As rising temperatures become the new normal, intelligent building controls are helping commercial buildings stay comfortable, resilient and energy efficient.
The recent spell of exceptionally hot weather has once again prompted comparisons with the summer of 1976. For many building owners and facilities managers, however, the conversation has moved beyond record temperatures. The real question is whether the UK's commercial buildings are equipped to operate effectively as extreme heat looks set to become an increasingly regular feature of our climate.
Recent stories highlighting overheating in workplaces, schools and public buildings have reinforced concerns that much of the UK's building stock was never designed to cope with prolonged periods of high temperatures. The Climate Change Committee's latest report, A Well-Adapted UK, makes it clear that rising temperatures and more frequent heatwaves should no longer be viewed as exceptional events. They are becoming part of the operating environment that building owners must plan for.
According to Ron Purcell, Vice President of the Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA) and Product Manager at Siemens, this represents a fundamental shift in how buildings need to operate.
"Having worked in building controls and automation for more than 40 years, I've seen how expectations of buildings have evolved. Occupiers once judged buildings largely on whether they provided heating in winter and cooling in summer. Today, expectations are far greater. Buildings are expected to reduce carbon emissions, minimise energy consumption, provide healthy, comfortable spaces for occupants and adapt continuously to changing environmental conditions. Achieving all of that with fixed operating schedules is becoming increasingly difficult."
The challenge is that many non-domestic buildings were designed to retain heat during colder months rather than manage prolonged periods of high external temperatures. As a result, overheating is becoming far more than an issue of occupant comfort. It is affecting productivity, wellbeing, operational resilience and, ultimately, energy costs. Whether in offices, schools, hospitals or other public buildings, maintaining safe and comfortable indoor environments is becoming an increasingly important operational priority.
Buildings can't afford to stand still
Many existing control strategies still rely on fixed heating, cooling and ventilation schedules that were designed for predictable occupancy patterns and relatively stable external conditions. Today's buildings rarely operate that way. Occupancy levels fluctuate, solar gains vary throughout the day and external temperatures can change significantly within a matter of hours. Facilities teams can quickly find themselves reacting to complaints rather than proactively managing building performance.
This is where intelligent building controls and Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) are making an increasingly important contribution.
Rather than operating to fixed schedules, modern systems continuously assess conditions across the building and automatically optimise heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting in real time. They analyse thousands of operational data points, adjusting plant and equipment only where and when it is needed. By responding dynamically to occupancy, weather conditions and operational demand, they help maintain comfortable indoor environments while avoiding unnecessary energy consumption.
As Ron explains: "Buildings are becoming increasingly dynamic environments. Controls need to respond just as dynamically. The ability to continuously monitor performance and optimise systems in real time is becoming essential if buildings are to remain comfortable, efficient and resilient as our climate continues to change."
Importantly, climate adaptation and energy efficiency are not competing objectives. There is often a misconception that keeping buildings cooler inevitably means using more energy. Intelligent controls demonstrate that the opposite can often be true. By ensuring systems operate more efficiently and only when required, organisations can reduce unnecessary energy use while improving occupant comfort throughout the hottest periods of the year.
Building controls can be even more effective when deployed alongside other complementary measures such as solar shading, natural ventilation strategies and improvements to building fabric and Thermal mass.
Intelligent controls deliver more than energy savings
Evidence presented in BCIA's white paper, Comfort, Efficiency and Health: The Untapped Potential of Building Energy Management Systems, demonstrates just how significant these benefits can be. Advanced Class A BEMS deliver average energy and carbon savings of around 30%, but the wider operational benefits are equally compelling.
Research suggests improved workplace comfort could contribute an additional £12.75 billion in annual Gross Value Added by 2050, while advanced Class A BEMS could reduce workforce sickness absence by around two million days every year. Better learning environments also matter, with the research estimating that more than 552,000 additional pupils could have passed national examinations if every classroom had benefited from advanced building controls.
These findings reinforce an important point. Intelligent building controls are no longer simply an energy-saving technology. They are becoming fundamental to creating buildings that perform better for the people who occupy them, while supporting compliance, operational efficiency and long-term asset performance.
Preparing buildings for a changing climate
Across the industry, we're also seeing a broader shift towards data-driven building operation. Proactive maintenance is replacing reactive facilities management, allowing organisations to identify inefficiencies before they become problems, monitor performance over time and make better-informed operational decisions. This visibility also enables building owners to plan maintenance more effectively and demonstrate measurable improvements in energy performance.
This connected approach will become increasingly important as climate risks continue to evolve. Future-ready buildings will depend on systems that provide visibility of performance, adapt automatically to changing conditions and optimise operation throughout the building's lifecycle.
For controls specialists and system integrators, this represents a significant opportunity. As organisations invest in making buildings more resilient, demand for intelligent building controls, connected systems and ongoing optimisation will continue to grow across both new-build and retrofit projects.
Overheating is no longer a future design consideration. It is becoming an everyday operational challenge. The organisations that respond most effectively will be those that recognise intelligent building controls as essential infrastructure for resilient, adaptable and high-performing buildings. As our climate continues to change, the smartest buildings will not simply consume less energy; they will continuously learn, respond and adapt to the environment around them.