Commercial building owners are turning to energy efficiency more than ever, and they continue to seek tax credits, incentives or rebates, according to the global survey from the Institute for Building Efficiency at Johnson Controls Inc.
The sixth annual survey found 85% rely on energy management to boost operational efficiency, up 34 percentage points from the Energy Efficiency Indicator survey conducted two years ago.
More than half of the 3,500 building owners and operators surveyed worldwide said improving their public image and increasing the value of their buildings were important factors leading them to consider energy efficiency.
"This year's survey demonstrates there's a change under way," said Dave Myers, president of the Milwaukee-based building efficiency business of Johnson Controls, in a statement. "The mantra for commercial real estate owners used to be location, location, location. Now it's becoming location, efficiency, location."
The survey was released in Washington at the North American Energy Efficiency Forum, co-sponsored by Johnson Controls and the U.S. Energy Association.
The results are in line with other years, showing that the biggest barriers to more energy-saving projects continues to be funding and building owners' concern that the return on investment won't be swift enough.
Johnson Controls competes against firms such as Trane, Siemens and Honeywell in the energy services market. Its work in energy efficiency consulting for building retrofits has focused primarily on the government, health care and education sector, and the company has led energy saving projects for U.S. and German military bases.
Johnson Controls recently moved to expand its focus to the commercial buildings market.
The company is touting the energy savings achieved at the retrofit of the Empire State Building in New York City as it seeks to work with owners of smaller commercial buildings in cities such as Milwaukee.
The survey found that tax credits, incentives and rebates are big drivers in pushing building owners to invest in energy efficiency projects.
"Nearly 75% of commercial buildings in the United States are more than 20 years old and are ready for energy improvements. Building owners and operators are looking to lawmakers to bring down the cost of energy retrofits through incentives and rebates," Myers said. "In Asia, building codes and equipment standards also are helping ensure new buildings are constructed to high performance levels."
Setting the pace
Developing countries are setting the pace on investing in the energy use of their buildings, the Energy Efficiency Indicator survey found. According to the survey, 81% of respondents in China and 74% in India said they planned to increase investments in energy efficiency or renewable energy.
Globally, 40% of energy is consumed by buildings, according to the World Resources Institute.
Green building certifications, or voluntary rating systems, are on the rise with 44% planning to certify existing buildings, up from 35% last year, the survey found.
The survey found nearly a quarter of those who responded are willing to pay a premium for space in a certified green building.
The building efficiency business of Johnson Controls had $15 billion in sales in fiscal 2011, split evenly between North America and the rest of the world.
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