The most advanced smart building owners are in retail, process manufacturing, and construction, IDC found in a recent survey of 200 business owners, writes EnergyEfficiencyMarkets.com.
Of the smartest building owners identified in the study, about 40% focused on HVAC technology, about 28% on lighting, about 41% on plug loads, and about 21% on distributed energy. About 37% also focused on analytics.
Companies that focus on lighting and HVAC look for systems that are able to integrate with other building systems. They look for analytics and data management that can integrate data from a variety of sources and can automate and optimize building operations, according to the MaturityScape Benchmark: Smart Buildings in the United States report.
Earlier this month, IDC outlined the “Stages of Maturity” in terms of smart buildings in 2015:
IDC says Level 1 is a key step in the smart buildings maturity process, because it is at this point that broader decision makers come together to outline investment priorities.