Advancing smart building upgrades through an innovative decision support framework for smart readiness indicator implementation: A Greek case study

The European Union's Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which serves as a basis for developing energy efficiency and sustainability in the building industry, introduced the Smart Readiness Indicator to evaluate the digital and intelligent capabilities of buildings. Current tools predominantly focus on offering standardized Smart Readiness Indicator assessments, often lacking mechanisms that offer guidance on actionable improvements. The proposed novel decision support framework enhances this traditional evaluation methodology by linking smartness assessments with personalized upgrade recommendations. It suggests individualized market-based solutions for commercial technologies and ranks them using a multi-perspective approach, enabling building stakeholders to obtain a comprehensive estimate of the overall upgrade cost. A case study of a non-residential office building in Athens, Greece, demonstrates the potential for significant improvements in energy performance and occupant comfort through targeted smart readiness upgrades. The optimal solutions for all three ranking metrics are presented, highlighting the differences in each of the distinct approaches. Results indicate that integrating advanced systems, such as thermostats, energy monitoring tools, and heating solutions, enhances both Smart Readiness Indicator scores and financial efficiency. This research underscores the transformative role of smart buildings in achieving the European Union's climate neutrality goals by 2050. While challenges such as upfront costs, regional variability and subjectivity of the assessment remain, the findings argue for continuous improvement of the methodology to address the different needs and energy requirements of buildings. Integrating the Smart Readiness Indicator into broader energy and climate strategies is a critical step towards sustainable urban development.