How is Trane responding to the ever-changing needs of the FM world?

Today, sustainability, carbon reduction and efficiency are on everyone’s mind. And that means the pressure is on for most facility managers. They face the task of finding a way to implement the sustainability improvements their stakeholders have been talking about for the past decade or more.  

We understand that efficiency and sustainability-related building solutions can be intimidating to start. That said, as awareness increases about the contributions commercial buildings make to greenhouse gas emissions, the expectations of building’s tenants, stakeholders and surrounding communities continue to rise. 

As a global leader in sustainability solutions, Trane has many years of experience guiding our customers through these kinds of challenges. We’ve spent decades helping facility managers implement building solutions that achieve their efficiency and decarbonization goals, and that also keep costs down to preserve profitability.   

Tell us your “why” in the FM world.

We have a vision for our customers that we call the high-performance building. The high-performance building is characterized by excellence in four key metrics. First, indoor environmental quality (IEQ) covers not only the quality of indoor air — the degree to which it’s free of airborne pathogens or pollutants — but other important factors like lighting and thermal stability.  

Next, connectivity and accessibility. A high-performance building is a smart building. It has integrated systems and controls that allow for ease of management as well as for remote accessibility to permit off-site diagnostics and preventative maintenance. Integrated systems also enable building owners to collect and leverage building data for optimization projects and reporting.  

Closely related to connectivity is uptime. Building systems must perform consistently and reliably, both to minimize downtime and to enable the most efficient deployment and distribution of skilled human resources, which are becoming increasingly scarce in the marketplace.  

The last critical metric is of course sustainability, which increases brand value and in turn adds value to a business’s products and services.  

Why should FMs pick Trane as a partner?

We meet customers wherever they are in their improvement journey, and work collaboratively with them at every step, from project conception to solution design, construction to measurement and verification. We even help our customers navigate the complexities of the regulatory environment and/or find the financing resources they need to bring their project to life.   

Our customers value the fact that we take a holistic approach to buildings. Equipment and systems may be what keep the building running, but our solutions take a broader view. They focus as much on the organization — the problems that need to be solved or outcomes that need to be realized — as they do on any specific piece of equipment.  

Today the value of a building is measured by more than its size, its location, or assets. Today a building is measured by the degree to which it helps the organization fulfill its mission, meet the needs of its customers, and be successful and profitable. When an organization has a high-performance building, it has a high-performance business. Helping to enable that organization to do what it does best is why we’re here, and we have decades of experience doing it successfully. 

Tell us about Trane’s corporate social responsibility and environmental, social and governance efforts or projects. How have these contributed to your community?

In 2022, Trane Technologies became the first building technology company to set a net-zero target that was based on — and approved by — the Science Based Targets Initiative. This effort to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions directly benefits customers of Trane Commercial, a business of Trane Technologies. Not only are we leading by example, but by lowering our own emissions — those we directly emit, or those emitted by our energy suppliers — we lower the Scope 3 emissions of everyone who does business with us. 

Our current targets are to reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50 percent below 2019 levels by 2030. The effect will be to lower the emissions of our customer Scope 3 emissions by 55 percent  per ton below 2019 levels by 2030. Looking further ahead, we’ve committed to reaching net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. 

As a global energy services and sustainability leader, our goal is to not only help our clients achieve an efficient, smooth-running building, but one that’s environmentally responsible as well. The facility management community is where the rubber hits the road when it comes to efficiency, decarbonization and sustainability. We are — and always have been — proud to serve the needs of that community.