BOULDER, Colo. — The market for building energy management systems (BEMS) is expected to grow substantially over the rest of the decade. According to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, global spending on building energy management systems will total $41 million in 2012 and is forecast to reach $319 million worldwide by 2020.

Utilities are looking to BEMS to help boost the effectiveness of their energy efficiency and demand-side management programs, better understand customer energy use patterns, and engage multiple segments of their commercial client base with new money-saving programs, noted Pike Research. At the same time, commercial building energy management vendors are finding that these technologies can help them gain access to large new customer bases that were previously cost-prohibitive to access.

“The market for BEMS for utility customers is still nascent, with most of the leading activity being driven by utilities in the United States and Canada,” said senior research analyst Eric Bloom. “On the vendor side, the BEMS market is made up of large, well-established players as well as smaller, more nimble companies that have the ability to disrupt the market dynamics with innovative technical solutions and pricing models. Other formidable market entrants include large IT firms, which offer expertise in handling enterprise-level integration and large volumes of data.”