Energy Retrofits to Commercial Buildings: $41 Billion Annual Savings Opportunity

We posit often about how Octus Energy is serving an existing market. Specifically, it is a waste-ridden space -- lots of it. By many counts, there is approximately 80 billion square feet of commercial building space in the U.S. By all counts, nearly all (97%, by most estimates) buildings are inefficient -- they are consuming too much energy and wasting billions of dollars each year in excess energy costs. We believe the wasteful tide is shifting.

A recent Pike Research report, profiled here, quantifies the opportunity: If all commercial buildings in the United States were retrofitted to be more energy efficient, more than $41 billion in energy savings -- each year -- would be generated.

Pike's report, "Energy Efficiency Retrofits for Commercial and Public Buildings," puts it into perspective:

"The current financial crisis has had a significant dampening effect on property owners' investments in their properties. Financing for such projects is scarce, and the limited investment in building efficiency is not keeping pace with the growing national demand for energy," says Pike Research's managing director Clint Wheelock.

The report asserts that some major companies have invested in green updates for their properties, but it has yet to really catch on. Pike believes it's about to change and that energy retrofitting for commercial properties will become a strong growth market through 2014 and beyond.

"In addition to cost savings, energy retrofits are attractive for purposes of greenhouse gas reductions, energy independence, green branding, property valuation, and productivity," according to the Pike Research report.