July 15, 2024 – What do facility owners and managers, the AEC industry (architecture/engineering/construction) and related stakeholders consider important when it comes to energy efficiency and, more importantly, why?

Are they motivated toward achieving greater efficiency, implementing proactive energy management measures and reducing emissions because it’s the right thing to do, or are there other factors at play?

Energy Manager Canada—a sister brand of Electrical Business Magazine—surveyed its audience of owners, energy managers, AEC players and others to help answer the question:

What motivates your organization to be proactive about energy management, energy efficiency and/or reducing emissions?

As you review their responses, think about opportunities to leverage your expertise as an electrical contractor, engineer, or consultant to address their interests, and become their trusted advisor and service provider.

Facts, figures, and commentary

Source: Energy Manager Canada.

For this survey, we heard from:

15.18% – Facility owners/management
8.38% – Facility managers/building engineers
20.42% – Energy managers (in-house or consulting)
14.14% – Specialized subcontractors
20.42% – Other

When shown the options, respondents (over 80%) overwhelmingly want to reduce their energy costs. That’s not to say that following government regs (or avoiding penalties) or good corporate citizenship are not important, only that their importance is overshadowed by the very fundamental need of reducing business cost where possible.

Nearly 80% of respondents consider proactive (rather than reactive) energy management as Very Important or Important. As utility costs rise (along with emissions consequences), this will only grow in importance. Source: Energy Manager Canada.

The overwhelming majority of respondents (80%) influence the procurement of solutions that better manage energy, while 87% (rounded) influence the procurement of solutions that increase energy efficiency.

To greater and lesser degrees, pretty much everyone understands the importance and value of greater energy efficiency. We are curious as to the 1.6% who feel it is Not Important. (Seriously? We are speechless.). Source: Energy Manager Canada.

Not surprisingly, they are quite interested in key building systems, such as Electrical, Mechanical, Building Envelope, and Controls and Automation.

This relatively balanced spread across responses is not surprising, considering that the whole notion of tracking, measuring, and reporting emissions—let alone setting emissions-reduction targets—are still somewhat new to the market, and their extent varies across jurisdictions. Source: Energy Manager Canada.

That said, carbon pricing schemes are here now, and likely here to stay. Emissions tracking and reporting are also becoming a reality for businesses of all sizes. Unless government policy shifts radically, this will only continue to become more important to an organization’s bottom line. Source: Energy Manager Canada.

And here it is! The main reason survey respondents care about proactive energy management and energy efficiency … cost! Source: Energy Manager Canada.

We were somewhat surprised to see the relative uninterest in digital twins, energy management software, etc. Perhaps these solutions have not been in the market long enough to warrant more attention, or maybe their value proposition is not quite yet fully understood?

The market seems well aware of atomistic solutions for addressing energy consumption (e.g. lighting upgrades). This suggests that low-hanging fruit is still a very important strategy for reducing energy consumption. And a quick win never hurts.

Source: Energy Manager Canada.

This also leads us to believe that there are growth opportunities for holistic solutions, such as energy management systems, widespread automation and machine learning, and deep energy retrofits.

Where can you leave your mark?

For nearly 20 years, Energy Manager Canada has been laser-focused on one thing: proactive energy management. Our editorial coverage is not limited to any one sector or building type, and increasingly includes news and information about the emissions-reduction landscape. Visit energy-manager.ca.

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