In this episode of Down Low with Joe, Lewis Martin is joined by Joe Aamidor for a market update on what is shaping the smart buildings industry in 2026.

They cover Copeland's acquisition of Bueno, what it says about OEM digital strategy, and why more major players are pushing to own the software and data layer.

They also unpack Cambio’s $18M Series A, the current state of sustainability software, and why this may now be more of a replacement market than a greenfield opportunity. Joe shares his view on fragmentation, TAM, and why smart buildings have not produced a single dominant software winner.

The conversation also dives into Clockworks’ latest raise, the strength of the fault detection category, and why established leaders are still attracting capital. Finally, Lewis and Joe discuss Trane Cloud, the broader wave of OEM platform launches, and the challenge of building and scaling software inside large incumbents.

Topics covered:

• Bueno acquired by Copeland
• Why OEMs are doubling down on software
• Cambio’s raise and sustainability software market dynamics
• Why TAM in smart buildings is often overstated
• Clockworks and the future of fault detection
• Trane Cloud and OEM digital platforms
• The challenge of building software inside large industrial companies

If you work in smart buildings, HVAC, controls, real estate technology, or climate software, this episode is packed with sharp insight on where the market is heading.

The Climate Gap is powered by Element Six.

Element Six specializes in addressing talent challenges across the built environment and climate technology sectors. Partnering with technology vendors and solutions providers delivering decarbonization solutions, helping them find the leaders and teams they need to scale.

Decarbonizing the built environment takes bold ideas and brilliant people. Element Six brings them together.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most smart building systems are excellent at telling you what’s wrong.Far fewer are designed to change what happens next.

In this episode of Quick Cuts, Ben Muwoki sits down with Derek John Mullassery (COO, CopperTree Analytics) to explore the shift from fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) to automated action inside commercial buildings.

Fault detection is no longer novel. Dashboards and alarms are everywhere. The real constraint in modern building automation is execution.

Derek explains how automated system optimisation and remote commissioning are moving the industry beyond detection and into action, while keeping operators in control.This conversation explores:

• Why “insight” does not equal impact
• The gap between analytics and operational change
• What it takes for software to safely write back to a BAS
• Why automation only scales when trust scales
• The importance of guardrails: traceable, reversible, explainable decisions
• How automated commissioning can test 100% of systems remotely
• Why culture, not technology, is often the bottleneck

About Derek John Mullassery

Derek is the Chief Operating Officer at CopperTree Analytics, a pioneer in building analytics and FDD. He works at the intersection of building automation, energy efficiency, and software-driven operational performance. His focus is on helping commercial buildings move beyond dashboards and alerts toward measurable outcomes, while maintaining operator trust and control. Throughout his career, Derek has worked closely with building owners, operators, and portfolio teams to scale analytics across complex real estate environments, bridging the gap between technology capability and real-world adoption.

The Climate Gap is powered by Element Six.

Element Six specializes in addressing talent challenges across the built environment and climate technology sectors. Partnering with technology vendors and solutions providers delivering decarbonization solutions, helping them find the leaders and teams they need to scale.

Decarbonizing the built environment takes bold ideas and brilliant people. Element Six brings them together.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For years, building management systems have lived on-premise. Local servers. Mechanical rooms. Site-by-site maintenance.

But as HVAC, lighting, and access control become increasingly IP-connected, the conversation around Cloud BMS is accelerating.

In this episode of Quick Cuts, Ben Muwoki sits down with Dhaval Shah, VP and Head of Product, Software and Services Portfolio for Digital Buildings at Schneider Electric, to unpack what Cloud BMS actually means and whether it’s becoming an operational reality or remaining a strategy deck concept.

In this episode, we cover:

• What “Cloud BMS” really means (hosted vs hybrid vs cloud-native architectures)
• Why CIOs are now driving the conversation around building systems
• The impact of IT/OT convergence on building automation
• Cybersecurity, data governance, and resilience concerns
• How portfolio scale changes the economics of BMS deployment
• Why hybrid architecture may be the practical transition path
• What needs to happen for Cloud BMS to move from early adopter to mainstream

As Dhaval explains, the shift is not just technical. It’s organisational. Once building systems sit on enterprise networks and connect to cloud platforms, they become part of broader IT strategy, cybersecurity policy, and portfolio-wide standardisation efforts.

At scale, this stops being an architecture debate and becomes an operating leverage question.

If you operate or deploy BMS across multi-site portfolios, this episode offers a grounded view of where Cloud BMS stands today and what to watch over the next few years.

About Dhaval Shah

Dhaval Shah is VP and Head of Product, Software and Services Portfolio for Digital Buildings at Schneider Electric. He has spent his career across engineering and business leadership roles spanning industrial automation, automotive, solar energy storage, and building automation. He focuses on shaping the future of building systems through software, cloud architecture, and scalable service models.

The Climate Gap is powered by Element Six.

Element Six specializes in addressing talent challenges across the built environment and climate technology sectors. Partnering with technology vendors and solutions providers delivering decarbonization solutions, helping them find the leaders and teams they need to scale.

Decarbonizing the built environment takes bold ideas and brilliant people. Element Six brings them together.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.