Five Trends Shaping the Future of Building Management

Facility management looks very different than it did even a few years ago. Building owners and operators face new daily challenges, requirements and expectations while engaging new innovations and technologies to elevate building performance. The accelerated pace of change has many wondering how they can manage properties efficiently and effectively, now and in the future.

While there are many factors at play, there are some that have more influence than others. Here are five trends shaping the future of building management:

1. Smart Building Innovation

As the adoption of smart integrated building systems grows and the technology itself advances, occupants, tenants and facility teams have new expectations about what buildings should deliver. They expect cyber-secure smart buildings with more intelligence and cross-domain integrations.

Data is the foundation for optimized dynamic building environments. However, many facilities lack complete digital integration and leave facility managers without access to insights needed to effectively and efficiently manage property.

The future of building technologies lies in intelligent integration and centralized control that can optimize energy consumption, improve occupant comfort and dynamically adapt to changing environmental conditions.

For instance, next generation building automation system (BAS) platforms can integrate multigenerational subsystems that contain multiple vendor solutions. This centralizes real-time data visibility from sensors, equipment and controls and, ultimately unifies overall facility performance.

2. Energy Management and Sustainability

Utility costs are continuing to increase, with wholesale prices expected to rise by 19% on average between 2025 and 2028 and distribution expenses projected to also increase.¹

About 30% of the energy the average commercial building consumes goes to waste, offering a great opportunity for cost savings, as well as lower emissions.² Building owners and facility managers who can track real-time usage and identify inefficiencies are positioned to optimize energy use, reduce operating expenses and meet sustainability targets.

Integrating and unifying consumption data from building systems, including HVAC equipment, lighting and security platforms, using a BAS can give facility teams a clear understanding of energy consumption and costs.

These BAS have energy dashboards that provide a clear breakdown of energy consumption, including type and location of use. Facility operators can use the data to identify trends and peak usage to develop energy management strategies and goals. In this way, they can reduce utility costs while enhancing energy efficiency.

In addition to monitoring, a BAS platform can automate functions to maximize efficiency. Systems equipped with pre-set applications, such as ASHRAE Guideline 36 (G36), help deploy built-in HVAC control sequences, ensuring a balanced approach to indoor air quality (IAQ) and comfort. Implementing G36 can significantly reduce HVAC energy consumption while maintaining optimal environmental conditions.

3. User-Centric Experiences for Occupant Health & Comfort

The way building environments affect occupant health and wellness is now influencing new building system design. Specifications must meet evolving requirements for comfort and IAQ. As a result, buildings are becoming more intelligent and responsive with adaptive, sensor-driven environments.

Combining intelligent BAS and sensorification – the use of smart sensors throughout a building – enables real-time, dynamic environmental data measurement in individual and community spaces. Environmental data can include temperature, humidity, pollutants and allergens, CO₂ levels, occupant levels, light, and noise, depending on the type of sensors deployed.

By integrating real-time monitoring with automated control sequences, intelligent BAS platforms use occupant data to analyze environmental data and automatically adjust conditions to maintain optimum bands of performance. When the system detects changes in building activity, it dynamically fine-tunes building system performance and parameters to maintain occupant comfort and well-being. This real-time, environmental awareness helps ensure occupants have just the right temperature and air quality to support both health and productivity.

A building with this level of sensitivity allows for a personalized experience on a large scale, and, over time, building owners can gain valuable behavioral insights to inform better design, improving occupant satisfaction and overall efficiency. This can be especially important to buildings with distinct outcomes. Advanced BAS solutions can enhance occupant well-being in schools and office buildings, as well as ensure optimal conditions in mission-critical environments such as data centers and operating rooms.

4. Shifting Workforce Demographics

The facility management workforce is evolving rapidly. There are about 31,400 job openings for facility managers and administrative services projected annually through 2032.³ While job opportunities grow, smart technologies continue to advance. Most of those entering new roles are digital natives, used to intuitive interfaces. For them to thrive in connected, fast-paced, intelligent environments, building system capabilities must be intuitive with easy operation.

Building owners can empower a future-ready workforce and fill skilled labor gaps using smart automation. Intelligent BAS can provide seamless connectivity, intuitive graphical user interfaces and real-time insights to help building operators easily navigate and manage complex building environments.

System interfaces offer centralized control, remote access and interactive dashboards that are both accessible and familiar to the daily digital experiences of modern workers. Automated workflows and predictive analytics further streamline daily tasks and power predictive maintenance, helping new professionals excel while driving efficiency and innovation forward.

5. Building Maturation

About half of U.S. commercial buildings were built before 1980, well before modern efficiency standards and contemporary building practices.⁴ Aging infrastructure may not align with occupant expectations and climate imperatives, accelerating the demand for building retrofits.

Smart retrofitting starts with lifecycle planning. This foundational pillar ensures the upgrades are resilient, sustainable and technologically adaptable over time. This means new technology, including BAS, must easily integrate into existing environments and adapt over its life, as well as the life of the building.

With lifecycle awareness and a comprehensive approach, building owners can:

• Design for whole-of-life sustainability
• Unlock long-term financial efficiency
• Avoid the pitfalls of patchwork upgrades
• Balance heritage preservation with smart health
• Future-proof for regulatory and technological change

Open-protocol BAS with cloud-based analytics, modular sensor networks and regular upgrades deliver optimal outcomes at each stage of a building’s life and allow it to more easily integrate new technology and adapt to future demands.

Creating Future-Forward Smart Spaces
Buildings are continuing to evolve into highly intelligent and efficient ecosystems, and BAS platforms are becoming more critical to facility management success than ever before. As quickly as industry trends emerge, BAS technology continues to advance and address them, simplifying building management and optimizing outcomes. By harnessing intelligent building management and control, facility teams can achieve unprecedented levels of efficiency and occupant satisfaction, redefining what’s possible within the built environment – today and into the future.

Kaishi Zhang is Vice President of Product Management, Building Automation Systems and Controls, at Johnson Controls.

1. Deloitte. “2025 Power and Utilities Industry Outlook.” 2026 Power and Utilities Industry Outlook | Deloitte Insights[↩]
2. ENERGY STAR. “Small and Medium-Sized Office Buildings.” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Small and Medium-Sized Office Buildings | ENERGY STAR. Accessed July 10, 2025.[↩]
3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Administrative Services and Facilities Managers: Occupational Outlook Handbook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed July 10, 2025.[↩]
4. ABC Blog Series: New Technology to Retrofit America | Department of Energy[↩]