The Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA), Ottawa, has completed a research study that measured consumers’ opinions and attitudes about energy as a managed service in the home. Energy as a managed service broadens the scope of the product and service offerings in the energy space and allows for the redefinition of the customer relationship through service bundling and enhanced metrics and consumer control. CABA’s study assesses and quantifies the key demand drivers and enablers that determine consumer appeal, interest, applicability and potential adoption of home energy-management products and services. The report finds that the concept of energy as a managed service is appealing to the great majority of North American homeowners. The majority of consumers surveyed said that they would consider purchasing energy as a managed service if it was available at a reasonable price. The report also finds that consumer interest in using managed services is equally high, regardless of the size of potential prices hikes in energy. The report further determines that residential energy consumers in all regions of North America like the concept of managed energy services equally, regardless of average electricity costs and how they are billed for such services.
CABA’s research also determines that consumers have the greatest interest in managed energy services that control the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning functionality in their homes. Respondents to CABA’s survey assume that controlling aspects of HVAC will result in the greatest impact on their energy costs.
“CABA’s 'Energy as a Managed Service' research project is the first of its kind to collaboratively examine the possibilities of enhanced control over energy usage by consumers,” states David Ainslie, director, Business Development at Direct Energy Marketing Ltd., who acted as project manager for this research study. “Through identifying consumer interests, companies that participated in this research project will be able to develop more compelling and competitive products and services for their customers.”
“CABA was pleased that a number of world-class companies and organizations came together to support this project,” statesRonald J. Zimmer, CABA president and CEO. “The result is actionable research that determine the clear potentials of managed energy solutions and identify various strategies that companies can adopt to capitalize on a new wave of services in the age of the emerging smart grid in North America."
The report has been released to its funding partners and will be made available for purchase to the rest of the industry after an embargo period. Companies enquiring for details and pricing can contact George Grimes, CABA’s business development manager at [email protected] or (613) 686-1814 ext. 226.
