Smartcool Wins the CBRE Innovation Challenge 2026
Smartcool Wins the CBRE Innovation Challenge 2026
Smartcool has won the CBRE Innovation Challenge 2026 in the Smart & Sustainable Solutions category.
The final was held in London in April, with 16 finalists competing across categories covering the built environment. The event was hosted by the CBRE Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) team. Steven Martin and Caroline Elliott represented Smartcool on the day.
What the CBRE Innovation Challenge is
The CBRE Innovation Challenge brings together suppliers and technology partners working with CBRE's Global Workplace Solutions division, one of the world's largest commercial real estate services operations. The challenge identifies organisations whose work is genuinely moving the needle on the problems CBRE and its clients care most about.
The Smart & Sustainable Solutions category covers technology that helps commercial buildings perform better: lower energy consumption, lower carbon output, lower operating cost. That is precisely the brief Smartcool was built to answer.
What this recognition means
Being recognised by a partner of CBRE's calibre, in the category that reflects exactly what our technology is designed to do, carries real weight.
Smartcool's ECO3™ and ESM™ optimise compressor performance across refrigeration and air conditioning systems. ECO3™ intercepts the signal between the primary controller and the compressor, cutting cycles before the energy-intensive tail end and keeping compressors operating in the most efficient phase of their cycle. The result is a measurable reduction in total run time and energy consumption of up to 30% on compressor energy (site dependent), without replacing any existing equipment. ESM™ applies the same principle to complex multi-compressor environments: chillers, refrigeration racks, and high-consumption commercial systems.
Alongside these, Panoramic Power provides circuit-level energy monitoring via wireless, non-invasive sensors and a cloud dashboard. It gives facilities managers and sustainability teams the granular, real-time visibility they need to identify inefficiencies, evidence improvements, and meet reporting obligations.
The technology has been independently validated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, part of the US Department of Energy. That validation, combined with monitored results across 35,000+ installations worldwide, is the foundation on which the CBRE relationship was built.
A reflection of the team
This award is a credit to the engineers, installers, and account teams whose work shows up in every building where ECO3™, ESM™ and Panoramic Power are deployed. The results do not happen without the people who deliver them with care and consistency on every site.
The brief was a straightforward one: help CBRE's clients run more efficient, lower-carbon, lower-cost buildings. The data shows it works, and we are proud to keep going.
We are grateful to the CBRE GWS team for the recognition, and for the partnership that underpins it.
Get in touch
If you manage CBRE-handled properties and would like to understand what compressor optimisation could deliver for your portfolio, we would welcome the conversation. Request a free energy assessment.