As the European Commission’s SRI platform gathered for the 5th plenary meeting in October, the SRI2MARKET project took the opportunity to lead a roundtable with seven representatives from six European countries. By exploring the different stages where each country stands in the testing of the Smart Readiness Indicator, the session brought to light several learnings, challenges, and expectations for the roll out of the indicator across Europe, while also reflecting on the impact of EU-funded research performed in parallel with pre-implementation activities.
The session was co-organised by the EU-funded projects SRI2MARKET, SRI-Enact, EasySRI, and Smart Square, and supported by DG ENER and CINEA. The dialogue engaged Sabine Kamill (Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology, Austria), Vesna Bukarica (Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar, Croatia), Soulla Karra (Cyprus Energy Agency, Cyprus), Sandro Silva Pereira (Directorate General of Energy and Geology, Portugal), Aitor Dominguez (Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy, Spain), Cécile Barrère (R2M Solution, France), and Pascal Torres (Osmose, France), with moderation of Pablo Carnero (REHVA). Some key messages emerged from the fruitful discussion:
EU funded projects are providing crucial tools for national agencies to take action
The tools, databases, and training programs developed by EU-funded SRI projects are proving to be gamechangers as countries progress with their testing phases. While Soulla Karra stated that the Cyprus Energy Agency “always uses” projects’ educational materials to train the future SRI assessors, Cécile Barrère explained that the time dedicated by projects to the translation of contents into several European languages made a big difference: “it’s very useful to reach national stakeholders” in an interaction that “is not unilateral”, she stated, adding that the smooth communication facilitates the collection of “difficulties on the ground”.
Anticipation is already producing benefits
The SRI test phase at national level aims to allow countries to identify challenges in advance and be able to address them before the indicator comes into force. In the case of Austria, the test phase has provided a picture of the impact of the SRI in the national building stock, evincing the need to engage not only building owners and auditors, but also energy providers, electricians, and stakeholders alike who play a role in the design, construction, and monitoring of the building. Spain uncovered the need for a consolidation and subsequent deep understanding of the SRI calculation methodology, which are crucial for assessors to feel comfortable with the new system and not reject it. After engaging residential and non-residential buildings in the test phase, Portugal is also analysing how the implementation of the SRI will differ across building types.
Only many sizes will fit many
Test phases across countries are revealing that there will be no one-size-fits-all in the SRI. Croatia, for example, has different climate conditions in the coast and inland; France deals with buildings where certain technologies – such as cooling – may not make sense. All countries agree that not every family house will benefit from investing in EV charging stations and other similar commodities. Therefore, all speakers agreed that a flexible approach to the calculation methodology of the SRI – where certain domains can be excluded depending on the needs and context of the buildings and their users – would avoid overequipping and unfairly low scores.
Stakeholders demand integration of tools
Following a suggestion from the audience about the development of an EU-wide, open-source tool for all countries to further customise to their context, all speakers ackowledged that such approach would be useful. However, there was unanimous concern about the timing for development – as the legislation for the SRI will be enforced soon – and the lack of integration with other existing tools for energy efficiency.
EPC assessors are not automatically SRI assessors
Due to the complexity of the SRI calculation methodology and domains, it is not granted that an EPC assessor will be immediately able to perform SRI assessments. Speakers agreed that intensive training will be required – but also that professionals with other knowledge backgrounds more connected to technology should be considered for the role of SRI assessors.
Motivation is also an issue. The French case evinced that only those looking for a competitive differentiation in the market engaged actively with the SRI trainings. On the contrary, the mass of assessors (in energy and automation) seemed to regard the new indicator and required trainings as additional workload with benefits still to be clear.
SRI tools are good to support market decision making
When asked about the market receptiveness to the SRI tools, Pascal Torres explained that market actors could use such tools to support their decision making, not only because their assessment results are easy to understand, but also because the reports allow for useful comparisons. Being able to predict the indirect impacts of an intervention, but also to compare the benefits of improving different buildings was highlighted as an attractive feature for investors and multi-building owners.
The SRI2MARKET thanks the support of the DG ENER and CINEA in the organisation of this session, as well as the projects SRI-Enact, EasySRI, SmartSquare, Velixia, SmartEEStory, SmarterEPC, SmartLiving EPC, tunES, iEPB, REPowerE(d)U, and BuildON for participating in the discussions and in the projects’ exhibition fair.
