The Association for Smarter Homes & Buildings (ASHB) surveyed 308 building owners, operators, IT leaders, and facility managers, in the US and Canada, about trends in smart buildings. The results are in ASHB’s report, 2025 Smart Building Trends & Technology Adoption.
The document’s key finding is that smart building technology has moved from experimentation to broad, practical adoption, but most organizations are still trying to turn connected systems into real operational intelligence. The survey also shows that spending, AI use, and digital twin deployment are rising, while cost, integration, and cybersecurity remain the biggest obstacles.
The survey had strong representation from commercial office, multifamily residential, industrial, retail/hospitality, and mission-critical facilities. The sample skewed toward larger portfolios and newer buildings, which helps explain why adoption levels are high and why cloud, AI, and digital twins are already in active use in many organizations.
Main adoption trends
Smart building adoption is now nearly universal in the survey: 91% of respondents said they already use smart devices, systems, or software, which is essentially unchanged from 2024. HVAC, lighting, electrical distribution, security, and fire/life safety are the most commonly connected systems, but the report notes that smarter capabilities are strongest in lighting, fire/life safety, security/access control, audio/video, and power distribution because these systems are more likely to include advanced automation and predictive features.
A major takeaway is that connectivity does not automatically equal sophistication. Many organizations still rely on routine and corrective maintenance, even though their systems generate enough data to support condition-based or predictive maintenance. That gap represents a major opportunity for vendors and facility teams that can help convert data into action.
AI, digital twins, and BMS
AI adoption is being driven most by energy optimization, predictive maintenance, security and safety, occupant comfort, and space utilization analytics. Respondents report strongly positive outcomes from AI, especially for energy savings, operational efficiency, comfort, and downtime reduction, suggesting that successful deployments are creating measurable value.
Digital twins show even more momentum: more than half of respondents already use them, and another 22% are piloting or planning them. Their top uses are real-time monitoring, energy optimization, and predictive maintenance, with larger portfolios and larger buildings showing the highest adoption. BMS/BAS systems remain central to this progress, with 78% of respondents saying they are installed and in use, and cloud-based BMS adoption continuing to rise despite concerns about security, control, and compliance.
Barriers and investment outlook
The biggest barriers are still financial and operational: high upfront cost, cybersecurity/privacy concerns, ongoing operating costs, poor compatibility with older infrastructure, and lack of in-house skills. Data quality, system integration, and software usability also limit the value organizations can extract from their buildings.
Despite those challenges, the outlook is positive. Most organizations expect budgets to rise, average annual spending across smart-building categories exceeds $550,000 per organization, and 81% say ROI met or exceeded expectations. Sustainability is also becoming more structured, with 75% of organizations reporting formal net-zero goals and 53% now having roadmaps and timelines.
The report portrays a market that is already deeply invested in smart building technology, but still early in the shift from “connected” to “optimized.” The next wave of value will likely come from AI, digital twins, better data integration, and stronger operational workflows that make building data actionable.
The full report is not free, but the executive summary is free and available here.
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