Johnson Controls annual Energy Efficiency Survey: Companies plan investments, worry over ROI
Technology and services firm Johnson Controls has revealed the findings of its 15th annual Energy Efficiency Indicator Survey, which showed that 62% of the surveyed organizations plan to increase investments in improving energy efficiency, smart building technology or renewable energy in 2022.
However, the survey found that organizations continue to face challenges to achieving their sustainability goals. Nearly two-third of the respondents said they face difficulty in scaling their sustainability efforts across buildings, geographies or business units.
The main drivers to investment in building energy and technology include energy cost savings (84%), protecting the health and safety of occupants during the pandemic (80%), minimizing fossil fuel usage (78%) and increasing energy security (77%).
More than one-third of the respondents intend to replace fossil fuel heating equipment with heat pump technology in 2023, up 7% from the prior year. Thermal energy storage has increased from 27% to 42% in the last five years.
The barrier to investment include the lack of funding for improvements (25%), uncertainty regarding savings and performance (23%), lack of technical expertise to execute projects (19%) and insufficient ROI (16%).
Some of the energy efficiency measures implemented over the last 12 months include HVAC system improvements (65%), fire/life safety system improvements (60%), energy-focused behavioral or educational programs (66%), and building controls improvements (56%).
The United States and Europe continue to lead the way in green building planning. Europe has the maximum number of respondents planning to secure green building certifications and the most respondents who had established public energy/carbon reduction goals.
The survey also stressed on the importance of actionable policies for progressing energy efficiency goals. It stated that performance benchmarking/certifications and performance standards for energy codes were essential to improve energy efficiency efforts.
