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Sauter Group Building Automation Business 2024 Examined
November 4th, 2024Acuity Brands Intelligent Spaces Business & FY2024 Financials Examined
October 31st, 2024
Keeping Cool in an Increasingly Hot Data Center HVAC Market
Developing technology trends like artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and digital transformation are driving the global demand for data processing and storage to unprecedented levels. As a result, energy-intensive data centers are fast becoming a major energy consumer, due in large part, to cooling systems that account for up to 40% of their total consumption, according to our latest research. Real Estate developer JLL projects the global data center market to be worth $317 billion by 2026, representing a 107% increase from 2020 levels when it was valued at $153 billion. The market is expected to grow still further, at CAGRs ranging from 10.3% to 16.38% through 2028, driving a significant rise in energy consumption. Hyperscale data centers and AI factories, such as those operated by tech giants including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, and Microsoft are growing at an even faster rate, with a projected CAGR of 27.9% through 2032 to serve the massive […]
Mapping the Strategic Direction of JLL in Smart Buildings 2024
This Research Note examines the emerging strategic priorities of JLL, one of the largest real estate service providers in the smart buildings space. We have mapped acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and investment activity to ascertain the growth ambitions of the group, by categorizing the various business relationships by technology and investment type. This article is a non-exhaustive indicator of their strategic direction between October 2022 and October 2024, updating our September 2022 analysis, Part 1 and Part 2. This analysis covers selective business relationships by JLL Group, JLL Technologies, and JLL Spark in the operations and maintenance phase of the Commercial Real Estate lifecycle. Strategy Mapping of JLL Smart Buildings Business IoT Platforms for Buildings, Cybersecurity In March 2023, US startup, Acreto Security announced an investment and partnership with JLL Spark Global Ventures. Acreto offers full-stack cybersecurity intended to automate building operations while improving the experience for occupiers, tenants, and visitors. This partnership enables Acreto to […]
What’s Behind Acuity Brands Acquisition of QSC?
This Research Note examines what’s behind the acquisition of QSC by Acuity Brands announced on 24th October 2024. We review the transaction details, the strategic rationale, QSC’s profile, and the Seervision acquisition before assessing how this acquisition fits into Acuity Brands Intelligent Spaces portfolio. Transaction Details Acuity Brands announced an agreement to acquire QSC LLC for a purchase price of $1.215 billion, or $1.1 billion net of approximately $100 million in present value of expected tax benefits. The net purchase price represents approximately 14 times QSC’s estimated EBITDA for the last twelve months ending August 31, 2024. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of FY 2025 and be accretive to Acuity Brands fiscal 2025 full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share. Acuity Brands Investor Presentation, 24th October 2024 Strategic Rationale The QSC acquisition expands the Intelligent Spaces addressable market by adding a cloud-manageable audio, video and control platform that includes controls, sensors, and software with broad applications across multiple […]
Regin AB Building Automation Business & Financials Examined
This Research Note examines Regin AB, the Swedish building automation group. Founded in 1947, Regin, headquartered in Kållered, Sweden, is positioned as a European provider of smart automation technology for climate control in buildings. We highlight their product and solutions portfolio, revenue development over the last four years, recent acquisitions and divestments, and their challenger position in the European building automation space. Regin Product and Solutions Portfolio The group offers complete Building Energy Management Systems and hardware as well as solutions based on intelligent controls, sensors, and field products for facility owners, system integrator partners, and OEM customers. The group consists of three product brands – Regin, Industrietechnik, and DEOS. With the advantage of multiple product portfolios, they provide complete building automation solutions. Their products are developed at innovation centers in Sweden and Germany and manufactured in their own factories. Products include Arrigo, a scalable platform covering all aspects of the management of a connected building, […]
How Close are we to Realizing AI’s Potential for HVAC Optimization?
Globally, only a very small percentage of commercial buildings operate fully integrated, AI-driven, autonomous energy management for HVAC optimization. Our new research estimates that a significant percentage of commercial buildings have no HVAC control whatsoever, while the rest of the market is divided between rule-based control, preset algorithms, and predictive functions, to varying degrees. Together, these ‘stages of maturity’ form the typical evolution of energy management for HVAC in commercial settings. HVAC Energy Management Solution Maturity To help understand the landscape of HVAC energy management solutions and their relative maturity, our new research introduces a model that categorizes these solutions into four distinct tiers of commercial HVAC energy optimization progression: At the foundational stage, Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) focus on monitoring and manual or rule-based control of HVAC systems. Energy consumption tracking is also very basic, offering minimal granularity, and the system’s responsiveness is passive, reacting only to predefined conditions without real-time adjustments. Typical […]
Beckhoff Building Automation Business & Financials Examined
In this Research Note, we examine Beckhoff, a German family-owned industrial automation business, with a secondary focus on building automation hardware and software. Founded in 1980, Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG has 5,500 employees worldwide (March 2024), including over 2,000 engineers. The corporate headquarters in Verl, Germany, is backed up by 23 sales offices in Germany. Their presence in the international market is supported by 40 subsidiaries worldwide and is represented in more than 75 countries by partners. Beckhoff implements open automation systems based on PC Control technology. The product range covers Industrial PCs, I/O and Fieldbus Components, Drive Technology, and automation software. Products that can be used as separate components or integrated into a complete control system, are available for various industries. Their “New Automation Technology” philosophy represents universal and open control and automation solutions that are used worldwide in a wide variety of different applications, ranging from CNC-controlled machine tools to intelligent […]
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