BOULDER, Colo. — While owners of commercial buildings have been looking to improve energy efficiency for quite some time, the market for building energy management systems (BEMS) is still emerging. According to a report from Pike Research, many of the companies in this growing market are now turning to utilities as a market channel for their products and services.

“There’s been a shift in focus in the BEMS industry toward the utility sector, as budgets for utility demand side management (DSM) programs are expected to grow at double-digit rates through 2015,” said senior analyst Eric Bloom. “Recent merger and acquisition activity by energy management software providers is one signal of this trend, while other companies, driven by an increasingly stringent regulatory environment for DSM, have entirely shifted their strategy toward BEMS for utilities.”

Overall, worldwide revenue from building energy management systems is forecast to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 14 percent through the rest of this decade, according to Pike Research, reaching just under $6 billion a year by 2020.

North America, the largest market by a wide margin today, is expected to see market share decrease slightly but continue to lead the world. Western Europe, the second largest market at the beginning of the forecast period, is forecast to give up the No. 2 position to Asia Pacific — i.e., China — by 2020.

Publication date: 7/9/2012