The UK and North America are leading the way in embracing data in buildings – but maximising its use as a tangible driver of performance remains a “glass ceiling”, according to new study
Building data utilisation research by Equans involved 980 decision-makers across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, the US and Canada and found that 91% of organisations now have data governance rules defining ownership, responsibilities, access and security.
However, Equans said maturity is decided on the final step: turning building data into tangible outcomes.
Overall, only 45% of respondents said they exploit more than half the data they collect. This points to a practical glass ceiling: in many organisations, building data mainly supports day-to-day operations, while insight delivery and the conversion into actionable information remain the weak link.
Compliance issue v performance lever
International comparison reveals two distinct dynamics. On one side, the English-speaking bloc, most of the organisations report exploiting more than 50% of their building data (Canada 55%, UK 54%, US 52%).
On the other, continental Europe, exploitation is lower: France reaches only 41% above the threshold (52% below it), and the Netherlands 39% (42% below it), signalling that scaling remains immature.
This divide is also reflected in the nature of projects: where English-speaking countries are moving towards production-ready, standardised data use, Europe more often remains focused on operational steps (collection, processing, reporting). The gap is therefore less about intent than about the ability to move from reporting to true exploitation.
Creating value difficult without single platform
Without a single platform and internal data sharing, creating value is difficult, Equans said.
The study highlights very concrete levers that explain the gap.
The first break point is unification: 59% of organisations in the United States say they already have a single platform, compared with 38% in France and 29% in the Netherlands.
Secondly, the ability to break down silos. Data collection is more often pooled in the United States (71%) than in France (50%) or the Netherlands (44%), a key marker of data circulation across departments.
Third lever: proving value. Quantified ROI is measured more frequently in the United States (45%) than in France (25%), and drops to 11% in the Netherlands, illustrating how difficult it can be to manage data through a performance lens.
In this landscape, the Netherlands is a revealing case: the survey results show it more often trailing on industrialisation markers. They cautiously suggest that a stronger emphasis on protection and security frameworks can, in practice, create additional barriers before use cases reach production, illustrating a Europe that is highly attentive to governance, but still constrained when it comes to scaling.
AI is an accelerator that widens the gap
AI does not erase gaps; it can amplify them, Equans said. AI use for data exploitation is markedly higher in the United States (54%) than in the Netherlands (19%) or France (36%).
And while AI is seen as a future priority everywhere, it is even more so in English-speaking countries: 93% in the United States, versus 73% in France and 68% in the Netherlands.
The study underlines a key point: AI becomes a lasting lever only when it rests on data that is already unified, shared and managed through relevant indicators. In short, AI accelerates, mostly where data execution is already ready to scale.
Jérôme Stubler, president of Equans, said: “This study shows that the issue is no longer only about governing data but about unlocking tomorrow’s performance from it: cleaning and structuring it so it can be used, analysing it in real time, pooling it across departments and steering it through relevant, shared indicators to support decision-making.
“Scaling is what now makes the difference between the English-speaking bloc and continental Europe.”
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