Open Standards | Smart Buildings Solution Of The Future

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

2014 State of Building Energy Management Survey, Daintree Networks (Photo: PRNewsFoto/Daintree Networks, Inc.).
2014 State of Building Energy Management Survey, Daintree Networks (Photo: PRNewsFoto/Daintree Networks, Inc.).

Daintree Networks, Inc., and CoR Advisors® have released findings from their “State of Building Energy Management Survey” distributed to building owners, facility managers, and other industry professionals. The survey was conceived to gain insight into the state of the industry in terms of both awareness and application of today’s energy management technologies for smart buildings.

Specifically, the primary objective of the survey was to find out how seriously companies are implementing solutions to control building energy. Another sub-goal was to understand companies’ familiarity with the term Internet of Things (IoT) and how it relates to building energy management.

The 2014 survey had some very interesting and revealing results. Although a vast majority of the respondents were energy and sustainability managers of corporations and Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) based in the United States, some of them represented various countries across the globe.

Key Survey Results

  • About 70% of respondents believe that solutions driven by true open standards (vs. proprietary systems) can help future-proof their facilities.
  • About 59% believe building energy control/management is a critical component of the Enterprise Internet of Things (E-IoT).
  • 43% believe the E-IoT will have an effect on how they run their buildings in the next two to three years.
  • 60% have no energy monitoring and reporting capabilities.
  • 41% were not familiar with the term “Internet of Things” (IoT).

Adoption Barriers

  • 30% cited more compelling ROI models/shorter payback as the primary driver for their organization to increase investments in energy efficiency solutions.
  • About 63% require two to five years’ payback for energy control solutions.
  • 24.1% noted “lack of budget” as the reason they are not using technology to manage buildings’ energy usage today.

Bottom Line

  • 86.4% see their 2014 budget for energy efficiency technologies and upgrades equaling or exceeding 2013 spending ─ creating significant marketing opportunity.

Daintree Networks CEO Danny Yu explained, “The survey yielded some revelations of great value to the building energy control industry as a whole. Surprisingly, even with energy regulations in place, a large percentage of respondents have no energy management capabilities. In addition, the survey validated Daintree’s belief that open standards-driven solutions enable facilities to future-proof smart buildings. Surprisingly, many companies haven’t quite grasped the Enterprise Internet of Things concept and how it’s well integrated with building operations.”