An example method is provided and includes establishing a communication pathway to a building element configured to control at least one environmental setting within a room. The method also includes communicating an ability to control the environmental setting within the room to an endpoint configured to participate in a meeting session. The method further includes receiving a command from the endpoint to adjust the environmental setting during the meeting session. The command can be communicated to the building element. In more specific examples, the method can include registering with one or more application program interfaces (APIs) associated with the building element, and communicating a credential to the building element in order to provide an authentication for controlling the environmental setting. In yet other embodiments, the command to adjust the environmental setting is received via a menu of a user interface provided by a video conferencing platform.