Abstract
Digital innovation is leading to a greater uptake of smart technologies in the building industry. Smart systems can reduce the built environment carbon footprint, improve occupant productivity and enable buildings to participate in managing the electricity network. However, their deployment poses significant challenges, given the heterogeneity of hardware and software in the building environment. Different research approaches have attempted to quantify the preparedness of buildings to facilitate new technologies that improve their performance, while maintaining occupant comfort and allowing optimal delivery of each building’s particular service. One prominent approach is the European Commission’s Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI). In this paper, we explore how well the SRI applies to Australian buildings by considering a case study building. Our analysis shows that building services need to be carefully chosen to ensure that they are relevant. We therefore advocate adjustment of weighting factors that consider climatic conditions and suitable domains such as heating or cooling. On the basis of our findings, we provide recommendations for adopting the SRI in Australian buildings.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ripple, W.J., et al.: World scientists’ warning to humanity: a second notice. Bioscience 67(12), 1026–1028 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix125
United Nations Environment: 2018 Global Status Report (2018). [Online]. Available https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/27140/Global_Status_2018.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
CSIRO: Low Emissions Technology Roadmap (2017). [Online]. Available https://www.csiro.au/en/Do-business/Futures/Reports/Low-Emissions-Technology-Roadmap
Sheldon, M., Sethuvenkatraman, S., Goldsworthy, M.: Promoting the use of solar cooling and heating in Australian buildings (PUSCH) (2018). [Online]. Available https://www.airah.org.au/Content_Files/Special-Technical-Groups/Solar/060918_REPORT_SHCRoadmap_FINAL_180830.pdf
Morvaj, B., Lugaric, L., Krajcar, S.: Demonstrating smart buildings and smart grid features in a smart energy city. In: Proceedings of the 2011 3rd International Youth Conference on Energetics (IYCE), pp. 1–8 (2011)
Markoska, E., Lazarova-Molnar, S.: LEAF: Live building performance evaluation framework. In: Fourth International Conference on Fog and Mobile Edge Computing (FMEC), pp. 306–311 (2019)
Vasilj, J., Gros, S., Jakus, D., Zanon, M.: Day-ahead scheduling and real-time economic MPC of CHP unit in Microgrid with Smart buildings. IEEE Trans. Smart Grid 10(2), 1992–2001 (2017)
Cabeza, L.F., Rincón, L., Vilariño, V., Pérez, G., Castell, A.: Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) of buildings and the building sector: a review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 29, 394–416 (2014)
Jensen, S.Ø., et al.: IEA EBC annex 67 energy flexible buildings. Energy Build. 155, 25–34 (2017)
Angelidou, M., Psaltoglou, A., Komninos, N., Kakderi, C., Tsarchopoulos, P., Panori, A.: Enhancing sustainable urban development through smart city applications. J. Sci. Technol. Policy Manage. (2018)
Volkov, A.: Building intelligence quotient: mathematical description. Appl. Mech. Mater. 409 (2013)
Rachman, A.P.: Assessing the Smart Readiness of Buildings Toward Carbon Neutral Society. Eindhoven University of Technology
European Commission DG Energy: Support for Setting Up a Smart Readiness Indivator for Buildings and Related Impact Assessment (2017)
Council of Australian Government Energy Council: Addendum to the Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings—Existing buildings. p. 14, 2019, [Online]. Available https://coagenergycouncil.gov.au/sites/prod.energycouncil/files/publications/documents/TrajectoryAddendum-ADDENDUMTRAJECTORYFORLOWENERGYBUILDINGS_0.pdf
Markoska, E., Jakica, N., Lazarova-Molnar, S., Kragh, M.K.: Assessment of building intelligence requirements for real time performance testing in smart buildings. In: 2019 4th International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Technologies (SpliTech), pp. 1–6 (2019)
Masson, V., Bonhomme, M., Salagnac, J.L., Briottet, X., Lemonsu, A.: Solar panels reduce both global warming and urban heat island. Front. Environ. Sci. 2, 14 (2014)
Building Intelligence Index (2020)
Gruszka, A., Jupp, J., Valence, G.: Digital foundations: how technology is transforming Australia’s construction sector (2017). [Online]. Available https://hdl.handle.net/10453/124861
Wall, J., Reedman, L., Rowe, D., Linsell, D.: Eco-efficient technology solutions towards net zero: an Australian case study. In: Proceedings of 6th World Sustainable Building Conference, pp. 1–10 (2011)
Janhunen, E., Pulkka, L., Säynäjoki, A., Junnila, S.: Applicability of the smart readiness indicator for cold climate countries. Buildings 9(4), 102 (2019)
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Mark Peristy and Stuart Hands for their support with the SRI assessment of the case study building. We would also like to acknowledge the CSIRO Energy Centre for hosting Elena Markoska as a visiting scientist.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Markoska, E., Sethuvenkatraman, S., Jakica, N., Lazarova-Molnar, S. (2021). Are We Ready to Evaluate the Smart Readiness of Australian Buildings?. In: Littlewood, J., Howlett, R.J., Jain, L.C. (eds) Sustainability in Energy and Buildings 2020. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 203. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8783-2_46
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8783-2_46
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-8782-5
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-8783-2
eBook Packages: Intelligent Technologies and RoboticsIntelligent Technologies and Robotics (R0)