The vast majority of light commercial buildings still rely on basic, residential-style thermostats. This is not because they are the best choice, but because they have been the only practical one. Installed by contractors for simplicity and cost, these devices filled the gap left by complex and expensive building automation systems. As businesses now demand greater insight, control, and scalability, it is clear that homeowner-grade thermostats cannot scale effectively for light commercial environments.

• Designed for Homeowners, Not Businesses – Smart thermostats are optimized for residential comfort rather than operational management. Their interfaces, alerts, and features are simplified for homeowners. They do not provide the insights that contractors, technicians, or portfolio managers need, such as operational performance, equipment health, or portfolio-level benchmarking.  

• Limited Support for Multiple HVAC Systems – Most single-family homes have one or two HVAC systems, while light commercial buildings often have five to twenty or more rooftop units. In these situations, residential-style thermostats operate independently and frequently work against each other. There is no unified scheduling, so changing building hours or temperature policies requires adjusting each thermostat manually. This lack of coordination leads to inconsistent performance, wasted energy, and lost savings, and it does nothing to extend equipment life or minimize peak load charges. 

• No Portfolio Level Management – Smart thermostats treat every building as a standalone structure. They do not allow users to view or control multiple buildings from a single dashboard. There is no portfolio-level reporting, alert management, or the ability to manage settings across multiple locations. Light commercial operators need a single interface to monitor, compare, and optimize performance across entire portfolios.

• Limited Equipment Data & Diagnostics – HVAC systems in light commercial buildings are larger, operate in harsher environments, and consume more energy than residential systems. Smart thermostats may provide basic run-time data but lack the diagnostic capabilities needed to optimize performance. They do not monitor plenum temperatures, perform run-time analytics, detect faults, or provide real-time energy data. Without these insights, operators are left reacting to problems instead of preventing them.

“Residential smart thermostats lack centralized control and analytics needed for multi-site light commercial facility managers.“

• Lack of Enterprise Features – Residential-style systems lack the security and administrative capabilities required for commercial or multi-site operations. They typically do not support role-based permissions to control who can view or adjust specific locations. Audit trails and access logs are weak or nonexistent. A scalable commercial platform must support centralized authentication, user hierarchies, and secure provisioning for dozens or even hundreds of users.

• Dependence on WiFi Connectivity – Wi-Fi works well in homes but introduces challenges and complexity in commercial settings. Many businesses restrict or block third-party devices on corporate networks, and most light commercial buildings lack local IT support. Guest or shared Wi-Fi often has limited range, inconsistent credentials, and poor reliability. When connections drop, monitoring and control data are lost, leaving significant blind spots.

• An AI Ceiling on Basic Thermostat Data – Several vendors are applying artificial intelligence to improve smart thermostat control, but these systems are limited by the data they collect. With only temperature, setpoint, and run-time data, AI cannot generate meaningful, real-time insights or capture the full energy savings opportunity. These systems lack context about equipment operation, building conditions, occupancy, and energy use. Achieving true savings and reliability requires high-fidelity, multi-sensor data that extends far beyond the thermostat.

• No Capabilities Beyond HVAC Control – Smart thermostats are designed to operate as standalone devices. They do not integrate easily with other sensors that enable broader capabilities such as energy management, refrigeration monitoring, indoor air quality measurement, water leak detection, or occupancy tracking. They also lack a standardized data model that combines these insights into a unified building view.

A New Approach: Beyond the Smart Thermostat  

Thermostats were designed to control individual systems, not to manage a network of rooftop units across a building or portfolio. In multi-unit environments, they create silos rather than coordination, which leads to higher energy costs, inconsistent comfort, and shorter equipment life. Modern light commercial buildings need unified, wireless platforms that deliver centralized control, real-time diagnostics, and business-level insights across every rooftop unit and location.

UBX: Smart Buildings Made Easy

UBX is building the first unified, scalable smart building platform specifically for light commercial buildings. Our solution delivers automatic energy savings, remote monitoring, and actionable insights. All without costly wiring, programming, or IT dependencies.

Talk with an expert to learn how UBX is helping operators modernize their portfolios and unlock the value of smarter, more connected buildings.