Uniting Experience with Vision: Johnson Controls unveils OpenBlue Buildings as a Service

MILWAUKEE, April 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), the global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, today announced OpenBlue Buildings as a Service. Aligning more than 135 years of experience with its OpenBlue digital transformation vision, OpenBlue Buildings as a Service enables Johnson Controls and its customers to be more agile in delivering outcome-based decisions centered around integrated data to help reach environmental stewardship goals.

"Sustainability is our business. Nearly half of Johnson Controls revenue, more than $11 billion in fiscal year 2019, comes from products and services that cut energy use and improve sustainability for our customers," said Nate Manning, President of Building Solutions North America at Johnson Controls. "In some ways, Johnson Controls has been delivering sustainability as a service to our customers for decades. We empower our customers to bring their sustainability vision to life while enjoying the peace of mind that their facilities and spaces are in good hands."

Through OpenBlue Buildings as a Service, building owners are able to transfer the full lifecycle risk of building operations to Johnson Controls. This can include upfront capital and decision-making processes, responsibility for design and construction, energy efficiency and emissions management, as well as operations including maintenance and retrofits. Through an ongoing OpenBlue Building as a Service partnership, Johnson Controls helps customers make and implement decisions that improve a building's total cost of occupancy, energy and carbon profile, as well as the wellbeing of their occupants, without having to manage – or even think about – the process. All of this happens while Johnson Controls also ensures consistent availability to buildings and a predictable cost of operations. As a result, building owners are able to focus on their mission and their business.

Four Johnson Controls customers, all sustainability pioneers, represent more than $1 billion in multi-decade contracts and illustrate how Johnson Controls leverages OpenBlue solutions to achieve ambitious sustainability goals.

Children's of Alabama: Early adopter of OpenBlue reduces use of natural gas by 69%

Ranked as one of the best pediatric medical centers in the nation, Children's of Alabama holds a valuable position as the only medical center in Alabama dedicated solely to the care and treatment of children and is a Level 1 state designated trauma facility. In 2008, the non-profit hospital sought a way to maximize energy savings in its new 14-story patient tower in the heart of Birmingham. Emphasizing the need to be good stewards of financial donations, the hospital sought a partnership to find innovative solutions to drive maximum efficiency of operations, lower energy costs, reduce risk of failure, and provide guaranteed outcomes. The hospital looked to Johnson Controls to design, build, operate and maintain its new central utility plant through a 25-year contract where Johnson Controls operates and holds all the risk for building systems. By meeting or exceeding yearly performance guarantees, Johnson Controls has provided nearly $250,000 in annual savings. An early adopter of OpenBlue Enterprise Manager, the hospital's main campus has been able to reduce the use of natural gas by 69% because Johnson Controls implemented an OpenBlue Central Utility Plant program in 2018. When complete, Children's of Alabama expects this portion of the project to save $450,000 a year.

McGill University Health Center: Aspired to achieve Silver LEED® Certification, received Gold LEED® Certification — Twice

McGill University Health Center in Quebec selected Johnson Controls to better understand how to best use sustainable development practices to help them achieve Silver LEED® certification status. Through a 30-year contract, Johnson Controls provides life cycle and facilities management, an integrated building management system, security and fire alarm systems, electrical low voltage systems as well as operations and maintenance. OpenBlue Enterprise Manager and Smart Connected Chillers enabled Johnson Controls to monitor MUHC's systems and clarify where energy efficiencies could be achieved as well as validate energy saving strategies and make continual improvements. In 2019, McGill University Health Center became the first facility in Quebec to achieve its second LEED® Gold certification.

Humber Hospital: Reduced energy usage equal to 44.3 million kilowatt hours in 5 years

Humber River Hospital in Toronto is North America's first fully digital hospital with advanced information technology applied and integrated into patient care. As a result, the patient journey throughout the hospital is highly visible, easier to navigate, more interactive and significantly more patient centered. Through a 30-year contract, Johnson Controls has contributed to Humber's technology design and implementation and now supports operations and maintenance for the hospital. Johnson Controls provides financial guarantees on Humber's operations and maintenance which ties some payment for services directly to building performance. Tools such as OpenBlue Enterprise Manager and Smart Connected Chillers provide operational teams a more proactive approach to facility management with real-time information for improvements such as energy efficiency, asset performance, maintenance operations, and space performance which leads to patient and staff satisfaction and asset performance. Johnson Controls has reduced energy consumption equal to 44.3 million kilowatt hours since 2016.

University of North Dakota: Reduced greenhouse gas by 38,000 metric tons a year

University of North Dakota (UND) will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 38,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, which is equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 74 square miles of forest, essentially the size of Grand Forks and Fargo, ND combined. The 138-year-old university signed a 40-year contract with Johnson Controls who designed, built, financed and now operates and maintains the new plant which replaces an old and inefficient coal plant. OpenBlue connected solutions make it possible for Johnson Controls to diagnose and resolve problems and aid the site management team so energy targets are being made and performance-based agreements are being met.

"As a renovation wave accelerates the pace of building upgrades across North America, customers are asking for a blueprint of the future through integrated solutions," continued Manning. "OpenBlue Buildings as a Service is the key to meeting their ambitious aspirations while taking a burden off owners and management."

To learn more about OpenBlue, visit: https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/openblue.

About Johnson Controls:

At Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. As the global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places and the planet. 

With a history of more than 135 years of innovation, Johnson Controls delivers the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums, manufacturing and beyond through its comprehensive digital offering OpenBlue. With a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries, Johnson Controls offers the world`s largest portfolio of building technology, software as well as service solutions with some of the most trusted names in the industry. For more information, visit www.johnsoncontrols.com or follow us @johnsoncontrols on Twitter.

SOURCE Johnson Controls International plc