Key findings from the report include:

• Although the overall pace of adoption is slightly lower than predicted last year, more competitive pricing and technology advances will result in a higher level (and more ‘smarter’ buildings) in the years ahead.

• Despite the aggressive growth of the smart buildings market (a global CAGR of 22.6 percent), adoption still represents a small share of the total addressable market. The continued development of case studies and best practices by early adopters will promote awareness and support longer-term expectations for market expansion.

• In 2015 and beyond, adoption is anticipated to recover as the economic recovery takes hold and as energy costs remain a large and variable component of building operation.

The adoption of smart building solutions in North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific is particularly positive due to a combination of policy and business dynamics, which help drive market awareness of the business value of these solutions and as a result the market demand. There are also growing regulations at the local, regional, and national levels driving awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency and energy benchmarking. In addition, a number of large corporations have made commitments to sustainability and energy management. Smart building solutions are attractive tools for energy management because they provide visibility into system-wide operational and energy efficiency and provide tools for analyzing, tracking, and communicating the impact of energy efficiency improvements.

In developing this forecast, IDC Energy Insights said several trends were identified. The first is that vertical industries have a large impact on the rate of adoption of smart building technologies. Buildings managed in the government or health care verticals, for example, tend to be more mature in their appreciation of the benefits of smart buildings and more advanced in their deployment. Secondly, investments over the past several years have focused on HVAC systems. Customers are now beginning to expand their evaluation to lighting, plug load, equipment maintenance, and other issues.

From a geographic perspective, North America will continue to implement smart building technology driven largely by corporate objectives of controlling and reducing energy costs. Many European nations will continue to expand their investments in smart building technology driven by continued European Union and local governmental regulations. And within Asia/Pacific, China's rapid building boom continues, resulting in new construction with many smart building capabilities designed in from the beginning.

“While the ‘Internet of Things’ is a topic of much speculation in the consumer market, smart building technology has steadily been increasing its footprint and impact among commercial buildings. Smart building solutions are valuable technologies for deploying energy management strategies that generate operational efficiencies, cost containment, and sustainability benefits that appeal to key stakeholders in building management,” said Jill Feblowitz, vice president, IDC Energy Insights.

To access the report, click here.

Publication date: 4/6/2015

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