Results of the first SRI testing in the building sector in Bulgaria

The first SRI and SRI-ENACT Assessment Toolkit testing in Bulgaria was successfully carried out by the BSERC auditors in February-March 2024 on four different functional building types in four cities – Sofia, Plovdiv, Lovech and Sandanski. The locations are shown on the map.

The SRI testing procedure in the country is officially recognised and supported by the Ministry of Energy and the Sustainable Energy Development Agency.

The four buildings assessed according to their SRI level are as follows:

Office Buildng-2 Garitage Park in Sofia,… Total SRI Score 57.1%/Class D

Drama Theater  in the town of Lovech,.….… Total SRI Score 33.9%/Class F

Hospital „Saint George“ Block-1  in Plovdiv,…Total SRI Score 30.0%/Class F

Kindergarten “Dora Gabe” in Sandanski, … Total SRI Score 25.8%/Class F

The office building is new (built in 2019, BREEAM certified) and the other three buildings have been renovated.

After the upcoming training of 13 certified auditors to assess the SRI on a larger scale, the test will be extended to a total of 130 different buildings in Bulgaria.

The feedback from the SRI auditors on the use of the SRI-ENACT Assessment Toolkit was very positive. Their comments are summarised below:

• The manual for registration and operation of the SRI-ENACT Assessment Tool has been prepared in the best possible way for the auditors/users.
• The use of the SRI Assessment Toolkit software is easy and takes a short time if the required inputs of the analysed building are prepared in advance (e.g. from the building’s energy efficiency assessment report).
• The tool’s menus are user-friendly and the dynamic pop-up auxiliary windows facilitate the processing of input data and the corresponding calculations of local SRI indicators for each of the building’s technical systems, as well as the building’s aggregated SRI.
• The detailed catalogue of 54 intelligent control technologies introduced in the software is a significant contribution to speeding up the work of determining the levels of functional perfection of the building’s technical systems (domains).

MIPIM is the premier real estate event gathering the most influential players from all sectors of the international property industry. The event influences and accelerates the transformation of the built environment. MIPIM connects and inspires the international real estate community to create more sustainable, liveable and prosperous places for all.

This year, the flagship event for the real estate industry will be organized in Cannes from 12-15 March. SRI-ENACT project, together will cluster project easySRI, SRI2MARKET and SmartSquare, will be present at the stand ‘European Commission, Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI)’.

We look forward to discussing with participants how SRI promotes the adoption of smart technologies in buildings, leading to improved energy efficiency, enhanced comfort, optimized resource usage, data-driven decision-making, and increased resilience. All these factors collectively contribute to creating more sustainable and comfortable living for everyone.

More information: https://www.mipim.com/en-gb.html

Throughout our project, our project consortium has been working on pilot evaluation of the SRI-ENACT methodology and platform for last several months. Main goals of this aspect of our project are to perform evaluation, testing and improvement of created SRI assessment toolkit, but also to generate evaluation reports of assessed buildings and define replication guidelines. The following text gives a short overview of performed and future activities to achieve presented goals.

To perform successful SRI assessments, the project consortium must build the capacity of SRI Auditors to transfer the knowledge about the SRI methodology and toolkit. Throughout the project, a decision was made that training of future SRI Auditors should be distinguished between internal auditors (employees of project partners) and external auditors.

On November 28, 2023, the project marked a significant milestone with its inaugural online training program for internal auditors, attracting 34 participants from 8 partner countries. This training equipped future internal SRI experts with the knowledge and skills needed to conduct detailed and accurate building assessments using the toolkit. It is expected that one more training session for internal SRI Auditors will be carried out in following months after finalising SRI toolkit and expanding its functionality. On the other side, a series of trainings of external SRI Auditors will kick off in April 2024 where three sessions will be conducted to transfer knowledge to experts outside of our partner organisations.

After finalization of crucial training of internal SRI Auditors, partner organisations were equipped with knowledge to start the pilot pperation – SRI assessment programme, an ambitious plan to assess more than 1 000 buildings until the end of the project. As this large task is one of the most important aspects of the project and due to its scope, it will be carried out in 3 distinct cycles, with the first cycle scheduled for completion by the end of February 2024.

During this initial test phase, each partner country relies on internal SRI auditors to evaluate 3-5 pilot buildings, resulting in a valuable dataset of at least 24 building SRI assessments. Throughout this test phase, the focus is also put on gathering important feedback about the toolkit functionality and recommendations for improvements.

One of examples of SRI assessment can be highlighted where, after successful training and commencement of evaluations, REGEA’s internal auditors conducted the initial SRI assessment of the Bračak Energy Center in Bračak, Croatia on January 24, 2024. This historic nZEB building, transformed into a modern center boasting impressive energy efficiency, achieved a score of 39.5% in the SRI assessment, which classifies it in the SRI class E. Although the Bračak Energy Center has a large commitment to sustainable practices, results of the assessment showed that there is still a plenty of room for improvements in terms of smart building concept, according to official SRI methodology which is valuable feedback for future development. The valuable insights and data gathered from all 24 evaluations of the pilot buildings will be highlighted in a public document that will be published in September 2024.

As for the future activities, from April 2024 a second cycle kicks off in which internal SRI auditors will continue to carry out assessment of pilot buildings. In addition to work performed by partner organisation, external SRI auditors will also start with their assessments, all to reach a goal of 1 000 SRI assessed pilot buildings.

In addition to the training programme and assessments, the project has also organized three informational events, one per following countries: Austria, the Czech Republic, and Croatia. These events provided a valuable opportunity to present the SRI-ENACT project to a wider audience, raise awareness of the importance of sustainable and energy-efficient building practices, introduction into planned SRI assessment programme (Pilot operation) and attract potential external SRI auditors. It is expected that several more informational events will be carried out in following months in all partner countries.

The LIFE CET SRI cluster was established in November 2022 between four LIFE Clean Energy Transition projects (EasySRI, Smart Square, SRI-ENACT and SRI2MARKET) and the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) to find synergies between projects’ developments and SRI policy implementation agenda. The duration of the clustering activities is 3 years – until October 2025.

Read the report on the clustering activities that have been perform within the year 2023.