The SBX 2026 conference theme, “Accelerating Performance at the Speed of Innovation,” reflects both the urgency of the moment and the opportunity in front of us. As technologies advance and pressures on the built environment intensify, buildings are being asked to do more: reduce costs, improve resilience, respond to grid needs, support occupant outcomes, and deliver stronger performance in an increasingly complex operating environment. SBX 2026 will create space not just for inspiration, but for debate, problem-solving, and clearer pathways to action.

Each day of the event features a different format, outlined below, designed to provide opportunities for building solutions together through hands-on collaboration in workshops, and inspiring industry-wide action with real-world applications, scalable solutions, and lively discussion and debate.  

Event format

DAY 1: Workshops — Roll Up Your Sleeves
November 9, 2026 | Half-day (11am-5pm)
Day 1 is a highly interactive, workshop-driven format designed for participants who want to actively shape the future of the smart buildings market. Participants will engage with peers, share real-world experiences and perspectives, and identify barriers slowing market growth and the tools, strategies, and approaches to overcome them. Day 1 sets the stage by doing the hard work: aligning perspectives, surfacing friction points, and creating actionable insights that inform the rest of the conference.

DAY 2: Big Ideas, Applications & Broader Perspectives
November 10, 2026 | Full-day (8am-5pm)
Day 2 is a dynamic, full-day conference featuring keynotes, engaging panels, lively debate and networking. With a focus on building owner needs, real-world applications, financing models and scalable solutions, Day 2 will be valuable for building owners, executives, and decision-makers looking for insights they can apply across portfolios. While Day 1 is about doing the work, Day 2 is about sharing it, challenging it, and scaling it—bringing together big ideas and practical insights in a format that encourages debate, inspiration, and action.

Early-Bird Deadline Aug 15th – Register Today!

 

Call for Speakers – Deadline July 17^th

This year’s agenda topics center on one question: what will it take to move smart buildings from promising projects to genuine, repeatable scale? The agenda digs into the practical barriers and opportunities that matter most right now—financing structures, policy alignment, AI-driven operations, and what it will take to make smart buildings the norm rather than the exception.

SBX is built on practitioner knowledge and real-world experience. We’re actively looking for speakers, panelists, and moderators who can bring grounded, honest perspectives to our attendees — not polished sales pitches, but genuine insight from the work you’re doing in the field. We’re especially interested in voices from:

• Building owners, managers, and operators
• Engineers, commissioning professionals, and energy managers
• Sustainability and decarbonization leaders
• Utility and policy experts
• Technology providers with real-world deployment stories
• Finance and capital professionals working on building performance

Interested in speaking or have speaker suggestions? We want to hear from you!
Ready to share your expertise or know great speakers who should be considered? Complete our speaker suggestion form to tell us about yourself or the suggested speaker(s), areas of expertise, and which topics would be a good fit. Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and our programming team will be in touch with those whose experience aligns with our conference themes.

Submit Speaker Suggestion Form by July 17th!

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SBX 2026 is where the Pacific Northwest’s smart buildings community comes together to do the hard work of figuring out what’s next. Whether you join us as an attendee, a speaker, or a sponsor, we hope to see you there.

Questions? Reach us at [email protected]

More information: www.sbxconference.org

Agenda Topics & Call for Speakers

Smart Buildings Exchange Fall Conference | November 9-10, 2026 | Downtown Seattle

What’s on the SBX Agenda?
We’re excited to announce the SBX 2026 agenda. Grounded in our theme, “Accelerating Performance at the Speed of Innovation,” this year’s topics center on one question: what will it take to move smart buildings from promising projects to genuine, repeatable scale? The agenda digs into the practical barriers and opportunities that matter most right now—financing structures, policy alignment, AI-driven operations, and what it will take to make smart buildings the norm rather than the exception.

SBX is built on practitioner knowledge and real-world experience. As noted in the grid below, we’re actively looking for speakers, panelists, and moderators who can bring grounded, honest perspectives to our attendees — not polished sales pitches, but genuine insight from the work you’re doing in the field.

We’re especially interested in voices from:

• Building owners, managers, and operators
• Engineers, commissioning professionals, and energy managers
• Sustainability and decarbonization leaders
• Utility and policy experts
• Technology providers with real-world deployment stories
• Finance and capital professionals working on building performance

We’ve designed this year’s program to be direct, substantive, and honest. We’re interested in hosting multiple perspectives; disagreement is ok and leads to progress. If you have real experience, a grounded perspective, or a passionate point of view on any of these topics, we want to hear from you.

Sponsorship Opportunities for Smart Buildings Exchange (SBX) 2026 are now available! Please view our 2026 Sponsor Prospectus for full details on sponsorship levels and benefits.

SBX 2026 focuses on a defining challenge for our industry: how to capitalize on innovation and accelerate smart buildings adoption in a rapidly changing environment. In a world of rising costs, AI, evolving expectations, connected building systems, and growing building and cybersecurity concerns, the need for smarter, more resilient, and more scalable solutions has never been clearer. SBX 2026 will bring together leaders from across the built environment to examine what is driving progress, what is holding it back, and what it will take to move from promising innovation to widespread implementation.

The 2026 conference theme, “Accelerating Performance at the Speed of Innovation,” reflects both the urgency of the moment and the opportunity in front of us. As technologies advance and pressures on the built environment intensify, buildings are being asked to do more: reduce costs, improve resilience, respond to grid needs, support occupant outcomes, and deliver stronger performance in an increasingly complex operating environment. SBX 2026 will create space not just for inspiration, but for debate, problem-solving, and clearer pathways to action.