United States. Three-quarters of decision-makers in U.S. companies have invested in energy efficiency programs in the past 12 months, and more than half (56%) project that their energy efficiency investment for next year will be more than last year.
This was revealed by the results of schneider Electric's survey, which noted that this represents a 12% increase in investments in energy efficiency and a 13% increase in projected investments in the last 12 months, according to a similar survey of energy leaders conducted by the same company in June 2013.
"The increased investment suggests that business leaders are seeing a return," said Laurent Vernerey, president and CEO of North American operations at Schneider Electric. "In fact, more than half (51%) of respondents said they receive at least a 25% return on investment (ROI) on efficiency initiatives. This type of return will drive greater investment in applied efficiency across the enterprise – beyond energy consumption – as organizations find they must become operationally efficient to remain competitive and profitable in today's environment."
One potential aspect of increased investment is simply that the path to efficiency is now easier to measure due to a major trend emerging across the enterprise: the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT).
