Spending on Wireless-Enabled Sensors Grew More Than 80% in 2010

Concerns over energy efficiency have long driven interest in new technologies to better manage energy use, and are driving interest and investment in wireless-enabled building environment controls.

A mature market already, Building Automation Systems grew only slightly during 2010 but spending on wireless-enabled sensors grew more than 80% year-on-year. While that growth came from a wireless penetration in the commercial building control device market of less than 2%, by 2016, wireless sensors will represent 8% of the commercial buildings controls market at a market value of more than $110 million. These forecasts are contained in a new market data study from ABI Research.

“Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning represent the key market and opportunity for wireless building automation sensors and controls, but the technology will push to replace wired systems across a range of applications including fire and safety, lighting, and access control,” says principal analyst Jonathan Collins.

Wireless controls will not only replace traditionally wired controls especially in retrofit deployments, they will also expand the reach and control of building automation systems through the ability to use wireless sensors to monitor and control a range of new building environment functions. These include room occupancy, or lighting levels that take account of the amount of natural light available at any given time.

“The greater reach of the BAS enabled by wireless sensors and controls is also creating a shift in the balance between core revenue streams within the BAS market,” adds practice director Sam Lucero. “Despite the uptake of additional sensors to monitor a growing list of applications, total BAS contract spending will skew increasingly toward software and services and away from hardware. The value and complexity within a BAS will reside in the distributed control and management of the system.”

ABI Research’s “Commercial Building Automation” market data study provides shipment and revenue figures and forecasts for three key segments (hardware, software, and services) global building automation system (BAS) market for commercial buildings, from 2008 through 2016.

It forms part of the firm’s Wireless Sensor Networks Research Service.