Mar 16 2006
BAS controls are adapted widely among the Big-Box-Retails such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Costco, but when it comes to smaller retail stores and chains, the manufactures of BAS controls have started designing products that best fits their applications. Major companies are coming out with inexpensive and compact controllers to capture the smaller retail outlets and stores where the saving on energy cost by BAS controller optimization can be achieved. Reduction on energy consumption using automated lighting systems are a few features of BAS which investors, like facility owners and managers, find lucrative. Small retail outlets in North America offer a huge potential to the BAS controls manufacturers.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, North American BAS Controls Market for Retail Buildings, reveals that the BAS Controls Market in Retail Buildings earned revenues of $152.2 million in 2005 and estimates to reach $196.0 million in 2012.
"The target is small retail stores and outlets and the entry of low cost products is expected to intensify competition in the BAS controls market," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Sapan Agarwal.
Product lines such as Easy STAT by Walker System Corporation and World Stat by Automated Logic Corporation expects to drive the sales in the BAS Controls Market for Retail Buildings. New high-performance retail buildings can consume up to 50 percent less energy than comparable buildings, with designs that integrate energy-efficient lighting fixtures with day-lighting systems to substantially reduce electric lighting and cooling loads.
Choices about the building site, envelope, and mechanical systems factor into the design and contribute to the savings. These factors may limit the growth rate of the BAS controls market for retail buildings due to the threat from mechanical systems. However, an interest to air lighting in retail facilities may prove to curb the market.
"Retail building owners and operators can reap big savings by starting small. For instance, more than 90 percent of retail buildings use standard fluorescent bulbs, which consume more energy than compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and require more frequent replacement," explains Agarwal.
Standard fluorescent lights also throw off more heat, which adds to cooling loads. Using CFLs to light retail spaces provide fast returns on the initial investment. Another simple way to lower lighting costs is through the use of solid-state LED technology for exit signs. LEDs consume very little energy and last up to 10 years or more, saving both energy and maintenance costs. With BAS controllers regulating the lighting parameter, the market for BAS controls expects to take an up turn in small retail outlets and stores.
North American BAS Controls Market for Retail Buildings, a part of the Building Management Technologies Subscription provides an overview and outlook for the market. This study gives the scope of building automation system controls market for retail buildings and it is segmented in to BAS Controllers Market for Retail Buildings and Retail Industry Trends. This research includes detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.