Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States: The 2016 Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI) survey of more than 1,200 facility and energy management executives in the United States, Brazil, China, Germany and India shows interest and investment in energy efficiency are at an all-time high, the company said in an official communiqué.

According to the survey, 50% of the respondents said that their organisations are paying more attention to energy efficiency today than they did a year ago, against 37% in 2013, with 72% anticipating increased investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy over the next 12 months, compared to 42% in 2013.

The results of the survey, which were released on June 23, 2016, at the Energy Efficiency Forum in Washington DC, said that although cost reduction remains the primary driver, organisations are also increasingly considering energy security, customer and employee attraction, greenhouse gas reduction, enhanced reputation, government policy and investor expectations when making investment decisions. It further said that 64% of United States organisations now have an internal or publicly stated carbon reduction goal, compared to 41% in 2013.

The survey results revealed that organisations with the majority of their facilities located in urban areas are more likely to invest in smart building and smart energy technology, with 64% of organisations in urban areas having invested in building management systems (BMS), while more than 50% have invested in the integration of BMS with lighting, security, life safety or other building systems. Furthermore, the results added that 39% of organisations in urban areas have invested in on-site renewable energy and 24% in non-renewable distributed generation.

Johnson Controls has mentioned a few other key findings that emerged from the survey, which includes:

• The most frequent energy efficiency measures implemented last year were HVAC improvements, energy education programmes, building controls upgrades, building systems integration, on-site renewable energy and water efficiency improvements.
• Seventy-eight per cent of global organisations have already certified, or plan to certify, at least one Green Building, compared to 51% in 2010, with more Existing Buildings being certified than New Construction.
• Eighty percent of organisations plan to achieve nearly zero, net-zero or positive energy status for at least one of their facilities versus 49% in 2013.

“Energy efficiency is the centre of a major transformation of our buildings, energy systems and urban infrastructure,” said Bill Jackson, President of Building Efficiency at Johnson Controls. “Investment in smart, sustainable and resilient buildings is key to increasing urban efficiency and delivering its many social, environmental and economic benefits.”

Johnson Controls informed that summary of the report was available at www.johnsoncontrols.com.