How is Johnson Controls responding to the ever-changing needs of the FM world?

Facility managers face growing pressures to balance cost, sustainability, and occupant expectations and extend the life of their facilities’ assets and buildings while adapting to rapidly changing environments. Johnson Controls OpenBlue is here to help by unifying live building data from over 130 sources into a single, secure, OEM-agnostic platform that uses the power of AI to analyze operations and recommend ways to optimize.

With all this data at their fingertips, facility teams can shift from reactive to proactive operations—optimizing energy use and extending asset life. Customers leveraging OpenBlue have achieved a 10 percent reduction in energy spend, freeing up money to invest in business growth while advancing sustainability goals. Combined with zero-trust cybersecurity and privacy-by-design, OpenBlue gives FM leaders the agility to adapt with confidence and build smarter, more resilient facilities across their portfolios.

 

How is your Johnson Controls changing the FM industry?

For decades, FMs have struggled with siloed operations and tools that don’t integrate or talk to each other. Johnson Controls OpenBlue allows FMs to build connected, intelligent ecosystems with normalized data across all systems to provide predictive insights and automated recommendations that cut costs, improve uptime, and simplify compliance reporting. Customers have seen a 67 percent reduction in annual chiller server costs thanks to AI-driven diagnostics and predictive maintenance that extend asset life and reduce downtime. At the same time, streamlined reporting enables FM leaders to focus on the areas with greatest impact – all while providing day-to-day energy savings that free up money to invest in growth for your business.

With these advancements, OpenBlue is setting a new standard—helping facility managers deliver operational efficiency and sustainable value at scale.

What’s on the horizon in your field, and how is Johnson Controls meeting those challenges and opportunities?

The future of FM is increasingly defined by decarbonization, flexible workplace strategies and the need to demonstrate ROI. OpenBlue is helping organizations meet these opportunities by combining AI optimization, advanced diagnostics, and portfolio-level insights to create smarter, more autonomous buildings.

Organizations using OpenBlue have realized leased real estate savings up to 21.9 percent, and 155 percent ROI while strengthening resilience and compliance readiness. With built-in cybersecurity and privacy safeguards, OpenBlue also ensures that as buildings become more connected, they remain secure, sustainable, and future-ready.

What research or product innovations is Johnson Controls working on that will help FMs be more successful in their roles?

OpenBlue has already leveraged AI to generate insights, allow autonomous building controls, and simulate central utility plant operations. We’re hard at work to make AI offer even more support for our customers, saving them time and opening up new possibilities for the future.

Additional innovations are coming soon. We’re expanding our new AI assistant to all solutions to seamlessly present information important to the user, reducing the amount of time required for analyzing reports. We’ll pair that assistant with new, real-time insights that drive business value and cost savings, like predicting optimal HVAC operating times, future equipment upgrades, future space requirements and automated onboarding of system/device data using AI.

Tell us Johnson Controls’ “why” in the FM world.

This year, we proudly celebrate 140 years of innovation. In 1885, Warren Johnson founded Johnson Controls after inventing the first thermostat, leading the way in building performance.

With every breakthrough, we have shaped the spaces where people live, work, learn, and play—introducing the first automatic sprinkler, the first building automation system to optimize efficiency, the first air-conditioned commercial building for comfort, and the first security panel with a remote arming keypad to enhance safety.

From these historic milestones to transforming the future of buildings with award-winning AI technologies, we continue to set new standards and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Innovation is in our DNA. With more than 8,000 active patents and over three billion dollars invested in engineering, research, and development in the last 10 years, Johnson Controls is redefining the future of buildings. Our innovations continue to transform industries and improve lives.

As we celebrate 140 years, we remain focused on what’s ahead—shaping the evolution of buildings, leading the industry forward, and powering our customers’ missions.

Why should FMs pick Johnson Controls as a partner?

Johnson Controls OpenBlue is here to help businesses cut costs and grow with cutting-edge technology and industry expertise. OpenBlue integrates energy management, asset tracking, and occupant experience, leveraging AI and machine learning to provide actionable insights. Customers have saved 10 percent on energy costs and lower operating expenses and carbon emissions. Our team, with extensive building systems knowledge, ensures OpenBlue solutions are effective and adaptable to evolving needs. Our flexible software-development process swiftly addresses new challenges, ensuring operational excellence and reliability.

With over 140 years of innovation and more than 8,000 active patents, Johnson Controls is redefining the future of buildings. Choosing OpenBlue means enhancing building performance, including up to 67 percent reduction in chiller maintenance, cutting energy costs and improving occupant satisfaction through advanced technologies like Digital Twin.