THE BUSINESS OF BUILDINGS' ENERGY

Breaking Down the BEMS Market
Jevan Fox, October 28, 2010 (Pike Research)

"…Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS)…[from] Pike Research highlights that buildings over 500,000 SF represent the low-hanging fruit in the BEMS industry…[But] vast potential markets of smaller 25,000 SF, 50,001-100,000 SF, and 100,001-200,000 SF represent…$16 billion, $15 billion, and $16 billion, respectively, of annual energy expenditures, or approximately $47 billion when compounded. That figure accounts for approximately 80% of the total annual energy expenditures of all the other building segmentations.

"…[T]hese segments are underserved by the BEMS market. Clearly, the 100,001 200,000 SF segment will provide the next potential market for BEMS players. It is already showing promise, as several BEMS vendors are focusing considerable attention on the segment. This is especially true of BEMS vendors providing a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model…"

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"Additionally, the more energy progressive states and the more active grid operators in those states will drive utilities to assists in metering smaller buildings. As more buildings receive incentives to install meters, the costs to implement a BEMS will drop in parallel.

"The DOE 2009 Buildings Energy Data Book states that the energy expenditure per SF 100,001-200,000 SF…is $1.57, representing an energy expense of $16,091,000,000 total for the segment. That is more than the total energy expense for any other segment, including 200,000-500,000 SF, 500,001 SF-1,000,000 SF, and greater than 1,000,000 SF. When looking to the smaller buildings (<100,000), the value proposition drops off precipitously, even though the total SF and energy expenditures per SF are high…"