Top 5 Topics of 2025: What Mattered Most To You This Year

As 2025 draws to a close, we’re taking a look at what readers responded to the most this year, from building retrofits to sophisticated AI technologies. Can you predict what people clicked on the most?

5. Retrofitting Aging Buildings Requires Strategic Tech Integration

Buildings constructed before 2000 can be particularly challenging when it comes to modernizing technology and infrastructure. However, these complex projects aren’t impossible and they can deliver the ROI you’re looking for—you just need the right plans in place. Author Andrew Froelich explains how retrofitting aging buildings with smart building tech can be made both feasible and cost-effective.

4. Why 2025 is the Tipping Point for Smart HVAC Integration in Every Building

Have you integrated smart sensors into your HVAC system? Waiting longer to do so might not be an option, according to author Emily Newton—because rising energy costs, growing climate concerns, and tightening regulations may demand that you take action sooner rather than later. This article from spring 2025 explores how smart HVAC technologies can enable indoor air quality improvements, mitigate rising costs, and more.

3. POTS Lines Are Ending. Are Your Emergency Devices Ready?

The end of Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) and the phaseout of associated copper lines was a major worry for facilities managers in last year’s Best of 2024 roundup, and it remained a top topic this year. This webinar by Ooma spelled out what you need to know about the end of POTS and its impact on your emergency devices, such as elevator phones, and how to maintain the reliability of your life safety systems.

2. AI-Powered Revolution in Facilities Management

The rise of artificial intelligence was a top topic in 2025, as facilities professionals looked for insights into how to best utilize this transformative technology. Multiple AI articles and whitepapers showed up in the top content of the year, but this whitepaper by Yardi, which explored how AI-powered tools are revolutionizing traditional processes, was the second most popular piece of content published in 2025.

1. Inside One of the Smartest, Most Sustainable Buildings

Sidara’s headquarters at 150 Holborn in London uses integrated technologies from Schneider Electric and Planon to enable real-time data insights, optimized energy use, and enhanced occupant comfort. This whitepaper detailing the future-ready workplace experience in the building—not to mention its certifications with WELL, BREEAM, WiredScore, and SmartScore—was the most-read content we published in 2025.

Were you surprised by the top five? What was your favorite article, podcast episode, or webinar of the year—and what should we cover next year? Comment below and let us know!