The Finnish Professional Housing Market Operators’ Attitudes towards Smartness—Bridging the Gap between Practitioners and Smart Building Experts

The real estate sector is undergoing a significant transformation. The global energy transition has greatly impacted the entire energy infrastructure, forcing the energy-consuming property sector to increase its operational efficiency. Today, the European Union (EU) enhances building smartness in real estate through regulation. However, the attitudes towards smartness in the financially significant housing market remain unclear. This study observed the attitudes and readiness of Finnish housing market operators toward smartness at the end of 2022. In total, 13 semi-structured interviews were held with housing market professionals. The analysis was further supported by categorizing the interviewees into novice practitioners and smart building experts. The research results implied that the attitudes towards smartness among novice practitioners, including real estate investors and owners, are still rather reserved compared to the control group (consisting of smart building experts). However, enhancing the attitude of real estate investors and owners is crucial to ensure a successful smart transition towards carbon neutrality in the built environment. The results of this study highlight the need for a standardized metric for building smartness. However, engaging market practitioners in developing such metrics is essential to ensure that the future standard for smartness answers the market’s needs.