In this Research Note, we examine the Smart Buildings business of ABB, based on their February 2024 Factsheet and building automation portfolio, acquisitions, divestments and investments throughout 2023.

This article updates our 2022 Examined article published in March 2023 and the Capital Markets Day update for Smart Buildings in December 2023.

The Smart Buildings division, part of the $14.6 billion Electrification segment of ABB, reported revenues in the range of $2,750 to $3,250 million for 2023.

The division provides electrical distribution products such as wiring devices, miniature breakers, distribution enclosures and DIN-Rail products with building automation, one of four business areas. Memoori expects that Smart Buildings revenue in 2023 was adversely impacted by its exposure to the residential market.

ABB Building Automation Portfolio

ABB’s portfolio of building and energy management systems includes Cylon’s Active Energy solution, rebranded to ABB Ability Building Ecosystem, i-bus KNX intelligent building control systems and ABB's Aspect IBMS (Integrated Building Management Solutions).

In January 2023, ABB launched its ABB Cylon Smart Building Management Systems (BMS) for the Middle East region at the Light Middle East and Intelligent Building Middle East 2023 event. And in September 2023, the product was launched in the Australian Market.

ABB Ability Building Analyzer, the enhanced, rebranded ABB Active Energy solution, was unveiled in March 2023. Launching in Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, and Switzerland, Building Analyzer enables centralization of all critical building operation information providing analysis that allows for potential improvement opportunities.

It tracks both buildings data (occupancy, equipment runtime hours, temperatures, and costs) and utilities (energy, gas, water, steam) in real time from almost any kind of data source and an unlimited number of data points.

Currently, the software is deployed across Dublin Airport, including both terminals, campus and airfield buildings, collecting data from 1,600 physical meters and from several other data sources. In remote locations, where it was not possible or economical to connect meters physically to data loggers, a wireless metering system now operates.

The data is analyzed and used for an array of business needs such as managing energy consumption, water management, sustainability reporting, revenue recovery for airport tenants, passenger data and Return on Investment.

Smart Home Acquisitions

Eve Systems was acquired in June 2023. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Eve Systems has developed smart home products, based on Matter and Thread, the new interoperating standard and wireless connectivity technology.

The company’s extended complementary range of consumer-facing products tailored to the retrofit market strengthens ABB’s smart home technology portfolio. Eve Systems has around 50 employees and had 2022 revenues of $20 million.

Divestments

In April 2023, ABB divested its multisite retail energy management system integrator business to Brainbox AI. Memoori analysed the strategic rationale for both companies in a Research Note.

In February 2023, ABB confirmed that it would exit the emergency lighting business within the Smart Buildings division during 2023, as “the strategic fit with energy distribution and home and building automation is limited”. This business generated revenues of around $160 million. No further details on progress were announced in 2023.

Investments & Partnerships

ABB investments in smart building technology in 2023 included:

A further $10 million investment in Brainbox AI as part of its divestment of the multisite retail business.

In December 2023, a strategic partnership and investment in Lumin, to collaborate on accessible energy management solutions to increase sustainability and cost savings for homeowners in North America.

Lumin’s platform enables electrification upgrades without changing the home’s existing electrical panel. It provides insights into behind-the-meter consumption data and dynamically shifts loads to support the energy transition for communities.

ABB’s strategy to expand its smart buildings offering beyond electrical distribution products is continuing to evolve, through product portfolio expansion, divestments, strategic partnerships and investments in startups.

This article was written by Daphne Tomlinson, Senior Research Associate at Memoori.