A study from Forrester Consulting found that Johnson Controls’ OpenBlue smart building platform can drive efficiency and cost savings.

Johnson Controls commissioned the study to quantify the total economic impact and benefits of its OpenBlue platform. In the study, Forrester found that a model organisation representing a composite of interviewed customers from multiple industries deploying OpenBlue, including FM:Systems offerings, could achieve up to a 155% return on investment (RoI) over three years.

OpenBlue is an AI-optimised smart building ecosystem of connected products and services. It lets users unlock the performance of their buildings and workplaces with near real-time data visibility. Leveraging enhanced AI, OpenBlue provides tailored energy-saving recommendations based on usage and weather data, helping users reduce operating costs and move towards more autonomous buildings. It is now integrated with FM:Systems products, expanding real time data visibility, creating high-performance workplaces and bringing additional clarity and vision to real-estate decisions.

Other findings for the composite organisation include up to 10% energy savings enhancing overall efficiency, up to 67% reduction in chiller maintenance saving nearly $1.5m over three years, 7% rental premiums resulting in three-year present value of $3.2m, and eight-month payback period based on the total costs and net benefits.

“We believe the findings speak for themselves,” said Vijay Sankaran, chief digital officer at Johnson Controls. “Our OpenBlue and FM:Systems options not only lower operating costs, but also optimise energy use – a win, win. By enhancing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions, we’re helping our customers achieve their sustainability goals and also improve their bottom line. As global companies face pressure to save time and money, our capabilities stand out in delivering both environmental and financial returns.”

A user interviewed for the study said: “OpenBlue has saved us up to 10% on our energy costs. We did some other work to reduce these costs but, as an example, OpenBlue showed us out-of-hours lighting was costing $17,000 per floor of our buildings. Without that insight, we wouldn’t have been able to take action to reduce those expenses and that energy waste.”

Another user added: “Not only is Johnson Controls supplying the critical, backbone items of facilities management, like chillers, fire, security and automation but, by adding a management layer on top of these, they have provided consistency and solid support.”

In November 2024, Johnson Controls expanded its AI capabilities in its OpenBlue Enterprise Manage suite, part of the OpenBlue digital ecosystem. The updates included its first customer-facing generative AI application, more autonomous building controls and an improved user experience, paving the way for additional AI enhancements this year.

Integrated generative AI tools proactively recommend impactful energy savings projects. Upgrades to the user experience focus on personalisation, improved design and compliance with a higher level of accessibility standards. Enhanced indoor air quality monitoring and sensor analytics support smarter and healthier buildings.

FM:Systems also added generative AI to its FMS:Insights analytics platform, enabling users to ask natural language questions about occupancy and use data across their real-estate portfolios.

Johnson Controls (www.johnsoncontrols.com) has more than 8000 active patents and invested $3bn in engineering, research and development over the past decade.

To learn more about the complete study, visit www.johnsoncontrols.com/openblue/total-economic-impact-study.

Forrester (www.forrester.com) interviewed five decision-makers with experience using OpenBlue and FM:Systems. It aggregated the interviewees’ experiences and combined the results into a single composite organisation that is a real-estate investment and development organisation with 1800 total employees and 4.6 million square metres of assets under management. From the information provided in the interviews, Forrester constructed a total economic impact framework for those organisations considering an investment in OpenBlue and FM:Systems (fmsystems.com) products.