Building automation can reduce energy consumption by up to 40 percent. Based in Clifton, New Jersey, Skyline Automation has a workforce of 40, and generated sales of 12 million dollars in 2015. The building service provider Climatec was acquired by Bosch in 2015, and has so far been active in the western United States.

“In acquiring Skyline, we are bolstering our activities in energy and building technology at a technical level and expanding our presence in the North American market, which is showing solid growth,” said Dr. Stefan Hartung at a press conference in Stuttgart. Hartung is the member of the board of management at Robert Bosch GmbH responsible for the Energy and Building Technology business sector. “Following the takeover of Climatec, this is the next strategic step on our path to becoming a single-source provider of connected systems and services for buildings.”

Connected solutions enable Bosch to tap into many new possibilities in its activities with energy and building technology, particularly where services are concerned. Market experts estimate that the global market for intelligent building technology will grow from its current level of around 6 billion dollars to around 25 billion dollars by 2021 – the equivalent of an average annual growth rate of 34 percent. “Services are becoming an integral part of our business. Every sale of hardware will be followed by the sale of complementary services in the future,” Hartung said. When it comes to developing and launching services for the connected world, Bosch’s broad business portfolio is a huge advantage, as is its expertise in software and sensors. “We are connecting cars with houses, and connecting entire cities. For tasks like this, Bosch contributes technical expertise from a wide range of different types of devices in a way that no other company can.”

Bosch Energy and Building Technology includes the Thermotechnology, Security Systems, and Service Solutions divisions, as well as the subsidiaries Smart Home and Energy Storage Solutions. In 2015, the Energy and Building Technology business sector generated sales of 5.1 billion euros.