How Will Your Firm Use Artificial Intelligence?

Funny. The subject of Artificial Intelligence, aka AI, has become so ubiquitous in the last year that I was sure I had devoted a recent editorial to the topic. But when I reviewed our recent issues, I was amazed to discover that I had not discussed it in this space since my first Editor's Notes column of 2025, entitled, Has the Brave New World of AI Finally Arrived?

At that time, I casually predicted, "As our industry becomes more open to the concept of AI delivering a tangible return on investment, and not just an expensive novelty, none of us should be surprised to see this tranformative technology join our project teams both sooner and later."

Just 14 months later, that sentence seems a quaint understatement. In fact, three comments from early 2026 have already jolted me, and reset my expectations. 

In our March episode of HPAC On The Air, longtime construction technologist Paul Doherty, a licensed architect, Smart Cities expert, and early contributor to the development of building information modeling (BIM), says this will be 'a watershed year' for engineering technology. "The speed and velocity of the AI revolution will change things in a nanosecond," Doherty predicts. "This will do away with shop drawings, with RFI's, with change orders, all within this generation."

In fact, the transformation will be so fast, he adds, that the main hurdle for adoption will ultimately be convincing project developers that the AI-generated building designs are just as solid and even more reliable than the ones traditionally created by humans.

At this year's AHR Expo in Las Vegas, one technology panelist matter-of-factly observed this about facility management, “We are probably 5 to 10 years away from full adoption of AI; it will eventually replace humans in this space."

Added another panelist, “I think it could be just one to three years, myself."

Umm... wow.

Writing in an op-ed in The New York Times in early March, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo said flatly, "Artificial intelligence is transforming work faster than our work force is adapting... Leaders across the political spectrum and the private sector tell me this crisis is coming and there’s no obvious solution."

With that in mind, Raimondo is calling for a "grand bargain" between the public and private sectors to help define the "skills essential to the AI economy" and to help build pathways to those jobs via "training, incentives and safety nets that help workers move quickly into them." 

Are engineers ready for this imminent revolution? "No," says Doherty. For its part, ASHRAE is increasing efforts to prepare and educate its members. 

"The breakout of collaborative AI in MEP design will define 2026," said former ASHRAE President Kent Peterson, PE, Chief Technology Officer at P2S Inc. Speaking to us in our January-February issue, he added, "This isn't about replacing engineers. It's about using available technology to amplify their capabilities."

Of course, that's what editors like me are being told about journalism, too. But so far, the assistance of AI has been a plus, I must admit. (Have you noticed the bullet points that lead most of our online articles this year? That's AI!)

According to ASHRAE's Multidisciplinary Task Group (MTG) on Generative AI:

Current advances in Large Language Models (LLMs) have resulted in generative AI tools and techniques that have transformed processing all forms of digital information to solve every day problems in all domains. Integrating generative AI technology applications in the HVAC industry can offer various benefits, including energy efficiency, predictive maintenance, and improved system optimization. 

Those all sound like pluses, too. But as others have also told us, AI's capabilities seem to be growing daily. Does your firm have a strategy for leveraging them? If not, at this point, what are you waiting for?