In a recent Monday Live discussion, industry leaders gathered to explore the critical relationship between governance and standards in the world of smarter buildings. The conversation ranged from the history of the humble electrical plug to the future of artificial intelligence and device interoperability. The central theme was clear: standards provide the foundation for innovation, but the way they are governed determines whether they enable progress or stifle it.
The NEMA 115 Story: A Century of Unforeseen Innovation
The discussion opened with a look at the NEMA 115 standard, the ubiquitous three-prong electrical plug used across North America. Developed in the early 1900s to address safety concerns with the proliferation of electricity, this standard became the bedrock for countless innovations its creators could never have imagined.
Key points from this historical perspective include:
Standards enable the unknown. When the NEMA 115 was developed around 1910, no one could foresee radios, televisions, computers, or USB chargers. Yet the standard provided a stable foundation that allowed all these technologies to simply plug in and work.
Hardware standards are sticky. Once a physical standard becomes embedded in millions of homes and products, it becomes nearly impossible to change. This illustrates the Collingridge dilemma: early in a technology’s life, you can shape it, but once it is entrenched, control becomes difficult.
Good governance focuses on the interface. The NEMA 115 succeeded because it defined the interface without overreaching. It did not dictate what the powered device should do or how it should function. It simply ensured that when you plugged something in, it would connect safely and receive power.
The Difference Between Hardware and Virtual Standards
The panel drew a sharp distinction between physical standards like electrical plugs and the virtual standards that govern data and software.
Hardware standards are fixed. Once manufactured, a physical plug cannot be updated. This requires a high degree of stability and backward compatibility.
Virtual standards can evolve. Standards like BACnet were designed with evolution in mind. They can be updated and extended over time to accommodate new use cases and technologies. This flexibility is essential in a rapidly changing digital landscape.
Backwards compatibility matters. While evolution is important, breaking compatibility comes at high cost. The value of a change must outweigh the disruption it causes to existing systems and users.
The Challenge of Overreach
A critical distinction emerged between defining an interface and dictating how it should be used. The panel warned against standard bodies that overreach by specifying not only the connection but also the protocols, functionality, and behavior of the devices connected to it.
When standards become too prescriptive, they risk:
Stifling innovation. If a standard dictates exactly what manufacturers’ products must do, it leaves little room for differentiation and creativity.
Creating unnecessary complexity. Overly broad standards can be difficult to implement and comply with, especially for smaller players.
Losing market relevance. If a standard does not meet real-world needs, the market will ignore it in favour of simpler, more practical solutions.
The Power of Market-Driven Governance
The history of BACnet provided a compelling example of how governance can accelerate adoption. While BACnet became an American national standard in 1995 and an international standard soon after, it still faced challenges in the market. The problem was trust: buyers could not easily tell which products truly adhered to the standard.
The solution was the creation of the BACnet Testing Laboratories. This governance mechanism, driven by manufacturers themselves, established a level playing field. It provided independent verification that products met the standard, building trust among specifiers and end users. This market-driven approach proved to be a powerful accelerant for BACnet adoption.
The AC Versus DC Debate: Inertia vs. Logic
The conversation touched on the ongoing tension between the entrenched AC power standard and the logical case for DC power in modern buildings. Most of our electronic devices, laptops, phones, and LED lighting operate on DC power, yet we continue to convert AC to DC at every device, wasting energy and creating electronic waste.
Why has DC not taken over? The answer lies in the immense inertia of the existing infrastructure. Every building, every appliance, every grid connection is built around AC. While groups like the Emerge Alliance advocate for DC microgrids, the value proposition has not yet reached the tipping point needed to overcome 120 years of entrenched practice.
The Unseen World of Process Standards
Beyond hardware and software standards lies a third category: process standards. These govern how work is done, how results are verified, and how organizations report their performance. Examples discussed include:
ISO 9001 for quality management systems, which requires verification of testing equipment and processes.
ISO 19650 for building information modelling, which establishes governance around contracts and responsibilities throughout the design and construction process.
ISO 14064 for greenhouse gas reporting, which provides a framework for measuring, reporting, and verifying emissions reductions.
These process standards are increasingly important for institutional investors and international business. They provide the governance framework that ensures consistency, accuracy, and trust across complex projects and supply chains.
Construction Productivity: A Call for Change
A sobering statistic emerged: construction productivity has not improved in a century. This stands in stark contrast to nearly every other industry, where technology and process improvements have driven dramatic gains.
The panel identified procurement practices as a major culprit. The traditional model of subcontracting and layered responsibilities creates fragmentation and misaligned incentives. Controls contractors, buried deep in the procurement chain, often have little ability to influence outcomes or introduce innovation.
This is where governance and standards can play a transformative role. By establishing clear expectations, verified compliance, and trusted processes, the industry can begin to break free from the productivity trap and unlock new value.
Building Trust in an Age of AI
As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent in building operations, trust takes on new dimensions. AI systems can appear to have integrity, but the question is whether they actually do. How do you know that the AI making decisions about your building’s energy use or equipment scheduling is operating with the right priorities and constraints?
This requires new forms of governance that go beyond binary trust. It requires integrity mechanisms that allow building owners and operators to verify that AI systems are behaving as intended. It requires transparency into how decisions are made and what data is being used.
The Path Forward: Governance That Enables Innovation
The discussion concluded with a clear consensus: the industry is not done innovating. In fact, we may be at the very beginning of a new wave of transformation driven by AI, cloud computing, and ubiquitous connectivity.
The role of governance in this future is not to restrict or control, but to enable. Good governance provides the guardrails that allow innovation to flourish safely. It builds trust, allowing market participants to adopt new technologies with confidence. It creates a level playing field where competitors can differentiate on value rather than on proprietary lock-in.
Organizations like the Coalition for Smarter Buildings are advancing this vision by bringing together thoughtful standards from ASHRAE, W3C, UDMI, and others. The goal is not to create new standards in isolation, but to weave together existing work into a coherent framework that the market can embrace.
The lesson from the NEMA 115 is that well-designed standards can last a century and enable innovations their creators never imagined. The challenge for today’s industry is to build standards and governance with that same foresight, creating foundations flexible enough to support whatever the next century brings.
This article summarizes the March 9, 2026, episode of Monday Live. The full video and additional resources are available at mondaylive.org.
