Having long been penalised by the high cost of overly large building automation systems (BAS), the owners of smaller premises, particularly in retail, can finally now access lightweight, effective and affordable solutions.
The evidence speaks for itself. According to GIMELEC, the group of companies in the French digital electronics industry, in 2025, just 16% of retail sites and buildings were equipped with a BACS (building automation & control system) or BAS (building automation system). Most notably, the total number had only increased by 1% compared with 2024. This is far less than dictated by the regulatory roadmap, which requires 100% of existing tertiary buildings with effective rated output of more than 70 kW to have such a system installed by 1 January 2030.
The sector will therefore need to redouble its efforts, particularly in regard to premises smaller than 1,000 sq. metres, only 7% of which have invested in a BAS (compared with 80% of premises larger than 20,000 sq. m).
The problem is that the standards are incompatible with the needs and budgets of their owners and operators.
“The solution was initially designed for larger premises and the material cost reflects that, in the order of €40,000, or even more as capacity and function increase,” explains Damien Fougère, Business Unit General Manager at Elec Ouest (VINCI Energies Building Solutions). “These levels of investment are prohibitive for food retail chains, specialist stores, bank branches and restaurants, for instance.”
Simple, lightweight solutions
Given the size of the market to be satisfied, sector representatives, with GIMELEC in the forefront, are recommending accelerated development of “mini-BAS” tailored to the operational needs of smaller premises, especially in retail. “Several manufacturers are in the process of building provision based on simple, lightweight solutions with no compromise on performance and security,” says Damien Fougère.
“The smaller size doesn’t affect the returns in terms of energy efficiency.”
A VINCI Energies subsidiary specialising in the integration of power supply and low-voltage solutions for retail premises and for industrial and logistics buildings, Elec Ouest is offering its customers a turnkey solution based on Loxone technology.
“It’s a small, licence-free automated system that’s easy to program because it integrates natively with the monitoring system,” explains Ronan Bédu, Project Manager at Elec Ouest. “You just have to install it on the distribution board and configure it to the specific needs of the site.”
Reduced electricity consumption
A mini-BAS, however small, is still a BAS. Its purpose is to reduce a site’s overall energy consumption by automating applications such as the lighting in car parks, service areas, and retail floors; the alarm system; metal blinds; the heating, ventilation and climate control (HVAC) system; movable sun shades; etc. “A mini-BAS certainly implies less computing power and a narrower range of applications restricted to essential functions, but the smaller size doesn’t affect the returns in terms of energy efficiency,” says Ronan Bédu. “With a lightweight automated system operated via a mobile application, it is possible to reduce electricity consumption by 30%. Plus, those customers that manage multiple branches or stores can have full visibility across all their assets.”
05/20/2026
