INDUSTRY COMMENT Preparing buildings for a hotter future
As the industry considers how buildings must adapt to a hotter future, building controls and Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) are becoming increasingly important tools for maintaining comfort, resilience and operational performance. Jen Vickers, President of the Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA) explains
T
he Climate Change
Committee’s latest report, A Well- Adapted
UK, warns that the country remains underprepared for rising temperatures, overheating risk and wider climate disruption. The report highlights that heatwaves
exceeding 40°C could become increasingly common in parts of the UK, creating growing risks for health, infrastructure and productivity. For the built environment, this represents a significant operational challenge. Commercial offices, schools, hospitals and public buildings were largely designed around heat retention rather than cooling resilience. As a result, overheating in buildings is becoming a growing concern for employers, facilities managers and policymakers alike.
Why overheating is now a building performance issue
Overheating is no longer simply a comfort issue. It has direct implications for worker productivity, occupant wellbeing, learning outcomes and operational resilience. Climate adaptation therefore can’t sit separately from building performance. As with energy performance, overheating risk is ultimately determined by how a building
operates in practice, not simply how it was designed to perform. This is where BEMS and smart building controls become increasingly important.
The growing role of smart building controls for overheating
levels and external conditions, enabling heating, cooling and ventilation systems to respond dynamically throughout the day. The Climate Change Committee has made clear that cooling and heat resilience must become part of wider UK climate adaptation planning. Smart HVAC controls and connected building systems have an important role to play in delivering that resilience at scale.
Why BEMS must support both adaptation and decarbonisation
Adaptation and decarbonisation cannot be treated as competing priorities. Buildings that rely on unmanaged cooling demand risk increasing operational carbon emissions and energy costs. Intelligent building controls help avoid that outcome by optimising ventilation, shading, cooling and occupancy-based strategies more efficiently. Advanced Class A BEMS can reduce energy consumption in non-domestic buildings by 20-30% when properly implemented and
Modern BEMS are no longer simply tools for reducing energy consumption. They are becoming central to how adaptive buildings maintain thermal comfort, indoor air quality and operational efficiency in real time. Advanced building controls can continuously monitor occupancy, temperature, humidity, CO2
managed, demonstrating that improved comfort and lower energy use can go hand in hand.
The BCIA white paper, Comfort, Efficiency and Health: The Untapped Potential of Building Energy Management Systems, highlights the wider benefits of advanced Class A BEMS. The research suggests improved comfort in office environments could contribute an additional £12.75 billion in annual GVA by 2050, while advanced BEMS could help reduce workforce sick days by 2 million per year.
The findings also estimate that 552,000 more pupils could have passed national exams in 2024 if Class A BEMS had been installed in every classroom.
A more joined-up climate adaptation strategy is needed
The UK now needs a more joined-up approach that connects building decarbonisation, overheating policy, climate resilience and operational performance. Buildings cannot be considered climate-adapted if they are unable to maintain healthy indoor environments during periods of extreme heat. The BCIA has previously called for consultation on a statutory maximum indoor air temperature for non-domestic buildings. Real-world building performance must also become a bigger part of future building policy. Designing efficient buildings on paper is no longer enough if they struggle to maintain thermal comfort and healthy indoor conditions in operation. Future-ready buildings will increasingly depend on intelligent building controls, adaptive ventilation strategies and continuous performance optimisation.
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16/6/26 10:19 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JULY 2026 21
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