Almost every building we walk into is stuck in the same pattern. A chiller fails, a sustainability rating drops or a major tenant complains, and the team immediately shifts into crisis mode. These fires are real, and solving them feels productive, even essential. But while the urgent gets fixed, the important gets ignored.
Preventative tasks are skipped. System tuning is delayed. Small improvements are pushed aside because budgets are already blown on emergency repairs. Before long, the lack of prevention creates even more failures, which creates even more firefighting. That repeating cycle is what we call the “Doom Loop”.
The hidden cost: your people
The Doom Loop doesn’t just hurt equipment and efficiency. It takes a toll on the teams running the building. Skilled operators spend most of their time reacting instead of improving. They don’t get the space to solve root causes or build toward better long-term outcomes. Over time, that lack of progress leads to frustration and burnout. In an industry already struggling to attract and keep great people, this cycle is doing real damage.
Sectors like manufacturing, aviation and logistics faced similar cycles decades ago. They broke them by investing in automation, structured workflows and tools that supported preventative action. Building operations can follow the same path. As the old saying goes, we have the technology and we can rebuild.
What breaking the loop could look like
Imagine if billions of engineering checks were automated instead of manually chased.
Imagine if resolutions were clearly assigned through intuitive digitised workflows.
Imagine if improvement decisions were supported by data your executives can trust.
In that environment, teams spend more time improving performance and less time reacting to failures. That shift alone is enough to dismantle the Doom Loop.
A realistic resolution for 2026
Recognising the Doom Loop is the first step. The second is deciding it is no longer acceptable as “business as usual”. With the right technology and processes, building operations can move from reactive firefighting to proactive, controlled management.
This year, make the change.
Kill the Doom Loop.
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