Smart grid evolution is projected to significantly impact the types of equipment used throughout these various types of plants, buildings and infrastructure. Most notably, companies active in this sector are increasingly placing intelligence throughout their buildings to enable greater energy management, while at the same time embracing more energy efficient solutions helping to lower long-term electrical demand. The much greater scale of electricity use per site in this sector creates an opportunity that represents "lower hanging fruit" compared with the difficulties associated with benefiting from smart grid functionality in residential applications.

IMS Research is the leading provider of data on the industrial electronics segment, covering key electricity consuming equipment such as motors and lighting, as well as devices that contribute to smarter electricity consumption such as tenant and sub-billing meters and energy management systems.