Every year, the AHR Expo Innovation Awards shine a spotlight on new ideas, new technologies, and new ways of solving problems in HVACR. And every year, I ask myself the same question: What does any of this really mean for the contractor who must install it, maintain it, and stand behind it?

After reviewing this year’s winners, the answer is clear: the industry is moving toward systems and tools that are smarter, more connected, less dependent on traditional refrigerant-based strategies, and far more performance-driven. That’s good news for High-Performance HVAC™ contractors because your value has always rested on your ability to measure, verify, and turn data into better results for your customers.

As we head into the 2026 show in Las Vegas, NV from February 2nd to the 4th, the winning technologies reveal where the next wave of opportunity sits for commercial HVAC firms. And it’s not just about new widgets — it’s about the direction the industry is taking. Let’s walk through what matters, why it matters, and how these innovations affect the work you do every day.

Why Innovation Awards Matter

Before diving into several of the individual category winners, it’s worth looking at the broader picture. Innovation isn’t just happening for the sake of novelty. According to an AHR Expo press release announcing the award winners back in October, manufacturers are responding to marketplace and regulatory issues including:

  • Electrification and decarbonization pressures
  • Regulations pushing for higher efficiency and lower GWP solutions
  • Labor shortages and a shrinking pipeline of skilled technicians
  • Demand for more proof, more measurement, and more transparency
  • Customer expectations for smarter buildings and predictable performance.

That’s the world we all live in now. So, when you see this year’s winning products, you’re not just seeing equipment — you’re seeing tools that help solve real, day-to-day challenges: limited labor, operational complexity, energy pressures, and the need to deliver verifiable performance.

For High-Performance HVAC contractors, these innovations don’t replace craftsmanship — they amplify it. They reward contractors who measure, test, document, and think in terms of whole-system performance.

We aren’t looking at all the winners. We are focusing only on those products that impact the commercial HVAC realm.

Building management innovation continues evolving with the Honeywell Connected Solutions
Honeywell Connected Solutions

The 2026 Commercial Innovation Award Winners are …

Let’s look at the winners through the lens that commercial contractors care about: How will this change the work?

Building Automation: Smarter Buildings Without the Headache. If there’s one area where commercial contractors are hungry for clarity, it’s building automation.

The Honeywell Connected Solutions (booth C1840) suite hits the target by bringing everything — remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, energy optimization, and asset management — into one cloud-based platform. The days of juggling disconnected systems and proprietary blind spots seem to be numbered.

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