Optimizing Building Operations With AI-Powered Controls

Smart building technology is no longer a “nice-to-have” enhancement. It has become a critical aspect necessary to propel the evolution of building performance and meet the business demands of today, and the future. Commercial buildings account for 40% of all U.S. energy use.¹ Intelligent building technologies available today have the ability to drive sustainability while lowering operational costs and simplifying facility management. Automation powered by artificial intelligence (AI) can streamline workflows and synthesize data into actionable insights. Advanced analytics and predictive maintenance can significantly extend equipment life and maximize uptime. And innovative technologies such as digital twins can provide accurate testing grounds for trial equipment upgrades or process operational changes. With all of this innovation readily available, optimizing building operations with AI-powered controls may sound like an easy decision. However, the average facility today still runs on an assembly of disconnected subsystems that limit data to one area of operation or one stage in the building life cycle.²

Without a fully integrated solution, facility teams are unable to unlock the insights necessary to make meaningful progress toward their goals. In some instances, these opportunities can result in as much as 30% higher energy expenditures and 40% higher emissions than what can be achieved when an AI-powered building automation system (BAS) is deployed.³

Intelligent building controls holistically integrate data from building assets, operational processes and external factors like weather patterns and utility rates. Using AI technologies, building performance is amplified and facility management complexities are streamlined, allowing teams to focus on the most strategic tasks.

Advancements in AI Building Technologies
Traditional BAS platforms are designed with pre-programmed control logic that relies on fixed if/then standards to manage building operations. For instance, if the temperature within a space rises above a set limit, the cooling system is activated until the desired temperature is achieved. Although these static setpoints have been instrumental in automating basic operations, they are unable to consider the dynamic nature of buildings such as occupant experience, energy efficiency and utility rate programs. Because of this, standard BAS operations are often limited to only one stage in the building life cycle or one specific area of operations.

Today, advancements in intelligent BAS platforms encompass every stage of a building’s life cycle and its subsystems to provide a holistic and adaptive building management solution. Powered by AI, these innovative digital platforms make buildings smarter, more comfortable, more energy-efficient and easier to operate. AI-powered controls synthesize and analyze vast amounts of building data from a multitude of sources including power usage, equipment health and even weather patterns and combine it with dynamic inputs such as occupant preferences or sustainability goals. By reading the live activity of the building and learning from historical performance data, the platform is continuously adapting in real-time to meet and maintain these objectives. Data is contextualized to be easily interpreted while providing clear and actionable insights. For example, fault detection and fault triage technologies can alert teams to potential issues before they become a problem to maximize uptime. This information can serve as a guide for facility teams and service providers to reduce troubleshooting cycles and enable them to get to the root cause of problems more quickly.

Advantages of AI-Powered Building Management
At its core, AI building optimization is designed to empower facility managers by enabling data-backed decision-making and freeing them from repetitive and routine tasks so they can focus on more strategic activities. Dashboards, analytics, and alarms help staff proactively monitor asset effectiveness, prioritize issues, and meet occupant demands for comfort and safety. Imagine a facility where routine and repetitive workflows are automated to reduce manpower and allow teams to focus more time where it matters most. AI-assisted troubleshooting allows novice personnel to more efficiently progress within their roles.

Predictive maintenance and fault analyses alert teams to potential equipment issues before they become a problem to eliminate unplanned downtime and extend equipment life. Maintenance costs are minimized through remote service and monitoring. Energy efficiency is maximized by sensing space usage and learning from historical data such as heating and cooling load patterns, occupant behaviors and even weather patterns. Building systems automatically work in tandem with outdoor conditions, enabling fresh air flow and free cooling. This may sound too good to be true, but all of these actions, and more, are capable when AI-powered controls are deployed.

By continuously gathering and analyzing dynamic data, an AI-powered BAS can assess how efficiently building systems operate and chart this performance against individual business goals while providing recommendations with actions facility teams can implement. This process can significantly reduce the time necessary to manually collect data. Additionally, intelligent features allow building operators to simulate and plan for extreme weather conditions, equipment life cycles and fluctuating utility pricing, among many other scenarios. For example, a digital twin can create a realistic simulation of the facility to model and illustrate changes in equipment integration and energy costs, establishing proof points that can inform capital investments and long-term planning.

Preparing for Digitalization
As facility teams prepare for digital optimization, evaluating historical data and defining KPIs can help to identify where and how AI can deliver the strongest value. Begin first by analyzing performance from across the building, pulling in data collected from legacy BAS solutions as well as energy costs, incident response and maintenance logs. This information can help to inform a baseline metric to measure future performance. As systems are deployed and refined over time, deeper analytics can uncover future opportunities to scale or optimize for additional goals.

When selecting a BAS platform, it is important to ensure the system is embedded with zero-trust cybersecurity protocols that are integrated throughout the hardware, software, and hosted services. Additionally, facility teams must train staff in security best practices, such as establishing role-based access and multifactor authentication (MFA) to protect systems from unauthorized manipulation. Modeling potential risks and establishing response protocols will also help to ensure preparedness.

The Future of Building Operations Is Now
Advanced BAS solutions are vital to accelerating building performance. AI-powered platforms create a dynamic environment that is more energy-efficient, more reliable, and more intuitive to operate. Without IoT integration, an average of 30% of the energy used within commercial buildings is wasted.⁴ Intelligent building controls can help to uncover these hidden inefficiencies, optimize space, assess equipment impact, and improve energy usage to unlock cost-savings and streamline workflows.

Intelligent BAS solutions powered by AI are driving the digital transformation of commercial buildings. These platforms can amplify building performance and empower facility management. Partnering with an end-to-end solutions provider will help to ensure successful execution while also providing the support necessary to scale and adapt over time.

Kaishi Zhang is the Vice President of Global Product Management, Building Automation Systems and Controls at Johnson Controls. In his role, Kaishi and his team develop and execute Johnson Controls strategy driving toward the organization’s autonomous building vision. Prior to joining Johnson Controls, Kaishi held leadership positions at Schneider Electric and Rockwell Automation.

1. U.S. Department of Energy (April 2024), “Data and analysis for building sector innovation,” www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/data-and-analysis-buildings-sector-innovation[↩]
2. Forrester Consulting in collaboration with Johnson Controls (November 2023), “Cracking the code: Unleash your smart buildings strategy with the power of facility data” (pg. 7, figure 2), www.johnsoncontrols.com/-/media/project/jci-global/johnson-controls/us-region/united-states-johnson-controls/insights/files/2023/jci-tlp-final-112923.pdf.[↩]
3. Johnson Controls (2023), “OpenBlue Enterprise Manager: Unlock the performance of your building” (brochure), www.johnsoncontrols.com/-/media/project/jci-global/johnson-controls/us-region/united-states-johnson-controls/open-blue/energy-efficiency-and-sustainability/documents/jciobemenergyefficiencysustainabilitybrochure1.pdf.[↩]
4. U.S. Department of Energy (2020), “About the commercial buildings integration program,” www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/about-commercial-buildings-integration-program.[↩]