US Smart Connected HVAC in Commercial Buildings Study 2017

BSRIA is a non-profit distributing, member-based association, providing specialist services in construction and building services. BSRIA's Worldwide Market Intelligence division is a leading provider of a regularly released authoritative portfolio of published market reports, in addition to bespoke studies and management consultancy.

In July 2017, BSRIA published, US Smart Connected HVAC in Commercial Buildings Study 2017.

Smart Connected HVAC (Heating ventilation and air conditioning) is one of the latest trends revolutionising commercial buildings in the US and it has the potential to do the same elsewhere. According to the BSRIA study, the US market for Smart Connected HVAC is currently growing at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of more than 25%, driven by the need to improve HVAC performance and reliability, cut downtime and reduce maintenance costs. The market is forecast to reach US$ 1.8 billion by 2021, with the majority of this value related to maintenance and managed services.

Smart Connected HVAC is a solution in which HVAC equipment can be accessed and controlled remotely, either via a LAN (local area network) or via the Cloud. It can provide information about the performance and state of HVAC equipment, both for real time monitoring and alerts and for analysis, to help identify or pre-empt problems and optimise performance.

The strongest demand is in buildings of less than 50,000 square feet. Vertical markets where the solution is most sought after are led by the retail sector, in particular for chains with multiple buildings. The majority of the value is derived from packaged rooftop units, but there is also a significant market for chiller systems and AHUs (air handling units).

The market is dominated by established suppliers of BACS (Building Automation and Control Systems) and of HVAC, but a significant number of new suppliers are entering the market, including those from outside the USA.

The report addresses:

What smart connected HVAC is, and how it relates to BACS, BEMS (Building Energy Management Systems) and alternatives.
How large the market is, how it is split between products and services, how fast it is growing, and the forecast to 2021.
The main drivers and barriers to growth.
The impact of the IoT (internet of things) and cybersecurity.

The study is intended for:

Those manufacturing HVAC solutions for the non-residential sector.
Those manufacturing smart building solutions, including building automation.
Those providing services to maintain and optimise non-residential buildings.
Decision makers at enterprise level.

Henry Lawson, Senior Market Research Consultant, Worldwide Market Intelligence, BSRIA, said; “BSRIA has been struck by the recent maelstrom of activity in this sector. Accordingly, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the US market for Smart Connected HVAC, which is rapidly becoming a cost-effective alternative to full-scale Building Automation and Controls (BACS) especially but not only for smaller buildings. The solution enables service managers to monitor and optimise the performance HVAC and in some cases to predict and prevent failures, reducing both maintenance costs and downtime. Ergo, this service is particularly attractive to organisations managing a ‘portfolio’ of small buildings in different locations, where HVAC outages will impact on their operation and where maintenance costs are a challenge. This fairly new value proposition is part of an IoT revolution which will potentially transform the current building services model.”