By: Kevin Sarb
Ducker Carlisle participated at the AHR Expo in Las Vegas last week, the leading HVACR show in North America. Unsurprisingly, energy efficiency, electrification, and AI-empowered building system automation were key topics.
- Building system convergence and automation is accelerating: Compared to the 2025 show last year, it is apparent that leading building management system offerings have advanced and further incorporated AI. Leading players in this space have advanced capabilities to integrate multiple systems with open protocols and monitor with AI capabilities. The push is towards an automated building which maximizes energy efficiency and improves productivity, whether that is of the occupants who use the building or the systems that function within the building (servers, industrial processes, etc.)
- Electrification continues unabated, which changes the building ecosystem: The future of HVACR solutions must account for ongoing electrification, whether this is more electrified solutions (e.g., heat pumps), or contributing to better energy efficiency and carbon reduction. This will require more coordination between mechanical and electrical contractors, and will also change the MRO cycles and cadence for systems in operation.
- Data is currency, and sensors are the golden goose as AI penetration increases: Any building management system, with burgeoning AI capabilities, requires extensive data to inform models. The value of AI solutions stems from their ability to analyze and respond to very large amounts of data. Thus, sensors and sensing technology are critical to provide HVACR and building management AI solutions with the amount of accurate data needed to function as designed. Think of sensors and sensing technologies as a dollar-printing press or a goose laying golden eggs for AI solutions.
- Building automation value is assumed, but not fully understood: While there are obvious economic benefits from AI-enhanced building systems optimizing energy usage and security, is there real value from automated systems adjusting room temperatures to individuals’ desires in offices? Will there be a willingness to pay for such features? Will people be comfortable with fully delegating critical building system operating decisions to AI? Will that lead to better overall outcomes than a facility manager overseeing connected building systems? All to be seen in the near future!
Smart Buildings Are Table Stakes, The Winners Will Own System Control and
At AHR Expo in Las Vegas, the storyline was not “new HVACR products.” It was control. Who runs the building, how systems connect, and what data is required to make automation pay.
Energy efficiency, electrification, and AI showed up everywhere. The bigger shift is that building automation is moving from monitoring to operating, and that changes the ecosystem fast.
1) System convergence is accelerating, as buildings are systems of systems
Leading building management platforms are getting better at integrating HVAC, lighting, security, access, and other subsystems through open protocols. AI is increasingly positioned as the layer that detects issues, optimizes performance, and in some cases recommends or executes changes.
What it means
- Dashboards are table stakes. Integration and measurable outcomes win.
- Interoperability is now a buying gate, not a nice-to-have.
- Platform control creates winners and squeezes standalone point solutions.
Opportunity
- Control-plane players can win by making integration repeatable and proving outcomes.
- OEMs must decide, integrate cleanly into the control plane or compete to own it.
- Service providers can grow high-margin offers around continuous commissioning, fault detection, and performance optimization.
2) Electrification is an ecosystem reset, not a single product trend
Heat pumps are the visible headline, but the real change is coordination. As electric loads increase and controls tighten, mechanical and electrical work overlaps more, coordination becomes even more critical, and service skills shift.
What it means
- More cross-trade coordination between mechanical and electrical contractors.
- MRO cadence changes as systems become more connected, software-driven, and performance-managed with machine and system downtime becoming very costly.
- The value story ties to grid realities, demand management, and sustainability, not comfort alone.
Opportunity
- Package “electrification readiness” as an offering, assessment, upgrade path, integration plan, performance model.
- Build recurring services around load management, power-related reliability, and operational optimization.
3) Data is the currency, sensors are the leverage
AI only performs if the data is dense, accurate, and consistent. That puts sensors and sensing strategy at the center of the value chain. If AI is the brain, sensors are the nervous system, and nervous systems require installation, calibration, maintenance, and replacement. That is durable revenue.
What it means
- Data quality becomes competitive advantage.
- Sensing architecture and lifecycle planning become core to delivering outcomes.
- “AI-powered” claims fail quickly without reliable inputs.
Opportunity
- Sensor providers and those who own the sensing layer are positioned to benefit disproportionately.
- Integrators and service firms can monetize “data hygiene,” auditing, tuning, and validation.
4) Automation value is assumed, but willingness to pay is uneven
Energy optimization and security have clear ROI. Hyper-personalized comfort and fully autonomous decisions are less proven, and trust is still being earned.
What it means
- Buyers want outcomes, not “AI.” Lower energy use, fewer truck rolls, less downtime, better IAQ, cleaner reporting.
- Many will prefer AI recommendations first, autonomy later, after proof.
Opportunity
- Win deals with quantified ROI for all players in the ecosystem (building owners, building operators, contractors, engineers, etc.) and a proof plan, not demos.
- Offer automation in tiers, monitor, recommend, partial automation, full autonomy, matched to risk tolerance.
- Build trust features into the product, audit trails, overrides, transparency.
Bottom line
Buildings are becoming more autonomous. The winners will be the ones who can integrate systems cleanly, make electrification operationally manageable, turn sensor data into reliable outcomes, and prove ROI in plain dollars.