What is a smart building management system and why is it essential for complying with ESG rules

A smart building management system (SBMS) gives you real-time visibility and control over your building’s energy use, occupancy, air quality, and more. All from a single dashboard. It brings your building to life with data, helping you shift from reactive to proactive management.

Why does this matter? Because ESG is becoming the foundation of how buildings are valued, financed, and leased. Regulations like the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) are raising the bar by becoming stricter. Smart systems are helping you to meet that bar with confidence. 

The impact of smart building management systems is not to be overlooked. They can cut energy use by 30 to 40%. And if you’re wondering about the return? Just keep on reading.

Top 7 smart BMS software for real estate

Smart building software comes in all shapes and sizes. Some tools focus on energy data, others on user comfort or compliance reporting. But the best ones? They bring it all together in one system that fits your buildings, your goals, and your ESG ambitions. We’ve selected the top 7 BMS platforms that stand out for real results. Let’s have a look at the list.

1. Healthy Workers

Healthy Workers, yes, that’s us, combines real-time building data with expert guidance to help you get more from your real estate; less energy waste, fewer complaints, and full ESG compliance without the complexity. The platform is built for owners and managers who want to turn sustainability into a strategic asset.

What sets Healthy Workers apart is its full-service approach. You don’t just get software, you get insights, context, and clear actions tailored to your portfolio. Whether you’re preparing for CSRD reporting or aiming for Paris Proof performance, Healthy Workers supports every step.

From single assets to large portfolios, the platform helps create healthier, future-ready environments that benefit both people and property value. It’s designed for long-term impact, not short-term fixes.

HQ location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Key features: 

• Automated ESG reporting
• Real-time energy monitoring and alerts
• Portfolio-wide benchmarking and reporting
• Predictive insights for operational improvements
• User-friendly building performance dashboard
• Expert advice backed by data
• Seamless integration with existing building systems

What users value most: 97% of customers report positive ROI within the first year, driven by measurable energy savings and better building performance. In the case of NL Asset Management, Healthy Workers even achieved an ROI of >100% for one building. 

Bart Stolker, Partner & Co-Head of Asset Management:

"Now, with Healthy Workers, we can clearly see the impact of our energy-efficiency measures. They also help us stay ahead of new regulatory requirements. Many of our customers still rely on costly external consultants for energy reporting, but with Healthy Workers, we have a more efficient solution."

2. Darwin

Darwin is a building operating system that brings all building technologies and services together into one centralized platform. It enables real estate teams to manage access, lighting, HVAC, and workplace services like meeting rooms and support tickets from a single interface.

Designed for commercial offices and mixed-use spaces, Darwin aims to streamline day-to-day operations while improving the building experience for tenants. By consolidating data and automating key systems, it supports ESG goals like energy efficiency, smarter resource use, and improved tenant wellbeing, helping you meet both operational and sustainability targets.

HQ location: ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

Key features: 

• Unified interface for all building systems and services
• Automated workflows for access, lighting, and climate control
• Workplace and tenant engagement tools
• Custom dashboards for building performance
• Integration with third-party apps and hardware

What users value most: Facility managers appreciate the seamless integrations and tenant-facing services that improve space usage and user satisfaction.

3. Bueno

Bueno is a building analytics platform built to optimize performance and detect issues in real-time. It collects data from across your assets and uses rule-based logic to surface inefficiencies, helping you to lower energy use and reduce maintenance costs.

It’s often used by owners with large portfolios who need scalable, system-agnostic insights. By surfacing high-impact inefficiencies and automating reporting, Bueno supports ESG initiatives like reducing carbon emissions, optimizing energy use, and building a data-backed compliance strategy. 

HQ location: Melbourne, Australia

Key features: 

• Real-time fault detection and diagnostics
• Energy and water monitoring across multiple assets
• Platform-agnostic integration with BMS and IoT systems
• Visual dashboards for site-level and portfolio insights
• Reporting tools for ESG and operational performance

‍What users value most: Bueno is praised for delivering energy savings up to 40%, reducing emissions and maintenance costs without sacrificing comfort.

4. bGrid

bGrid is a sensor network designed to make buildings more responsive and people-centric. It measures factors like occupancy, CO2, temperature, and light, providing insights that can be used to improve both comfort and efficiency.

Rather than focusing solely on energy, bGrid positions itself at the intersection of health, productivity, and smart space usage. By monitoring real-time conditions and occupancy, it helps you support ESG goals such as indoor air quality, wellbeing, and responsible energy use, all while collecting the data needed for compliance and reporting. 

HQ location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Key features:

• Wireless sensors for indoor climate and occupancy
• Real-time monitoring of air quality and light levels
• Integration with HVAC and lighting systems
• Scalable setup with plug-and-play hardware
• Data insights for facility and workplace teams

What users value most: Tenants benefit from healthier indoor environments, while operators gain new levels of control without major renovations.

5. ProptechOS

ProptechOS connects property data, systems, and users into a cohesive platform for managing real estate portfolios. It supports everything from digital twins to automated ESG data pipelines, with a strong focus on scalability and regulatory alignment.

The platform is built with long-term compliance in mind, helping you to handle evolving ESG demands across geographies. Its architecture supports large, complex portfolios that need structure, speed, and clarity in their strategy.

HQ location: Stockholm, Sweden

Key features: 

• Integration of building systems and tenant data
• Support for digital twins and portfolio modeling
• Automated ESG data collection and reporting
• Centralized dashboard for asset managers and ESG teams
• Scalable architecture for multi-region portfolios

What users value most: Users appreciate the strategic flexibility and ability to automate ESG reporting across regions and standards.

6. Rhino

Rhino provides real-time utility monitoring across electricity, gas, and water systems. It helps building operators and owners track consumption trends, detect anomalies, and act quickly to reduce waste and costs. 

Built with a strong emphasis on simplicity and speed, Rhino’s platform works seamlessly with different brands and types of existing building systems, making it easy to implement across your portfolio. It’s often used as a foundation for ESG and net-zero tracking.

HQ location: Lexington, USA

Key features: 

• Real-time utility data visualization
• Alerts for anomalies or excessive usage
• Hardware-independent system integration
• ESG-focused dashboards and reports
• Configurable across multiple building types

What users value most: Users value Rhino most for its simplicity. The platform makes it easy to surface utility issues before they become expensive problems.

7. Next Sense

Next Sense focuses on creating climate-neutral buildings through data intelligence and automated building controls. Using AI and simulations, it helps you to balance energy usage, occupant comfort, and ESG performance.

The platform is used by property owners who want to align with Paris Proof and CSRD requirements while staying adaptive to future regulations. It combines strong technical modeling with user-friendly analytics.

HQ location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Key features: 

• AI-driven control of HVAC and building systems
• Real-time energy and emissions tracking
• Paris Proof and CSRD-ready reporting tools
• Predictive simulations for optimization scenarios

‍What users value most: The system’s ability to reduce CO2 emissions while boosting user wellbeing makes it a favorite among ESG-driven companies.

Considerations when choosing a smart building management software

Now we know all about the top smart building management software systems, it’s time to find the solution that fits the way your buildings operate and the people who use them.

Whether you manage a single office or a nationwide portfolio, your BMS needs to work across departments, adapt to your infrastructure, and help you reach long-term ESG goals.

Below are five important considerations when comparing platforms. Think of them as your strategic checklist; each one can directly impact your ROI, compliance readiness, and tenant satisfaction.

User experience for different stakeholders

A smart BMS should be easy to use for everyone. Not just your tech-savvy engineers, but also ESG officers, asset managers, and on-site building staff. If the system only works for IT or requires specialist training to interpret basic data, it’s going to slow you down.

For example, building managers might need a real-time view of system status and alerts, while sustainability officers are focused on generating compliant reports. At the same time, your on-site staff should be able to adjust ventilation settings or respond to comfort complaints without digging through menus.

If the platform adapts to these roles with clear visibility, role-based access, and actionable summaries, it saves time and boosts adoption across the board.

Integration with your tech stack and equipment

Your BMS should integrate smoothly with your current setup, whether that includes older HVAC units, modern access control systems, or occupancy sensors. Easy integration with your existing tech stack ensures a smooth transition, because no one wants to rip out and replace systems that still work. 

This means support for open protocols, APIs, and plug-and-play connectivity.

If you’re running several buildings with different system vendors, the BMS should bring all that data into one environment without major retrofits. For example, a building might use one system for heating and another for lighting. If the new platform can’t read both, you’ll end up with blind spots and data gaps. 

Analytics and ESG reporting capabilities

You need more than dashboards. A good system actively helps you detect inefficiencies, benchmark performance, and generate ESG reports that meet regulatory standards. The goal isn’t just to see data, it’s to understand what it means and what to do next.

Let’s say the heating in your multi-tenant office stays on full power all weekend due to a misconfigured schedule. A smart system should not only show the spike, but also suggest possible causes (like a faulty timer or ventilation override) and prompt you to act.

For ESG reporting, it should auto-fill fields, consolidate portfolio-wide data, and let you validate sources with a click. 

Expected return on investment (ROI)

Your system should prove its value quickly. That means clear reductions in energy use, maintenance calls, and time spent on manual monitoring. If your platform doesn’t help you uncover hidden costs and operational leaks, it’s not an investment, it’s an expense. 

Imagine a scenario where a ventilation system is running at full capacity outside office hours. With a basic system, you may never notice. With smarter software, that pattern is flagged, quantified, and fixed, saving thousands annually.

Add to that fewer service calls, smarter scheduling of building services based on actual usage patterns, and smoother tenant communication, and you’re looking at a strong ROI that justifies the upfront investment. 

Compliance with regulations (e.g., CSRD, EPBD)

Staying compliant with new regulations requires structure, speed, and transparency. A smart BMS should take the pressure off your ESG and legal teams by automating complex reporting processes and flagging non-compliance before it becomes a problem.

A future-ready BMS should support automated compliance, not just by storing data, but by structuring it in line with regulatory formats and flagging areas of non-compliance.

Picture this: instead of manually collecting spreadsheets from multiple buildings, your system auto-generates a CSRD report with validated data, relevant timestamps, and emissions breakdowns. That kind of automation doesn’t just save time, it reduces risks and helps you stay ahead of legislation. 

Why Healthy Workers is the best software to optimize your buildings and comply with ESG rules

Healthy Workers brings together everything you need to manage your buildings smarter, from compliance and reporting to tenant wellbeing and long-term value. It’s more than a tool. It’s a full-service platform that helps you reduce emissions, cut operational costs, and meet regulatory requirements without added complexity.

Unlike most systems, Healthy Workers integrates easily with what you already have in place. Whether you’re working with older HVAC units, occupancy sensors, or a mix of building types, it connects the dots and translates your data into clear, actionable insights. That means no disruptive changes, no guesswork, just a better grip on your portfolio.

The platform is designed to be used across teams. ESG specialists can export ESG reports in minutes, while property managers can respond to comfort issues with confidence. Building managers, meanwhile, gain access to real-time energy use and system performance without needing to be a data analyst.

And when it comes to results, Healthy Workers delivers. Clients consistently see energy savings between 10 and 30 percent, plus measurable gains in tenant satisfaction and asset performance. It’s smart building management built for daily impact and long-term strategy.

You now know what to look for in a smart building management system. Want to see how Healthy Workers brings it all together? Book your 30-minute demo today to learn how you can achieve a positive ROI within the first year.