Large National Retailer Controls
October 28, 2025
The Challenge
A national retailer with 800 locations needed to replace an aging, proprietary building controls system that was costing them money through operational inefficiencies. The retailer needed a holistic approach that would deliver three outcomes:
Control & Flexibility
Move to a vendor-neutral, non-proprietary system with centralized control over HVAC and lighting across all stores.
Data & Insights
Generate detailed, real-time building operations data to maximize efficiency and streamline maintenance.
Future-Ready Infrastructure
Lay the groundwork for IoT capabilities, demand response programs, and new revenue opportunities.
The Solution
They partnered with EMC, a trusted LED lighting provider with proven large-scale rollout experience, to deploy a non-proprietary building management system across their entire portfolio.
As a master systems integrator of Distech Controls, EMC designed and engineered the hardware, then leveraged in-house Niagara-certified engineers to build custom software on the Tridium framework.
The new system includes a customized graphical user interface that allows the retailer to change lighting schedules or HVAC settings for hundreds of stores, all from a single pane of glass.
The Results
2-year payback | $5M in annual savings
The new Distech system delivers:
- Global scheduling changes that take effect in two hours or less
- Predictive maintenance reports that fix problems before units are damaged
- Participation in load shedding and energy capacity markets for additional savings and revenue
- Futureproofed infrastructure with ongoing paths to additional savings
