Johnson Controls expands AI features in OpenBlue digital ecosystem

Johnson Controls today announced significantly expanded AI capabilities in its OpenBlue Enterprise Manager suite of digital solutions, part of the OpenBlue digital ecosystem. The updates, available today, include the first customer-facing generative AI applications, more autonomous building controls, and a significantly improved user experience. These updates pave the way for additional AI enhancements in 2025, focused on globally accepted performance standards, optimized equipment performance for cost savings, and enhanced regulatory compliance.

The expanded AI features take data insights to the next level and build on the measurable impact customers are already seeing when utilizing OpenBlue. With OpenBlue Enterprise Manager guiding facility improvements, coupled with equipment upgrades and proactive services, customers are benefitting from up to a 30% reduction in energy spend, up to a 20% reduction in maintenance spend, and 10% more optimized space utilization.

"The expansion of customer-facing AI features into Johnson Controls OpenBlue marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of building management technology," said Johnson Controls Chief Technology Officer Vijay Sankaran. "These new AI-driven features not only enhance operational efficiency and sustainability but also empower building owners and operators with unprecedented levels of insight and control. We are committed to pioneering innovations that drive automation and create smarter, more responsive environments for our customers."

A recently commissioned Forrester Consulting study found that 90% of respondents say their building systems are not fully integrated, costing time, people, and money. The expanded features in OpenBlue provide clearer insights and better performance, including: 

• Integrated generative AI tools that proactively recommend impactful energy savings projects.
• Major upgrades to the user experience with a focus on personalization, improved design, and compliance with a higher level of accessibility standards.
• Expanded data insights that allow users to see details on building visitors throughout the entire portfolio of buildings, improving the understanding and management of occupants.
• Enhanced indoor air quality monitoring and sensor analytics to support smarter and healthier buildings.
• Automatically adjusting setpoints based on fault diagnostics, saving energy, and accelerating the capture of potential savings.

OpenBlue now has integrated generative AI tools that proactively recommend the most impactful energy savings projects, reducing the need to analyze large amounts of building data. The system anticipates needs, like analyzing energy usage based on live weather data, to create actionable insights, helping customers achieve energy savings and reduction in carbon emissions.

"Our customers have consistently told us that one of the challenges with AI is they are unsure of what questions to ask a generative AI chatbot about their building," said Julius Marchwicki, vice president, digital product management, Johnson Controls. "Our generative AI feature automatically constructs the right prompts that are built from our decades of experience in the commercial buildings space."

The platform also tracks energy conservation projects across over 130 categories, improving data management and managing decarbonization strategies. It supports utility bill management with automatic error correction, reducing billing gaps.

The system can improve productivity through automating processes that traditionally have been manual. It can adjust setpoints based on fault diagnostics, saving energy and carbon and accelerating potential cost savings. Users can enable autonomous actions or use the system to get advice while setting their own operational constraints. It also provides detailed information about equipment performance and trends, from a broad view down to individual pieces of equipment. In this release, OpenBlue autonomous control can now be applied to a broader range of central utility plant designs.

OpenBlue now supports the digitalization of standard operating procedures, speeding up workflows triggered by various events. New workflows can be quickly published to support security and service needs, supporting both manual and autonomous tasks.

This release includes major upgrades to the user experience, focused on design, navigation, and accessibility. With increased focus on space utilization, the system provides an even clearer picture of how spaces are actually used by building occupants. Detailed visitor analytics are available throughout a portfolio of buildings, improving the understanding of visitor activities, along with intelligent planning when anomalies occur. Operators can schedule services, like cleaning, based on occupancy insights, saving resources and money. Updates also include improved indoor air quality monitoring with a broad ecosystem of sensor partners.