Demand for greater energy efficiency drives building automation market

The European building automation market earned revenues of US$1.8bn in 2012 and is expected to reach US$2.1bn in 2017, according to Frost & Sullivan's new analysis, European Building Automation Systems Market.

The research covered non-residential building segments including offices, educational, hospitals, wholesale and retail trade, industrial and others (hotels and restaurants, sports facilities, and public buildings).

The building sector accounts for 40% of energy demand and 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. This has underlined the need for improved energy efficiency in both existing and new buildings.

“EU directives related to the energy performance of buildings, particularly Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) of May 2010, further motivate the uptake of BAS since automation control and constant monitoring is among the best approaches to attain nearly zero energy buildings (NZEB),” noted Frost & Sullivan’s Energy & Environmental Research Analyst Balaji Anand Sagar.

“In the past 20 years, electricity consumption of non-residential buildings has increased by 74%,” Sagar said. “Complete automation of buildings can conserve up to 50% of this energy and, hence, reduce CO₂ emission.”

The drive toward greater energy efficiency has meant greater cost savings for building owners and end users. This too has encouraged the move toward automation. Another trend is the increasing integration of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting and blinding in the BAS to optimise energy consumption by buildings. As a result, companies that offer complete systems and solutions with integration capabilities, rather than individual products, are gaining the competitive edge. However, amid ongoing economic volatility, there has been a drop in public and private building activity. This, together with low end-user awareness about the energy saving benefits of BAS, has slowed the rate of market growth.

“Market participants need to generate awareness about the potential for reduced energy consumption and increased cost savings through the use of BAS,” concluded Sagar. “They should develop complete solutions for bigger projects and niche solutions that are flexible enough to address smaller, more specific needs.”