Australia's building execs are finally starting to realise the advantages of being energy efficient – or that's what the sixth annual Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator survey has found.
Most homeowners are slowly coming round to the idea that they need to reduce their energy usage if they are to stay on top of their bills – and the same can now be said for major players in the building industry.
Now this may not be a poll of epic proportions (253 companies were questioned) but it does give us some idea of just how much consideration is being given to efficiency.
Of those questioned, 79 per cent said that energy management was either very or extremely important to their organisation, which marks a rise from 63 per cent in 2011.
Not only this, but 80 per cent said they were paying more attention to energy efficiency this year than they were previously.
You may be questioning why businesses have had this sudden turnaround – well Australia was the only market where asset value was named as one of the top three motivators for energy efficiency.
Some of these measures are understandably more popular than others, as lighting improvements were the most common, followed by water efficiency enhancements.
This trend looks as though it could be around for some time yet, as business execs believe that lighting technologies, solar thermal and smart building technology will increase in popularity.
A report from the Australian Industry Group recently identified the rising cost of energy as one of the main challenges facing businesses at the moment, leading many of them to become more efficient.
In fact, during the three years to 2010, two-thirds of companies have been successful at improving their performance levels.
Who knows, we could soon see more businesses turning to solar power as a means of protecting themselves against price rises!
Posted by Mike Peacock