Building managers and corporate executives didn't dial back their energy-efficiency initiatives last year, a new survey by Johnson Controls shows.
The engineering company polled 2,882 professionals around the world on their firms' efficiency practices. A majority - 56 percent - said their companies spent the same or more on energy savings last year as they had in 2008, even as the global economy contracted and revenue shriveled.
The survey indicates that American and international companies place a high priority on cutting energy use - and illustrates the idea that energy-efficiency spending is an investment rather than an outlay. Indeed, 97 percent of survey respondents said cost savings were a significant driver of their energy-efficiency initiatives.
Notably, executives in less resource-rich areas were more likely to put energy-management practices in place, Johnson Controls found. Indian and Chinese respondents were more likely to say that energy management was very or extremely important than their counterparts in Europe (55 percent) or North America (53 percent).
The idea of doing more with less - one that is being pioneered by business leaders in the booming, crowded economies of Asia - should grow in prominence as the global population expands and the necessity of sharing resources becomes apparent.
