Retrofit-Ready Controls: Unlocking Smarter, More Sustainable Commercial Buildings

As commercial buildings face growing pressure to deliver better energy performance, lower carbon emissions, improved occupant experience and long-term operational resilience, smart controls are becoming central to both new build and retrofit strategies. From landmark developments designed around intelligent infrastructure from day one, to existing assets that need to modernise without the disruption of full refurbishment, advanced building automation technologies are helping owners and operators create more flexible, efficient and future-ready buildings.

The presentation will combine strategic insight with real-world project examples, including a major new build scheme, 40 Leadenhall in London, where intelligent building technologies have been deployed to support energy efficiency, flexibility, occupant wellbeing and future-ready operation. This project demonstrates how intelligent controls can be integrated from the design and construction stages to support sustainability targets, operational flexibility, occupant wellbeing and future adaptability. This project incorporates Distech Controls solutions as part of a sophisticated BMS strategy, supporting ambitious sustainability performance targets including BREEAM Excellent, NABERS 5 Star and WELL Platinum certification ratings. 

While the technical route may differ between a new development and an existing building upgrade, the core principles remain the same; open, interoperable, secure and scalable controls that enable buildings to perform better over time.

Drawing on the shift towards open, interoperable, IP-native and cloud-ready control systems, the session will explore how these technologies can be applied across both new build and retrofit environments. For new developments, this means embedding flexibility, cybersecurity, data visibility and future innovation into the building from the outset. For existing assets, it means modernising legacy infrastructure, improving energy performance and enabling analytics and AI-driven automation without unnecessary disruption.

Delegates will leave with a clearer understanding of how intelligent control strategies can support smarter building outcomes across the full project lifecycle, whether embedded into major new developments from the outset, or applied to existing building upgrades to improve performance, efficiency and long-term asset value.