Every year we waste over $250 Bn worth of energy, $50 Bn by operational inefficiency, and over $100 Bn in work efficiency caused by an unhealthy office environment.
The 2012 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicated that small and medium-sized commercial buildings of 500,000 square feet or less, represent a staggering 98% of commercial buildings in the US. They also hold 65% of the total commercial floor space, compared to 35% for larger buildings.
Most commercial buildings are yet to fully exploit the potential of intelligent control systems, let alone attempt to integrate multiple business and building systems together into the building Internet of Things (BIoT), which identifies a huge and untapped market segment that ripe for solutions to fit its profile.
“BIoT technology penetration for Small and Medium-Sized Commercial buildings, is well behind the curve in terms of adoption. This situation is largely a consequence of the business models and economic imperatives that have historically driven the building controls market,” explains the comprehensive report of Memoori analyzing every aspect of the complex BIoT market.
As you might expect, large commercial buildings will often have dedicated facilities managers as well as dedicated building management budgets. They are, therefore, more likely to invest in building management systems and services while striving to improve building energy performance. Smaller commercial buildings, on the other hand, do not have the budgets available to implement BAS solutions, nor the means to hire dedicated building operations staff.
Smaller commercial buildings have the potential to be far more energy-efficient too. A study by Preservation Green Lab, The New Buildings Institute, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the National Renewable Energy, suggested that small structures could cut energy use from 27% to 59% through the deployment of smart building technologies. Consequently, we are seeing an increasing trend, in energy policies in many developed countries, to create incentives for greater adoption of BAS by smaller buildings.
“This situation strongly indicates that a potential 98% of the market in the US alone remains largely untapped,”
That fact makes it much more important to integrated easy-to-use, install affordable adoptive intelligent navigation and controlling solution in small and medium-sized commercial buildings.