Energy Service Companies for Office Lighting: Characterization and Economic Potential

Artificial lighting is responsible for between 20 to 45% of the total electricity demand in office buildings. The energy efficiency of lighting systems can be improved by replacing existing installations with the best available technology and by implementing lighting control systems. The deployment of these technical solutions should be based on a sound business model. Traditionally, lighting systems are sold as products, but a promising alternative is offered by Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), whereby energy efficiency projects are developed, installed and financed over a period of several years. This article argues that ESCO-offerings should be regarded as a special case of PSS, and provides a novel characterization method for ESCOs for office lighting, that allows to unambiguously describe existing ESCO types. The outline and results of a quantitative analysis of the economic potential of an ESCO for office lighting are presented and interpreted.

[1]  Paolo Bertoldi,et al.  ESCOs Around the World , 2020 .

[2]  Dilip R. Limaye,et al.  Scaling up energy efficiency: the case for a Super ESCO , 2011 .

[3]  J. Steinberger,et al.  Profiting from negawatts: Reducing absolute consumption and emissions through a performance-based energy economy , 2009 .

[4]  Yves Pigneur,et al.  Business Model Generation: A handbook for visionaries, game changers and challengers , 2010 .

[5]  Glenn E. Shippee.  The future for energy service companies: changes and trends , 1996 .

[6]  Joost Duflou,et al.  Design of a Product-Service Systems Business Model: Strategic Analysis and Option Generation , 2011 .

[7]  Jérôme Adnot,et al.  An empirical typology of energy services based on a well-developed market: France , 2012 .

[8]  Edward Vine,et al.  An international survey of the energy service company (ESCO) industry , 2005 .

[9]  Edward Vine,et al.  Energy service companies in European countries: Current status and a strategy to foster their development , 2006 .

[10]  W. Stahel.  The Performance Economy , 2010 .

[11]  H. J. Smith,et al.  The power of business models , 2005 .

[12]  Åke Blomsterberg,et al.  Energy saving potential and strategies for electric lighting in future North European, low energy office buildings: A literature review , 2011 .

[13]  Geert Deconinck,et al.  Power density targets for efficient lighting of interior task areas , 2007 .

[14]  Liliane Pintelon,et al.  A refined typology of Product-Service Systems based on Functional Hierarchy Modeling , 2013 .