Case Study

Smart energy management for buildings

Identifying product/service growth opportunities in energy management for commercial, office, and residential buildings

CamIn works with early adopters to identify new opportunities enabled by emerging technology.

Revenue:

$5 billion+

Employee headcount:

5,000+

Opportunity:

Energy transition

Service:

Product & service innovation strategy

Sponsored:

Head of Innovation

of CamIn’s project team comprised of leading industry and technology experts

CamIn’s expert team

Our energy utilities client wanted to confirm energy management products & services to decarbonise their customers’ building assets. CamIn went through its proprietary process to confirm 5 quick-win products and services that unlock instant value to new customers within 6 months

Table of Contents

Our client's problem
CamIn's solution
Example outputs
Key insights

Industry:

Energy, Power & Utilities

Revenue:

$5 billion+

Employee headcount:

5,000+

Opportunity:

Energy transition

Service:

Product & service innovation strategy

Sponsored by:

Head of Innovation

30,000

For $30,000, we de-risked their $10 million investment into new product opportunities

expert teams

3 external expert teams specialised in energy management and smart buildings

x faster

CamIn completed the work in 6 weeks, 2 times faster than the client’s internal team

Discover more opportunities in

Energy transition

Client's problem

After new regulation was introduced Europe, the client’s customers were looking for solutions to decarbonise their building assets quickly within the next 6 months. Retrofit demand surged 28% especially in the Nordics, highlighting urgent need for effective solutions. The client had developed a concept of product areas, however needed a shortlist of confirmed products and services that were technologically feasible, desired by their customers, and easily implementable. The client lacked the confidence to conduct the necessary analysis within the required breadth, depth, and timeframe. They required CamIn to support them in identifying the correct products for a quick development and launch.

CamIn's solution

Key questions answered

What use cases are emerging globally?
When will this use case be commercially feasible and why? How is value provided to the end customer?
What are the barriers to a successful energy management? What are the main issues with current business models?
What has been done so far to tackle the barriers and what was the outcome?
What vendors are offering solutions?

Our Approach

4	Determined 4 key application areas for commercial, office, and residential building energy management: Monitoring, Demand response, Grid interactivity, Optimisation.
20	Identified and analysed 20 technology use cases in terms of their likelihood of commercialisation, their time to commercialisation, and the scale of their likely impact on the market.
9	Isolated the 9 most promising use cases, principally based on grid interactivity for commercial buildings, based on their high likelihood of commercialisation and their high market impact.
9	Combined the 9 highest-scoring use cases into 5 strategically important product/service areas, in which CamIn will develop business cases for investment.

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Results and Impact

By combining the 9 highest-scoring use cases, CamIn identified 5 strategically important product/service areas for the client.

The client is piloting all 5 products with credible strategic partners and have successfully satisfied current customer demand.

CamIn derisked the client's $10 million investment into now product opportunities, opening new lucrative revenue streams.

Example Outputs

What are smart energy management solutions for buildings?

Smart energy management solutions enable buildings to monitor, control, and optimise their energy usage in real time. These systems integrate technologies such as sensors, IoT devices, AI-driven analytics, and demand response platforms to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and lower operating costs. In practice, this may include intelligent HVAC control, real-time energy consumption dashboards, predictive maintenance, and grid-interactive capabilities. For utilities, such solutions unlock opportunities to offer value-added services to commercial, office, and residential customers.

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Why is smart energy management important for the sector?

Smart energy management is becoming essential for utilities seeking to remain competitive, compliant, and customer-focused in a rapidly evolving energy landscape.

Enables compliance and accelerates decarbonisation

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Drives new revenue and business models

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Improves customer engagement and retention

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Supports electrification and grid resilience

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Delivers fast, measurable impact

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What impact will smart energy management have on the utilities industry?

Over the next decade, smart energy management will fundamentally transform the utilities industry. It will shift the core business model from simply supplying electricity to delivering intelligent, data-driven energy services. This evolution will impact grid operations, customer engagement, regulatory alignment, and long-term competitiveness.

Key impacts over the next 10 years will include:

Decentralised energy orchestration

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Real-time grid intelligence

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Advanced customer segmentation and personalisation

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Participation in dynamic energy markets

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Regulatory alignment and ESG compliance

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Cost and carbon savings at scale

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Strategic shift for utilities:
Utilities will evolve into hybrid data-energy providers. Those that invest early in smart energy management will gain:

Lower operational costs through automation and optimisation
New customer revenue models via subscription-based energy services
Competitive differentiation in a crowded decarbonisation market
Greater resilience against volatility in supply and demand

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What technologies are emerging for smart energy management?

The landscape of smart energy management is being reshaped by a convergence of digital, connectivity, and control technologies, enabling new levels of visibility, automation, and responsiveness in building energy systems. These emerging technologies support utilities and building operators in achieving ambitious decarbonisation, cost-efficiency, and resiliency goals. The most impactful innovations fall into the following subsegments:

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AI and Advanced Analytics

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) models are used to predict energy usage patterns, detect inefficiencies, and optimise building systems dynamically.
Natural Language Processing (NLP) enables user-friendly interfaces and energy reporting.
Computer Vision (CV) is applied for occupancy-based control of lighting and HVAC systems.

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IoT and Sensor Networks

Smart sensors collect granular data on temperature, occupancy, air quality, lighting, and energy consumption in real time.
IoT devices enable real-time monitoring, remote control, and diagnostics of distributed energy assets.
Integration with building management systems (BMS) and distributed energy resources (DERs) provides coordinated control.

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Digital Twins and Simulation Technologies

Digital twin platforms create virtual replicas of building systems to simulate energy use, test optimisation strategies, and predict maintenance needs.

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Connectivity and Edge/Cloud Integration

Edge computing allows localised, low-latency decision-making for time-sensitive operations like demand response or fault detection.
Cloud-based energy platforms enable scalable analytics, device orchestration, and integration with enterprise systems (e.g., ERP, CMMS).
5G connectivity enhances the speed and bandwidth for real-time energy telemetry across large campuses or multi-site portfolios.

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Demand Response and Grid-Interactive Technologies

Grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) are equipped with software-defined control systems that respond to signals from the energy grid, adjusting loads in real time.
Automated Demand Response (ADR) capabilities allow buildings to monetise flexibility by reducing or shifting load during peak periods or price spikes.

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Cybersecurity and Resilient Infrastructure

As smart building systems become more connected, cybersecurity architectures including secure boot, network segmentation, and encrypted communications are essential to protect energy infrastructure.
Compliance with frameworks such as ISO 27001, IEC 62443, and NIST Cybersecurity Framework is becoming standard practice.

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