BACS market in North America continues to growFebruary 2017

The recently published BSRIA BACS (Building Automation Control Systems) North America – In-Depth Report shows that sales of total BACS products was at US$ 1,970 million, an increase of 2.5 per cent on 2015, while total Installed Systems sales was US$ 5,801 million.

The total value of service and maintenance was US$ 2,475 million, pushing the total value of BACS business in 2016 to US$ 8,276 million.

Zoltan Karpathy, Manager – Intelligent Buildings and Homes, BSRIA, said: “The main factors driving market growth have been the uptake of data analytics and concern over energy costs.

The general performance trend of the BACS industry has been closely related to USA’s and Canada’s economy and construction: as USA’s BACS market accounts for 86 per cent of North America, the effect of USA is much stronger than that of Canada. So looking at the overall picture, Canada’s slowdown in economy in the last two years is less visible. USA rebounded strongly from 2010, where recession and annual growth of the economy has generally oscillated within the range of 2-3 per cent.

Non-residential construction had a slight decrease in 2014 (-0.4 per cent) but recovered strongly with growth rates within the range of 7-8 per cent in 2015 and 2016.

Overall, in the total market, the main drivers are refurbishment and retrofit and not new construction, which benefit from continued interest to invest in energy saving HVAC system upgrades in existing buildings. The US BACS market had cautious spending in 2016 due to the presidential election.”

The value of DDC controllers was US$ 812 million, of which 63 per cent are field level controllers; their share has been growing faster than the sometimes overcomplicated automation controllers.

Currently the controller market is dominated by the top five manufacturers, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Siemens, Trane and Schneider Electric.

Zoltan said: “In terms of value, air-quality type (including CO2) is the most popular type of sensor in North America, accounting for 34 per cent by value. This trend is due to the emphasis placed by companies on healthy living and increased productivity. Also it is policy driven as most states mandate legislation for air quality in schools and universities.”

A major trend is to add energy data analytics (BEMS) to existing BACS solutions, which continues to support retrofit/refurbishment sales, allowing BACS systems previously working in isolation to be integrated with other applications via open communication protocols.

Zoltan continued: “With the building automation segment continuing to grow in North America, there is an incentive for new players to enter the market in order to gain a share of this expanding business. This process is reinforced by the increasing trend towards integration of building automation and controls with other areas of smart technology, such as cloud-based monitoring management and smart homes. As one of the world’s largest markets for building automation, North America is a natural target for such activities.”

For more information on the availability and costs of this BSRIA’s report and on corporate business opportunities in the North American market, contact BSRIA Inc on +1 312 753 6800 or sales@bsria.com.

The purpose of the study was to provide a detailed quantitative and qualitative assessment of the current and future markets for intelligent control systems in non-residential buildings in North America.

The study aims to assist those involved in the design, manufacture and installation of intelligent controls including:

• Building Controls Manufacturers.
• Controls Contractors (Systems Houses).
• System Integrators.
• Distributors.
• Energy Management Service Companies (EMSCOs).
• OEMs of HVAC Hardware.
• Architects and Building Services Consultants.
• Security and Safety Companies.
• Telecommunications & Computer Hardware Manufacturers.