BOULDER, Colo. — Smart building managed services are growing in demand and popularity as a means of implementing advanced building energy management systems, according to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice. The firm forecasts that worldwide spending on these outsourced services — which include data acquisition and analytics, as well as building maintenance contracts — will grow from $291 million in 2012 to $1.1 billion by 2020.

As part of the effort to cut costs in the global recession, many commercial building owners and managers have installed building energy management systems to reduce energy use and operating expenses, Pike Research stated. While these systems can provide significant efficiency gains, their sophistication can be beyond the capabilities and resource levels of a building’s operating or maintenance staff.

“As the need for sophisticated building energy management systems grows worldwide, so will the need for simpler, turnkey solutions that unlock energy efficiency,” said senior research analyst Eric Bloom. “Smart building managed services allow building owners to outsource their energy management needs to experts who continuously monitor their facilities, searching for opportunities to reduce energy costs and improve operations.”