Forty-three percent of energy leaders say their investment in energy efficiency next year is projected to be more than it was last year, according to survey results recently released by Schneider Electric. Twenty-two percent said their projected investment would stay the same, and 10 percent reported their investment would be less than last year.
The survey, conducted in June at Schneider Electric’s Xperience Efficiency events in Washington, D.C. and Dallas, includes responses from 369 leaders in energy efficiency from business and government sectors.
The survey also looked at what drives energy management investment decisions. Some 64 percent of respondents reported energy cost savings as the biggest driver. Government incentives came in second with 10 percent, followed by government policies and industry standards with 8 percent, executive mandate with 6 percent and brand image with 5 percent.
The majority of respondents, 63 percent, reported they had invested in energy efficiency programs in the past 12 months. Specifically, the two most common energy management practices that respondents’ organizations have adopted in the past 12 months were tracking and analyzing data (29 percent) and energy audits (also 29 percent).
The respondents also shared their thoughts on which energy management approaches will take hold in the next five years, predicting that building automation (24 percent), efficient lighting (21 percent) and data center efficiency (16 percent) would become the most popular.
Other significant survey findings include:
• 41 percent of respondents cited tax credits or incentives as the energy policy that has had the greatest impact on improving energy efficiency in their organization.
• 60 percent of respondents said that they have someone in their organization responsible for energy management.
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