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PIKE RESEARCH

Executive Summary

1.1 A Look at Building Efficiency

During the last couple of years, the global economy has been dealing with the impacts of the Great Recession. The construction sector has been among the hardest hit areas in almost all regions. New construction, both residential and commercial, has been way below the levels seen earlier in the decade.

However, one building-related field has continued to grow: retrofits tied to improving the efficiency of facilities. A number of factors have been driving this growth. Such factors range from the need to improve the energy performance of buildings for cost savings to efforts to achieve some type of green building certification (e.g., the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED). In the new construction that has been taking place, these same drivers have been influencing the design of the buildings.

A multitude of factors will continue to influence the direction of building efficiency efforts around the world in terms of what is implemented and to what  degree. Pike Research has selected ten trends among these that are certain to have a major impact on the building efficiency sector in the coming year and beyond.

1.2 Ten Building Efficiency Trends to Watch

1. Energy codes will keep raising the bar and enforcement is catching up.
2. Mandatory disclosure rules will incentivize building owners to invest in energy efficiency.
3. The pace of building certification will increase, led by LEED.
4. Building energy management systems are in high demand.
5. The U.S. ESCO market will see moderate growth and ESCOs in Asia Pacific’s developing markets will advance rapidly.
6. Lighting: Not yet “The Year of the LED”.
7. The connection between efficient buildings and the smart grid will continue to grow.
8. Increasing number of financing options around the world.
9. PACE is a financing option struggling to overcome a roadblock of its own.
10. Systemic conditions, policy choices, and practical considerations will continue to present barriers to achieving energy efficiency, but investments in training, information access, and technology will gradually overcome many of them.

Download full version (PDF) at PikeResearch.com: Building Efficiency

About PikeResearch
www.pikeresearch.com
“Pike Research is a market research and consulting firm that provides in-depth analysis of global clean technology markets. The company’s research methodology combines supply-side industry analysis, end-user primary research and demand assessment, and deep examination of technology trends to provide a comprehensive view of these industry sectors.”

Tags: ESCO, LEED, Pike Research, PikeResearch, Retrofits

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 at 7:12 pm and is filed under Energy, Environment, Global, Infra Views, Local, National, Recession, Recovery, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Urban Planning . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.