Smart buildings are not an option for the 21st Century – they are a necessity. These agile, responsive environments leverage building data to optimize operations and lower facility costs, while increasing safety and sustainability. Smart buildings adapt to occupancy needs in real time, while optimizing energy usage as much as possible. They often connect internal systems – HVAC controls, data networks, power management, etc. – with external networks to more efficiently monitor and manage building operations.

Building owners, operators and managers have traditionally evaluated and purchased smart building capabilities based on business criteria such as functionality, efficiency, cost, reliability and quality. But as you evaluate your next investment, cybersecurity must also be a factor. As access to building data and operational systems increases, so do the challenges associated with securing the smart building environment. The same capabilities that provide beneficial new features – such as remotely accessible performance analytics or carbon-emission monitoring, can also introduce cyber risk to your occupants and your bottom line.

It is no longer enough for a building to be smart – it must now be cybersmart.

A new whitepaper published today jointly by Johnson Controls and Booz Allen Hamilton, a management and technology consulting and engineering firm, provides a roadmap for building managers, building owners, contractors and others to act to protect their information.

This collaboration between two industry leading companies, with over 200 years of combined expertise in their industries, illustrates the great progress being made in raising awareness of the need for cybersecure smart buildings, coined “cybersmart buildings” in this publication.

“Securing smart buildings and building systems more generally, is a shared responsibility requiring focus and commitment from the manufacturer, integrator, and customer,” said Jason Rosselot, director of Johnson Controls’ global product security. “Just as two industry leading companies were able to collaborate to create this whitepaper, so too can smart building stakeholders partner to follow these recommendations and create cybersmart buildings.”