# The Smart Buildings Revolution: A Comprehensive Review of the Smart Readiness Indicator Literature
## 2 Methodology and Data
#### Research Paper Selection  
The research process began by identifying the relevant research papers from the SRI-related literature. The research paper selection proceeded from the identification of papers to the screening and inclusion stages, following the PRISMA flow diagram [33; 34]. The process encompassed all the studies conducted on the topic of the SRI from 2017 to January 2024. The review process began with a systematic literature search to gather relevant studies on the SRI and its role in buildings.  
The identification of relevant journal articles began by applying a combination of the keywords \"smart readiness indicator\" and \"building\" in Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and ProQuest. The identification process included the review of the articles (indexes, tables of content, and keywords) to exclude non-relevant research papers. After removing duplicates, the total number of journal papers was 219. The screening process following the paper identification was carried out in five phases. The phases included, first, the screening of titles; second, the screening of abstracts; third, the selection of only peer-reviewed journal articles; fourth, ensuring that the articles provided substantial insights into the SRI; and finally, a full-text review to assess their relevance to specific SRI domains. The criteria applied for excluding irrelevant research papers after each phase are outlined below:  
* Screening the titles: Articles primarily focused on topics outside the scope of the SRI, such as sustainable buildings, artificial intelligence, digital twins, or other building certification systems, were excluded to ensure relevance to the study's objectives (Reason 1).
* Screening the abstracts: Articles that did not explicitly address the SRI, such as its interaction with occupants, integration with the energy grid, or impact on building performance, were excluded to maintain alignment with the primary focus of the review (Reason 2).
* Screening the journal articles: To ensure the reliability and academic rigor of the findings, only peer-reviewed journal articles were included; conference papers, book chapters, and other non-journal publications were excluded (Reason 3).
* Ensuring substantial insights: Articles that did not delve deeply into the SRI framework, its practical applications, or its complexities were excluded to prioritize studies that contribute meaningful, detailed perspectives, ensuring the inclusion of papers that explore the full scope of the SRI (Reason 4).
* Screening the content of the full paper: Articles that merely mentioned the SRI without providing a detailed analysis or substantial insights into its implementation, challenges, opportunities, or a specific domain of the SRI framework were excluded. Relevant studies were further classified based on their focus within the SRI framework, as outlined in Table 11 (Appendix A). This criterion ensures the inclusion of papers that offer a high level of relevance, depth, and focus on at least one critical domain of the SRI (Reason 5).  
Figure 1 illustrates the selection process that led to the final number of journal articles included in the further analysis.  
After the screening, the final set of research papers numbered 68. The full list of the articles included in the final review can be found in Appendix A. Next, the analysis of the final dataset is discussed.