipal and public buildings · Electricity
Electricity in municipal and public buildings: what the SRI measures
This domain covers the building's electricity management: batteries, solar panels, shifting consumption to cheap hours, reporting to users and responding to grid signals. It is the core of energy flexibility.
In short
- 1This page shows how the Smart Readiness Indicator assesses the electricity domain in municipal and social real estate.
- 2It covers seven smart-ready services, ranging from reporting on local generation to support for microgrids.
- 3For this building type, the Electricity domain carries significant weight: a weighting factor of 2 on a scale of 3.
Weight of this domain for this building type
Which services count
| Service | Lowest level | Highest level | Advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting information regarding local electricity generation E-2 · A · 5 levels | None | Performance evaluation including forecasting and/or benchmarking; also including predictive management and fault detection | level 2 or higher |
| Storage of (locally generated) electricity E-3 · A · 5 levels | None | On site storage of energy (e.g. electric battery or thermal storage) with controller optimising the use of locally generated electricity and possibility to feed back into the grid | level 2 or higher |
| Optimizing self-consumption of locally generated electricity E-4 · 4 levels | None | Automated management of local electricity consumption based on current and predicted energy needs and renewable energy availability | – |
| Control of combined heat and power plant (CHP) E-5 · 3 levels | CHP control based on scheduled runtime management and/or current heat energy demand | CHP runtime control influenced by the fluctuating availability of RES and grid signals; dynamic charging and runtime control to optimise self-consumption of renewables | – |
| Support of (micro)grid operation modes E-8 · 4 levels | None | Automated management of (building-level) electricity consumption and supply, with potential to continue limited off-grid operation (island mode) | – |
| Reporting information regarding energy storage E-11 · A · 5 levels | None | Performance evaluation including forecasting and/or benchmarking; also including predictive management and fault detection | level 2 or higher |
| Reporting information regarding electricity consumption E-12 · A · 5 levels | None | Real-time feedback or benchmarking on appliance level with automated personalized recommendations | level 2 or higher |
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 4 percentage points (from 33 to 37 percent, with all other domains at level 1).
Why does electricity carry significant weight in municipal real estate?
Town halls, libraries, community centres and theatres form a mixed portfolio. Operating hours vary considerably, from office times to evening performances.
This variation makes the Electricity domain (E) within the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) important. This domain covers power management: generation, storage, demand shifting and grid response. For this building type, the domain receives a weighting factor of 2 on a scale of 3.
Municipalities often have an exemplary role and reporting obligations. A higher electricity score supports both objectives.
Which smart-ready services belong to this domain?
The Electricity domain contains seven smart-ready services for this building type. Each service has functionality levels from 0 to 4, where higher levels mean more automation and forecasting.
- E-2: reporting of local electricity generation, from current data to predictive management.
- E-3: storage of locally generated electricity, with controllers responding to grid signals or own consumption.
- E-4: optimisation of own consumption of locally generated electricity.
- E-5: control of a combined heat and power installation, if present.
- E-8: support for microgrid operating modes, including island operation.
- E-11: reporting on energy storage.
- E-12: reporting of electricity consumption, from building level to appliance level.
For a mixed portfolio, E-12 is particularly relevant. Building-level reporting enables comparison across locations.
What does this mean for the portfolio as a whole?
Social real estate is often assessed not per building but as a portfolio. Subsidy opportunities frequently exist for groups of buildings, not for a single property.
A building with solar panels and battery storage can score highly on E-3 and E-4. A building without such installations remains at level 0, even if operating time is limited.
The final score in percentage falls into one of seven classes, from below 20 percent to 90 to 100 percent. This classification helps compare buildings within the same portfolio.
What this means for you
- Owner
- First map which buildings in the portfolio already have local generation or storage, as this determines the starting level for most services. Use the per-building score to support subsidy applications and to identify where investments in electricity flexibility yield the greatest returns.
- Tenant
- As a user of a community centre or library, you will notice little direct impact from these services, except possibly more stable energy costs over the long term. Consumption reporting may become visible in shared overviews that the municipality publishes.
- Advisor
- When assessing, pay attention to the difference between method A and method B: several services in this domain, such as E-2, E-11 and E-12, fall under method A and thus count in a simplified assessment as well. With a mixed portfolio, account for varying installations per building, so that the score is not averaged without context.
Next step
Want to know where your building stands?