Facility managers are facing a quickly changing landscape this year. 

More than ever, they’re being counted on to turn their operation into a value creator – by increasing the energy efficiency of the buildings they oversee, getting smarter about maintenance and repair and helping their organization better leverage real estate assets as occupancy and other market trends shift.  

Meanwhile, increased workplace violence means they’ll need to weigh whether to add more security and, as more building systems go online, whether it's time for them to become part of their organization’s cybersecurity team.

Here are six trends that are top of mind for facilities managers in 2026.

Energy efficiency, electrification will remain building owner and occupier priorities

Despite cuts to federal clean energy funding and other Trump administration actions that deprioritize energy efficiency and environmental goals, organizations will be keeping their sights on energy efficiency and electrification this year, according to an Accenture report. U.S. corporate net-zero ambition remains strong, with commitments from companies headquartered in the states growing 9% in the past year, from 279 to 304, including new commitments from eBay, Merck & Co. and Goodyear, according to Net Zero Tracker’s 2025 Stocktake. 

Part of that continued commitment is driven by economics and part by state and local initiatives. With energy prices rising rapidly — up 4.0% year over year in October — and many states and localities passing building performance standards for energy consumption or emissions, aiming for more efficient and lower-emissions building systems makes financial sense, commercial real estate pros say. Doing so can lower costs, improve valuations and help a building meet sustainability targets.  

“Sustainability is going to manifest itself more around energy management going forward, driven by rising utility costs and availability,” Paul Morgan, global COO of real estate management services at JLL, said in an interview. 

Sal Zinno, senior vice president of development for East Coast and UK markets at BioMed Realty, which specializes in life science and technology properties, says his firm is working to deliver a building that is fully electric — above and beyond what codes require — because of expectations that electrification will progress. William Chaney, CEO of ServiceTrade, which provides software to field service organizations, also says that “electrification is here, it’s coming, and there will be more of it. Everything is moving to [be] more electric.”

“Electrification is really about planning for the future,” Craig Walter, principal energy advisor at ENGIE Impact, said in an interview. It’s about “making sure [electrification] is on the horizon for when [combustion] equipment is replaced.” 

Federal incentives for energy efficiency face uncertainty

The Energy Star program that’s central to how facility managers measure building efficiency is temporarily off the chopping block but most of the federal tax incentives that have helped offset the cost of energy-efficient upgrades are going away. 

In early 2025, Trump administration officials told Environmental Protection Agency staff that the office that oversees Energy Star would be eliminated in a reorganization and the administration proposed eliminating funding for the program in its 2026 budget, moves that sparked a backlash from industry groups. Congress has made it clear it wants the program preserved and included full funding for the program in the bill enacted in November to end the government shutdown. Following that, House and Senate appropriators included funding for the program for all of fiscal 2026. That bill faces a vote before the end of the fiscal year, in September.  

While Energy Star may survive, the Section 179D federal tax deduction for commercial building energy efficiency upgrades is going away. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act enacted last year ends the program in June 2026. Building trade groups, including the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, have vowed to push for its restoration. One possible vehicle for doing so is the fiscal year 2026 energy and water appropriations bill, although it wasn’t in the Senate version of the bill at the end of last year. 

OBBBA rolls back other energy tax incentives, for wind and solar projects and some residential energy efficiency upgrades. Those incentives go away in July. But there remains an incentive for geothermal heat pump projects. The tax incentive for those projects remains in place until the mid-2030s.

“The biggest misconception with OBBBA is that it’s pulling the rug out from under heat pumps,” David Rames, senior product manager at heat pump manufacturer Midea, told Facilities Dive last year. “While it’s repealing [some] federal incentives … it’s nudging the industry to accelerate a market shift that was already underway: one focused on affordability, ease of installation and retrofit readiness.” 

AI readiness is an emerging requirement in the skilled workforce as the pipeline grows

Almost a third of the 248 organizations JLL surveyed for its 2025 Global State of Facilities Management Report say they have embedded AI solutions in their FM operations, and almost half of large organizations — those with more than 100,000 employees — have done so. 

The rise of AI in building operations means facility managers will need to recruit a generation of workers in the skilled trades who can bridge the gap between old and new ways of overseeing and maintaining building systems. Conservative estimates suggest a 30% skills gap emerging over the next few years at the same time that AI is fundamentally altering what work looks like, according to Sanjay Rishi, CEO of Work Dynamics of the Americas and head of global industries at JLL. 

Despite a significant portion of the engineering and technical workforce set to retire within the next five years, vocational training pipelines haven’t kept pace with demand,” Rishi said in an email. “AI is not only changing how we manage buildings but revolutionizing how we develop talent. Augmented reality, virtual reality and AI-powered training platforms can accelerate skills development and capture institutional knowledge from retiring workers, compressing what used to take years of training into months. 

Progress is being made in recruiting for the trades in this new environment, according to reporting by ACHR News. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, or NSCRC, which keeps track of U.S college enrollment statistics, says about 26,000 people were estimated to be enrolled in spring 2025 in two-year HVACR programs at schools that offer associate degrees — a nearly 29% increase compared with spring 2024. 

Community colleges are working with manufacturers and other companies that rely on a skilled workforce to design programs that meet their needs. “If a business comes to us and says, ‘We really need this training,’ we’re going to move heaven and earth to make it happen,” Jo Blondin, president of Clark State College in Ohio, said at the end of last year.

The federal government last year began reshaping the Labor Department budget to focus on trades. Among other things, the administration says it is developing a policy to get more than 1 million people into active apprenticeships. As part of this effort, the administration’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget would require states to spend 10% of Labor Department funds from a new consolidated workforce training grant program on apprenticeship programs. 

“The companies that recognize this shift and invest now in these capabilities as essential infrastructure for workforce continuity will emerge with a decisive competitive advantage while their competitors struggle with unfillable positions and lost expertise,” Rishi said. 

As more building systems go online, FMs will face heightened cybersecurity responsibilities

Workplace violence and other physical threats are up, with the Manhattan office shooting late last year as one high-profile example. But it could be the rise in building systems that are vulnerable to cyber threats that facility managers spend more of their time on next year. 

Cybersecurity “shouldn’t be a part of [facility managers’] day-to-day life, but they [need to] have all the context to what’s happening” when network-connected building systems are breached, Sean Tufts, field chief technology officer at cybersecurity firm Claroty, told Facilities Dive last year. 

The number of internet-exposed building control systems increased about 13% last year, from 160,000 at the beginning of 2024 to more than 180,000 at the end of 2024, and were expected to hit 200,000 by the end of 2025, according to cybersecurity company Bitsight. 

The growth of network-connected building systems and components like sensors, lighting and window coverings means facility managers will need to work with IT specialists within their organizations to identify what’s connected to the network, where and how it’s connected and whether it needs to be or can be isolated on its own virtual local area network. 

“Isolating [a building system] takes it away from the front door and puts it more in the attic,” Troy Cruzen, virtual chief information security officer at Fortified Health Security, told Facilities Dive last year. “You have to come through the attic to get into the house.”

If cyber threats increase as they’re expected to, facility managers will have to increase their comfort level with them, Cruzen said. “There are predictions out there of these systems becoming more of a leveraged target,” he said. “There are going to be some organizations that unfortunately get burned by this.” 

Touchless and autonomous devices, 3D-printed materials are among technologies making inroads

Artificial intelligence will continue to dominate innovation in the tech space, but facility managers can expect to see more tools available that work in tandem with AI. Here are a few of them:

• Touchless devices gave building operators a way to provide safer access during and after COVID-19, but now they’re becoming mainstream, says Exact Comms, a specialist in contactless facility management tools. These go beyond not just touchless faucets and soap stations. “Whether it’s unlocking doors without touching them, monitoring environments wirelessly, or automating hygiene processes, contactless FM systems are quietly reshaping the future of building operations,” the company says.
• 3D printing has been popular for years for customizing small manufactured components, but real estate developers are increasingly using it for construction and renovation. “This … is about transforming how large-scale projects actually get done,” says Darin Ross, president and CEO of general contractor FMGI, which uses 3D concrete printers from Alquist to build structural walls and other infrastructure components on project sites. Walmart is working with contractors that use Alquist’s concrete printing tools on more than a dozen retail facility expansion projects, most recently for a store it’s remodeling in Lamar, Missouri. 
• Innovations in autonomous devices have made them better at navigating across space so they can be used for security and equipment maintenance checks and as first responders in hazardous conditions, among other tasks, Dan Zuba, key account manager with Boston Dynamics, says in a webcast the company hosted in October. Boston Dynamics has combined its Orbit AI software with its dog-like robot, called Spot, to give FMs a tool that can rove around a property to do visual inspections, thermal analyses and acoustic leak and mechanical inspections. “Thermal cameras can take the temperature of pumps or motors, [and acoustic sensors] can listen for air leaks or gas leaks,” Zuba said, among other ways customers are using the technology. 

For office space, elasticity, location and amenities will be key

North American building operators want to see their office utilization rates reach 77%, on average, but in 2025 they were only hitting 48% — below the pre-pandemic benchmark of 57% utilization in 2019, according to JLL data. Even so, a third of organizations say they’re going to grow their footprints in the next several years, the JLL report says. 

Much of that new space could be defined by its elasticity, JLL’s Morgan said. “You may need to be able to stretch [your core and non-core space] as your business [has] a spurt of growth,” he said. “We call that [an] elastic portfolio strategy.” 

Employers are trying to entice their workers to spend more time in the office, and part of that means locating offices in areas with cultural amenities their employees can’t get at home. “Understanding [their employers’ attendance policy] doesn’t equal showing up,” the JLL report says. “Put simply: people don’t reject the office — they reject bad office experiences and poor locations.” 

A new life sciences building in Boston is a case in point. Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda worked with the building’s developer, BioMed Realty, to ensure employees at the new facility can access all of the amenities of the Canal District area and those in the development itself, including a performing arts center. 

“You can’t go to a 420-seat venue at home,” Sal Zinno, senior vice president of development at BioMed Realty, said in an interview. You can’t “listen to live music, go downstairs, have a drink, sit at the winter garden, watch a game or see a comedy show. That doesn’t exist at home.” 

The area immediately adjacent to the building will feature a farmers’ market, ice skating and lawn games like cornhole. “A lot of our larger clients are taking [a similar] approach to getting people back in the office,” Zinno said. “What can we give them that they can’t get at home?”