Building type
School: what the SRI measures
What the Smart Readiness Indicator measures in a school, which domains weigh heavily and where the first points are.
In short
- 1Schools operate on fixed schedules, have full classrooms and long holidays, where the Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) can make a significant difference.
- 2The SRI measures how well a school building's systems adapt to actual use, with ventilation, heating and lighting weighted most heavily.
- 3For school buildings above 290 kW heating capacity, building automation may already be mandatory, and the SRI helps identify where investments deliver the most value.
Which domains weigh heavily
- Heatingheavy
- Ventilationheavy
- Lightingheavy
- Dynamic building envelopemedium
- Monitoring and controlmedium
- Domestic hot waterlight
- Coolinglight
- Electricitylight
- Electric vehicle charginglight
27 services in the calculator.
Characteristics of this building type
- Fixed timetable, long vacancy in holidays
- Classroom air quality is a health issue
- Often older installations with timers
- Limited budget, so prioritise
Why is the SRI relevant for schools?
A school building sees intensive use during the academic schedule, yet stands empty for weeks during holidays. The Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI) assesses whether the building's technical systems can respond to this pattern. This makes the indicator suitable for testing whether heating, ventilation and lighting align with actual occupancy.
The SRI is a European measurement method under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). It examines nine domains of building technology and assigns functionality levels per domain, from 0 (no automation) to 4 (fully adaptive). For schools, heating, ventilation and lighting carry the highest weighting in the final score.
Which domains count most heavily for a school?
Heating, ventilation and lighting each receive a weighting factor of 3, the highest value in the methodology. This makes sense: these systems directly determine comfort and air quality in classrooms. Poor ventilation is also a known health issue in education.
Monitoring and control and the dynamic building envelope weigh less heavily but still play a role. Domestic hot water, cooling, electricity and electric vehicle charging typically have limited impact on the total score in schools.
What does this mean for older school buildings?
Many schools still rely on time clocks instead of sensors that respond to CO2 or occupancy. Such systems score low on smart-ready services within the ventilation domain. CO2-controlled ventilation therefore often delivers the biggest jump in functionality level.
With limited budgets, prioritization is necessary. The SRI score shows which domain is the weakest link, so a school does not invest in services with minimal impact on the total.
When does the SRI become mandatory for schools?
The Smart Readiness Indicator is currently voluntary. The European Commission must adopt a delegated act by 30 June 2027 that is expected to make the SRI mandatory for buildings with technical systems above 290 kW.
Larger school buildings may fall under this threshold. Those buildings are already subject to a building automation requirement since end of 2024, with further expansion toward smaller systems in 2029.
What this means for you
- Owner
- A school board should use the SRI as a tool to direct investments toward ventilation, heating and lighting, since these domains carry the highest weight in the score. This clarifies whether funds are best spent on CO2 control, schedule-based heating or new lighting controls, rather than less impactful systems.
- Tenant
- Teachers and students notice a higher SRI score mainly through fresher air in the classroom and more stable temperature that follows the lesson schedule. At a low score, ventilation often lags, which is directly felt in crowded classrooms.
- Advisor
- An advisor should pay particular attention to the status of ventilation systems in schools, as this domain carries high weight and often still runs on time clocks rather than sensors. It is also important to verify whether HVAC capacity (heating, ventilation and cooling) exceeds the 290 kW threshold, as this determines whether building automation is already mandatory.
Next step
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