Despite being a traditionally slow growth area and one that was impacted by the latest economic downturn, the market for Building Automation Systems will grow 3% globally from 2009 to 2015, according to a new market analysis.

At that point, the total market will reach a value of more than $36 billion, ABI Research says.

Recession and conflict always bring a re-evaluation of energy management and calls for new ways to ensure organizations and nations use energy more efficiently. The same is true in the latest downturn and it is driving significant interest and activity in the market for building automation systems (BAS).

Energy use within commercial buildings has been growing year-on-year for decades and by now accounts for up to 20% of national energy consumption in some developed countries. This makes it a prime target for energy efficiency and environmental measures.

Although low single digit BAS market growth may not look significant, it actually is, given the current economic climate and the performance of the building industry in general. It also masks the shifts that will take place between revenue streams within the BAS market, as contract values will increasingly skew toward software and services and away from hardware--another result of the emerging trend for improved communication and connectivity with BASs.

“Government financial incentives and regulations as well as organizations’ own financial and environmental goals are coinciding with a drive to open up building automation systems to wider network management and integration, drawing companies such as IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) into a market traditionally dominated by more specialist global companies such as Johnson Controls, Honeywell and others,” says principal analyst Jonathan Collins.

ABI Research’s new study, “Energy Management and Commercial Building Automation” examines the potential impact key factors upon the BAS market and provides market forecasts for equipment, software and services as well as wired and wireless connectivity out to 2015.

Website: www.abiresearch.com

Reprinted with permission from Sustainable Business