BOULDER, Colo. - Pike Research, a market research and consulting firm focused on global clean technology markets, has announced the launch of two new advisory services for the smart buildings industry. The Building Systems and Green Buildings advisory services cover emerging technologies and innovative business practices being utilized to improve the energy efficiency, reduce the operating costs, and decrease the environmental impact of commercial, industrial, and residential buildings around the world.

“The building industry is entering a new period of innovation and efficiency, even in the midst of the global real estate downturn,” said Clint Wheelock, Pike Research president. “Building owners and managers are employing a wide array of software and systems, networking and sensor technology, environmentally-friendly building materials, design and construction techniques, and new financing structures and business models to improve the energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of buildings. Many of these initiatives are being led by the commercial building market, but a number of practices are beginning to filter into residential buildings, as well.”

As part of these advisory services, Pike Research said its industry analysts will offer timely and actionable market insights, covering specific technology and business sectors as well as overall market conditions and trends.

A few of Pike Research’s key findings and forecasts about the smart buildings market include the following:

• Green building certification programs including Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), and others will cover 53 billion square feet of space by 2020.

• Investment in building energy management systems (BEMS), which utilize IT-based hardware and software systems to optimize the efficiency of commercial buildings’ energy consumption, will surpass $10 billion in the United States during the period between 2010 and 2016. In the process, the connection between efficient buildings and the smart grid will continue to grow.

• The energy efficiency home improvement market, including low-tech weatherization measures as well as advanced energy-efficient appliances and systems, will surpass $50 billion in revenue in the U.S. by 2014.

• The installed capacity of building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and building applied photovoltaics (BAPV) will grow more than tenfold to 2.4 gigawatts (GW) by 2016, driven in large part by a rapidly falling cost per watt for these solar energy installations.

• Industry focus on energy efficiency improvements for HVAC systems will continue to intensify in the coming years, with strong growth forecast by Pike Research in geothermal heat pumps, underfloor air distribution, ice-based thermal energy storage systems, and other key HVAC-related improvements.

• Revenue from commercial building retro-commissioning, a key segment of the larger energy efficiency retrofits market, could reach $1.4 billion in the U.S. by 2014.

For more information on the new advisory services, visit www.pikeresearch.com.

Publication date:05/23/2011