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We asked what is important to you… and you answered! – Audience Survey 2023

August 28, 2023 – Back in the spring, Energy Manager Canada asked:

Tell us what is important to you?

A big thanks to everyone who answered the call and completed our 1-minute Audience Survey—a simple multiple-choice questionnaire that helps us better deliver the information you need and use for proactive energy and/or emissions management.

And congratulations to the following survey respondents, whose names were drawn to receive 1 of 4 coffee gift cards: Martin L. (Ont.), Ray E. (Sask.), Graeme M. (Ont.), and Darryl K. (Alta.).

I was pleased to see such variety in our respondents! As you see in the Chart below, we heard from:

• Facility owners/management
• Facility managers/building engineers
• Energy managers (in-house or consulting)
• Architecture/engineering/construction community, and
• Specialized subcontractors

Not surprisingly, many are interested in key building systems such as Electrical, Mechanical, Building Envelope, etc.

Somewhat surprising, though, is the relative uninterestedness in digital twins, energy management software, etc. Perhaps these solutions have not been in the market long enough to warrant more attention, or maybe their value proposition is not quite yet fully understood?

It will be interesting to explore this result further.

The overwhelming majority of our respondents (80%) influence the procurement of solutions that better manage energy, while 87% (rounded) influence the procurement of solutions that increase energy efficiency.

To us, this suggests the market is extremely well aware of atomistic solutions for addressing energy consumption (e.g. lighting upgrades, high-efficiency boilers and chillers), but also that there are growth opportunities for holistic solutions, such as energy management systems, widespread automation, machine learning, etc.

But then, what about budgets? Perhaps budgets only allow for upgrading/replacing various items/systems over time, and holistic solutions can only be entertained once all of that is done.

When we get to the question “Do you influence the procurement of solutions that reduce emissions?”, we see a pronounced deviation. 73% (rounded) of respondents say they influence the procurement of solutions that reduce emissions, while 27% (rounded) indicate they do not.

Our intent with this question was to discern whether respondents were procuring solutions specifically for addressing emissions, first and foremost. This deviation from the 80 percentile that we see in the first two responses could suggest that tackling emissions head-on falls beyond the scope of a greater number of respondents’, or perhaps it is not yet a corporate mandate.

It will be interesting to do a deeper dive into these results in future Audience surveys.

Meantime, have a peek at the charts below to quickly gauge how you and your organization compare with our other Audience members.

— Anthony Capkun, editor, acapkun@ebmag.com.

We are pleased to see that nearly 80% of respondents consider proactive (rather than reactive) energy management as Very Important or Important. As utility costs rise (along with emissions consequences), this will only grow in importance.

Pretty much everyone understands the importance and value of greater energy efficiency, as indicated below. We are curious as to the 1.58% who feel it is Not Important. (Seriously? We are speechless.)

The spread below is not surprising, considering that the whole notion of tracking, measuring, and reporting emissions is largely new to the market, and its extent varies across jurisdictions. That said, unless government policy shifts radically, this will only continue to become more important to an organization’s bottom line.

And the MAIN REASON the majority of us care about proactive energy management and energy efficiency… COST!

In closing, we hope you will add your perspective to Energy Manager Canada’s next Audience Survey when you see it announced. Meantime, you can email the editor any time with your own thoughts and perspectives on these survey results.