Green Technology Market to Reach $60 Billion

WELLESLEY, Mass. — Energy-efficient technologies around the world earned $36.3 billion in 2013 and jumped to $41 billion in 2014, according to a new report from BCC Research in Wellesley.

The September 2014 report, “Energy-Efficient Technologies for Commercial Building Construction,” said the global market for energy efficient technologies is expected to grow to more than $60 billion by 2019.

The report looked at technologies — such as LEDs, insulation and efficient roof coverings — that help to reduce energy consumption within a wide array of commercial building types. The types include government, educational, institutional, and private-sector buildings such as offices, commercial space, warehouses and other facilities. BCC Research included markets within North America, Europe and Asia.

The report estimated that revenue for energy-efficient technologies will grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8 percent within five years, from 2014 to 2019. Asia is the fastest-growing area, rising at 9.8 percent CAGR. Asia is the dominant region overall, and its market is expected to reach $26.2 billion in five years as energy costs soar in Japan and other eastern Asia areas. Japan first set goals for zero-energy buildings in 2010. In April, the country’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reaffirmed the goal of making all new public buildings zero-energy by 2020, with a similar goal for private buildings by 2030 on average, according to the Wall Street Journal.

North America, the second largest and fastest growing region, is forecast to grow to nearly $17.7 billion by 2019 with a 7.9 percent CAGR. Surging applications of energy efficient technologies for commercial buildings have continued to grow in North America — particularly in the United States.

There are several key factors influencing markets for commercial energy-efficient technologies at the regional and global scale, the report said. An increasing number of countries are seeing incentives and increasingly stringent regulations that push for energy efficiency adoption. Other factors include underlying growth in emerging and transition economies, a heightened interest in green buildings and green building certification, and the desire to reduce energy consumption and costs. Changes in energy costs are especially important, according to the report, because they create strong incentives to implement cost-saving products and technologies.

“Trends in new commercial building construction vary considerably from region to region,” said Robert Eckard, an energy analyst for BCC Research, in a statement. “North American markets appear to be entering a moderate to strong growth phase for commercial building construction, which is helping to drive markets in that region. In contrast, markets in China have slowed in comparison to recent highs, and this softening is driving a slowdown in year-over-year market growth in that country.”