By: Katie McGinty, Vice President and Chief Sustainability and External Relations Officer at Johnson Controls
In 2026, resilience and sustainability will be foundational for business success. Companies that embrace these imperatives will thrive and outpace the competition, while those that don’t risk falling behind. The evidence is in the data: extreme weather events cost businesses in the U.S. more than $100 billion in the first half of 2025. At the same time, nearly 90% of companies now link decarbonization directly to business value, according to Accenture. Sustainability is no longer a cost story, it’s a growth story and the question isn’t if you act, it’s how fast.
Resilience as the North Star
The extreme weather events of 2025 forced a rethink of how we build and operate, especially since buildings consume 30% of all energy and generate 40% of emissions globally. Connected systems can now gather and analyze a million data points per second to deliver real-time insights, cutting response time from hours to minutes. This kind of connected infrastructure allows organizations to react faster, do more with less and outperform even when conditions change – especially important in this era of mega disruption (economic, technological, geopolitical-everything everywhere and all at once!).
Precision industries – healthcare, advanced manufacturing, universities – are proving what is possible. Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital in Ontario connected building technology to reduce energy use by 19%, and now operates 33% more efficiently than the health care industry average. Digital tools saved 4,000 hours in manual troubleshooting and 600 hours annually in preventative maintenance – efficiency that translates into better patient outcomes. A North American university slashed energy use by 50% through improved heating, cooling, and ventilation – saving money while creating a healthier learning environment. These aren’t incremental gains, they’re resilience in action that frees up needed time and capital for what matters most.
Sustainability Becomes the Bedrock for Business Competitiveness
Sustainability drives smart capital allocation and enables growth. The trifecta of efficiency, electrification and decarbonization delivers results that ensure uptime and reliability. Consider the impact: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, between 20 and 50% of industrial energy is wasted. This at a time when electricity costs are up 30% overall and by 60% for industry in many parts of the U.S. Deploying innovative technology like high-efficiency heat pumps and chillers at scale is a key strategy for success. Today’s technologies can cut energy bills in half, allowing businesses to reinvest in growth and innovation. There is huge competitive advantage waiting to be seized by those who redirect capital from waste to winning!
And the results are in the real-world applications. A hospital in Germany tapped heat energy 200 meters below the facility and realized a 30% cut in energy costs while producing enough heat to cover 80% of the hospital’s demand. A data center cooled the racks with chillers that use 40% less power annually and zero on-site water. Leaders are deploying advanced cooling and thermal management to ease grid strain and boost uptime, because in these industries, every second counts. Plus, 40% less energy directed to cooling is 40% more energy directed to computing. Clearly, the winning data center is the efficient, sustainable data center.
The Essential Path to Growth
In 2026, forward-looking businesses know one truth: If you’re not leaning into smarter energy and asset management, you’re already behind. One-third of CEOs surveyed in PwC’s 28th Annual Global CEO Survey said climate-friendly investments over the past five years have increased their revenue; two-thirds say these moves have either had no cost impact or reduced costs. The benefits are real, and they are the way the smartest businesses will outperform their competitors in 2026 and beyond.
