Purpose-built digital solutions are changing how facilities teams cut waste and reduce risk

Unlike traditional office spaces, high-stakes environments like hospitals cannot simply "turn off" spaces like operating rooms. Data centers fail without reliable cooling. Advanced manufacturing facilities can't maintain uptime and compliance with a generic dashboard. 

As digital tools become standard across facilities management, teams that manage spaces with highly specific needs are increasingly seeking out technology that goes beyond monitoring, analytics and automation. They need technology built around industry-specific risks, workflows and outcomes. 

This approach is driving a new generation of purpose-built innovations designed around the realities of hospitals, data centers, advanced manufacturing facilities and other specialized environments.

At the recent Johnson Controls Digital Technology Conference, Executive Director of Product Management at Johnson Controls, Kyle Shamrock, highlighted several examples of these solutions. The examples point to three ways purpose-built digital solutions create value: they are designed around industry-specific workflows, they automate action instead of simply surfacing data and they focus on measurable outcomes. 

Reducing energy waste in hospitals

One example Shamrock highlighted is the challenge of energy consumption in hospital operating rooms.

Hospitals are among the most energy-intensive building types and operating rooms account for a significant share of that consumption. These spaces require tightly controlled environmental conditions that are often maintained around the clock, regardless of whether a room is actively being used.

“The energy intensity of hospitals in general is three or four times that of traditional commercial buildings,” Shamrock explained. “Multiply that by another three to six times for operating rooms.”

Healthcare organizations recognize both the enormous cost of energy waste and the potential for technology to address this issue. According to our 2026 AI & Digitalization in Healthcare Facilities Management Report, energy management is the focus of 80% of planned smart building technology deployments in hospitals.

However, the unpredictable nature of operating room utilization makes energy optimization difficult to manage using traditional building automation systems alone. Because operating rooms must be ready whenever they are needed, fixed schedules are often impractical.

OpenBlue Operating Room Optimization (ORO) addresses this challenge by combining occupancy data, surgical schedules and building automation controls to automatically reduce energy consumption while maintaining compliance and operating room readiness.

“We’ve seen, on average, $5,000 of annual energy savings per operating room,” said Shamrock. “One of our clients has 31 operating rooms in one hospital, so the energy savings potential is over $150,000.”

Building automation systems play an important role in the management of hospital facilities. However, purpose-built solutions like ORO take those capabilities a step further to help healthcare organizations capture energy savings while maintaining operating room readiness and reliability.

Bridging the gap between needs and capabilities

While ORO was developed specifically for hospitals, Shamrock noted that some of the technology has potential applications in industries that are facing similar challenges.

During the session, a higher education facility manager described a large recreation center that can accommodate 400 occupants for special events but is typically only used by a handful of people. Because the space must be conditioned to meet its maximum design requirements, the facility consumes far more energy than its day-to-day occupancy would suggest.

According to Shamrock, this is the type of scenario where OpenBlue could create value beyond healthcare. By combining building data with scheduling information and automating responses through the building automation system, colleges and universities could better align energy consumption with actual space utilization.

The example illustrates how technologies developed for one industry can often solve similar operational challenges in others.

Delivering outcomes, not just insights

ORO also demonstrates how purpose-built innovation turns insight into action. Rather than simply identifying opportunities to reduce energy consumption, the solution automatically implements setback strategies while maintaining compliance and readiness requirements.

During the session, Shamrock emphasized that the goal of industry-specific solutions is not simply to provide facility teams with more reports or dashboards. Instead, the objective is to develop solutions that automate complex workflows and deliver measurable results with minimal effort.

“This isn't a solution that simply provides analytics and data for someone to act on,” said Shamrock. “We install it and it immediately starts generating savings.”

Purpose-built applications are often designed with this outcome-focused philosophy in mind. OpenBlue helps operators of data centers, pharmaceutical labs and other mission-critical environments maintain the conditions required for safety, compliance and operational performance.

Rather than relying on staff to manually track environmental data and investigate deviations, OpenBlue automates monitoring, alerting and workflow management. This enables faster responses when conditions fall outside acceptable parameters.

As a result, organizations can realize value faster while reducing the time and resources required to manage ongoing optimization.

Optimizing cooling in data centers

Data centers are another example of how industry-specific operational requirements can influence the value of digital solutions. With large numbers of chillers supporting cooling operations, even small efficiency improvements can significantly reduce energy consumption and increase reliability.

During the session, Shamrock highlighted OpenBlue Central Utility Plant Optimization (CUPO) as a solution for data center environments. In addition to optimizing chiller performance, CUPO operates on premises, addressing connectivity and security considerations that are often top-of-mind for facility managers.

This example illustrates another dimension of purpose-built innovation. The greatest opportunities often come from applying existing technologies to industry-specific challenges in new and innovative ways.

The future of purpose-built innovation

As digitalization in workplace and facilities management advances, technology providers like OpenBlue are focused on developing solutions that help organizations build on existing digital capabilities to address industry-specific challenges.

“What I think about is, ‘What does my solution do, how does it create value, and where do we see similarities in other industries?’” said Shamrock. “At OpenBlue, as we think about where to go next, we look for the spaces and environments where these same challenges exist."

The future of intelligent buildings and connected operations is not simply about making facilities more intelligent. It is about making technology more relevant, more actionable and more closely aligned with the unique mission of the environments it serves.

FAQs

What are OpenBlue Industry Solutions?

OpenBlue Industry Solutions are purpose-built digital applications from Johnson Controls that address industry-specific operational challenges by combining core OpenBlue capabilities with new, targeted functionality. These solutions are designed for environments where building performance directly affects business, mission or clinical outcomes. Some common facility types that benefit from OpenBlue Industry Solutions include hospitals, data centers, manufacturing plants, sports arenas, and oil and gas facilities.

How does OpenBlue Operating Room Optimization help hospitals reduce energy use?

OpenBlue Operating Room Optimization helps hospitals reduce energy use by automatically adjusting HVAC settings when operating rooms are not in use, while maintaining the environmental conditions required for clinical readiness and compliance. The solution can combine occupancy sensors, surgery schedule integration, local displays with manual override and building automation controls to reduce wasted energy without disrupting clinical workflows.

Why are purpose-built digital solutions important for facilities management?

Purpose-built digital solutions help facilities teams move beyond broad visibility and analytics to address the specific challenges of their industry or building type. By aligning digital intelligence with operational requirements – such as compliance reporting, energy optimization, safety monitoring or mission-critical uptime – these solutions can help organizations automate complex workflows, improve performance and deliver measurable outcomes more quickly.