Vitalization Strategies for the Building Energy Management System (BEMS) Industry Ecosystem Based on AHP Analysis

• Main Authors: Eunji Kim, Yoonhee Ha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
• Series: Energies
• Subjects: BEMS; energy conservation; climate change; Fourth Industrial Revolution; technology; industrial ecosystem
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/9/2559

The combination of building energy management technology and technology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has a significant potential for reducing energy consumption and, hence, CO₂ emissions. However, numerous studies have indicated barriers preventing market growth. These challenges are mainly attributed to characteristics of the ecosystem of the building energy management systems (BEMS) industry. Thisstudy aimed to identify the major challenges hindering the deployment of BEMS in combination with Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and to derive policies conducive to the achievement of the effective BEMS industry ecosystem. An analytic hierarchy process (AHP) survey was conducted on key players in the ecosystem to achieve this. The main elements of the ecosystem, economic, institutional, technology, and social system that earned weight, followed a decreasing trend in this order. Among the sub-elements, the payback period, upfront cost, electricity pricing scheme, energy consumption/CO₂ emission reduction, and government support system ranked first to fifth places, respectively. This result can be used to determine the element in need of priority allocation of resources while establishing an effective BEMS. However, the priority depends on the development stage at which the industry is at, and other elements should not be overlooked.