Trane Technologies is a global leader in HVAC systems.

We have built our systems on next generation refrigerants which has more favorable properties and minimal impact on environment.

Kishor Patil, Country Head, Trane HVAC

How do you assess the scope & potential for HVAC solutions in the Realty Sector?

India is one of the fastest growing economies globally and with people increasingly migrating towards urban areas, and new businesses opening, the realty sector will need to tackle the rising infrastructural challenges. This also means a growth in urbanization and therefore an increase in the carbon footprint. The government of India is already on its mission to achieve the smart cities vision to promote a more sustainable way of living and access to better citizen services. However, it also becomes essential for the realtors to adopt modern technologies to be able to support the government in its mission. HVAC is one of the key tools that has already proved its efficiency with a low carbon footprint and better energy efficiency.

We have already seen efficient implementation of HVAC systems across residential and commercial buildings offering some great results. Specialized HVAC equipment provides the ability to fine-tune temperature, humidity, and airflow in various zones (based on data from the sensors) to optimize comfort while reducing energy consumption. For commercial areas like retail, healthcare, hospitality, commercial, and educational institutions - advanced systems available with compact design can easily provide 26% better efficiency and up to 30% saving of space. These Smart HVAC technologies are also reducing the workload for facilities staff and providing better conditions for employees.

What are the recent technology trends that are reshaping the HVAC industry and what contributory role is Trane playing? 

We believe that innovation begins with the customer's need. Innovations from Trane help organizations to achieve their missions and meet their unique environmental needs. Our products are innovative, customer focused and benefit diversified industries including commercial real estate, healthcare, hospitality, industrial and infrastructure.

Some of the notable technologies and features that Trane provides are: -

Screw Technology: Trane VFD air-cooled screw chiller, Sintesis, provides excellent product efficiency (both full-load and part-load) resulting in a lower total cost of ownership. Available in five efficiency versions and in three acoustic packages, the Sintesis range can achieve the lowest noise rating on market at an exceptional Class A efficiency, certified by Eurovent. The Sintesis chiller is part of the Trane Technologies EcoWise portfolio: as part of the climate commitment to increase energy efficiency and reduce the greenhouse gas emission, EcoWise products are designed to lower environmental impact with next-gen low-GWP refrigerants and high-efficiency operation.

Centrifugal Low-Pressure Technology: Trane Series EcoWise centrifugal machines offering an extended capacity range above 1300 TR up to 4000 TR (50 Hz) with next-generation low GWP refrigerant HFO-1233zd (E) and high-efficiency operation. Building on the CenTraVac legacy, the Series E delivers the same industry leading reliability and highest efficiencies that customers expect from Trane chillers. Trane has consistently invested in chillers with low pressure technology. Trane chillers using current refrigerant R 514 a / R-123 are supposed to be about 13% more energy-efficient than the next best chiller available in the market., Trane also offers an engineered conversion for R123 chiller for those customers who wish to operate on the next-generation low-GWP refrigerant R 514 a.

Controls Product Range: With Trane Air-Fi wireless technology, building managers can bring maximum flexibility to their building automation system. Wireless technology from Trane replaces the wired communication link needed for the building controls system and easily integrates multiple building system devices, allowing building owners to reconfigure spaces as technology and building needs evolve. Trane Air-Fi wireless communication is a reliable and flexible solution that negates all issues associated with wired components in building controls system. With Air-Fi wireless, customers are assured an efficient performance and cost savings over the life of the equipment.

Unitary Commercial Products: This segment includes AMS III-mini VRF, Genyue-Full Inverter series with AHU Kit, ducted splits. The full inverter series - Genyue - has a wide range of options on the indoor compatibility with IPLV up to 6.9*. The on-demand output ensures high-efficiency and energy-saving. With the advanced DC inverter technology, the output current is smooth 180° sine wave curve making the compressor running smooth, quiet, and efficient. These machines are capable of working in high temperature Indian ambient conditions.

IoT and Big Data analytics have had revolutionary impact on many of the business verticals. How does the scenario look like in HVAC industry and to what extent has Trane been able leverage the potential?

Technology is disrupting every industry and the early adopters will be able to innovate better and pass on its benefits to their customers more quickly. As per various industry experts, predictive analytics will be the next phase of IoT. Across various global markets we are already helping our partners install smart technology to measure and analyze how often the equipment is running, when a building is occupied and how quickly set points are met. There will also soon be multiple technologies that might be used to monitor and gather data from crucial equipment like HVAC. These technologies will allow real-time adjustments to be done faster and more effectively.

Trane Technologies has already witnessed success in predictive services for some of its global projects and is continuously innovating to bring more efficiency.

To what extent has the use of data analysis technologies reshaped the service part of the business? What is your edge on this area?

Data science has continued to make rapid advances, particularly on the frontiers of machine learning and deep learning and analytics have been reshaping the business landscape, supercharging performance, and enabling the emergence of new business innovations. Organizations now have troves of raw data combined with powerful and sophisticated analytics tools to gain insights that could have profound implications for business, for the economy, and more broadly, for society.

This rapid growth is allowing building owners and managers to proactively manage their facilities with technology that turns electricity, security, lighting, appliances and HVAC activity into data. And the ability to collect and analyze actionable utility insights is driving major savings and efficiencies in commercial buildings.

Trane has included its predictive service as part of a larger project to reduce operational costs. The company has partnered with Crosstown Concourse to increase its building's value. Charged with redesigning its 90-year-old system, Trane optimized Crosstown Concourse's HVAC system. In the end, Crosstown Concourse could start collecting data, helping identify how its building consumes energy, diagnose equipment performance and meet its energy reduction goals.

There has been huge impact in design such as sustainable / green building concepts. What is the impact of this on the HVAC industry and how have you been able to cope up with the changing requirements?

While designing a high-performance building, it is imperative to have an energy-efficient HVAC system. Buildings are one of the biggest energy consumers in the world as well as greenhouse gas emissions. However, less attention has been given to ensure energy efficiency in buildings, despite the tremendous impact buildings have on costs and the environment.

A building system is a combination of equipment, operations, controls, accessories, and means of interconnection that use energy to perform a specific function including the HVAC system. To achieve a high-performance and systems-efficient building, HVAC must be designed, installed, and operated to optimize performance collectively with other energy systems both within and outside of the building to provide a high level of service for a given level of energy use.

Trane Technologies is a global leader in HVAC systems and is leveraging on its proven experience in the market, focusing more on building efficiency by taking integrated approach. Our engineers are not only advocating customers to look at product level efficiency but also entire system / ancillary associated with it, we are not only able to optimize the efficiency, but also reduce the installation cost to the building owners which is highly appreciated by many customers.

What do you think the major challenges in integrating HVAC with smart building systems?

The HVAC industry has grown ever since 2011. The growth rate will sustain, and may even exceed previous levels, in 2019. Apart from the new buildings emerging every year, several legacy systems installed in the 1990s are now at the end of its tether. Replacement of aging systems represents a huge market opportunity for HVAC firms. However, the growth is not uniform or across-the-board. HVAC firms face the challenge of identifying growth sectors in their domain and focusing the attention of such domains. The 2019 Economic Outlook Survey indicates continued growth in the residential HVAC segment. At the same time, the portents of global recession place uncertainty over the commercial spaces.   

Sustainable HVAC is a rising trend in the industry today, with popular methods such as DeVAP, solar, and geothermal leading the way for environmentally friendly HVAC use. What is the scope and potential for such technologies in our country? 

As a company, Trane has already committed and is working hard to take its sustainability goals to the next level. We recently made a 2030 sustainability commitment which includes goals tied to urbanization, because we know that a large percentage of the world will be urbanized by 2030. So, our 2030 sustainability commitments are designed to meet the challenge of climate change, resource constraints, provide world-class systems and service performance for buildings, homes, transportation and industrial customers. It also improves the quality of life for the people and communities where we operate and serve.

The company will continue this momentum and create positive impact through three actions by 2030:

• Scale technology, innovation and sustainability strategies to enable more efficient customer solutions. This includes reducing the customer carbon footprint by one gigaton1 CO2e- equivalent to the annual emissions of Italy, France and the United Kingdom combined.
• Transform its supply chain and operations to have a restorative impact on the environment including achieving carbon neutral operations, zero waste to landfill and a 10% absolute reduction in energy consumption, and giving back more water than we use in water-stressed areas.
• Increase opportunity for all, strengthening economic mobility and bolstering the quality of life of our people and those in the communities where we operate and serve. This includes achieving gender parity in leadership roles and a workforce reflective of our community populations, maintaining livable market-competitive wages and progressive benefits; and broadening community access to well-being services including food/nutrition, housing and shelter, transportation, education and climate comfort.

What are the trends in refrigerants?  

With the global increase in the use of refrigerants, regulations have continued to evolve. The global scrutiny on the GWP of all current generation refrigerants continues to grow, pushing the industry to next-generation options.

Kigali Agreement, which recently has been signed by most of the countries, draws the challenge to reduce GWP impact directly and indirectly in building environmental friendliness. As an HVAC manufacturer, we have built our systems on Next Generation Refrigerants which has more favorable properties and minimal impact on environment with respect to the traditional offerings. Going forward traditional offerings will be phased down as per the agreement timelines. Anything that is new will have incremental investment does not hold to be true in case of Next Generation Refrigerants, we have built in more energy efficiency while building these products to payback incremental investment within a year of operations.

What are the major challenges that you face in the growth of the industry?

People mindset and legacy definitely appears as roadblock within the industry. Externally, while the government policies with respect to certain verticals contribute to the growth as demand keeps fluctuating, we feel that targeted programs to reward and recognize building owners will help get people's focus on energy and environment.

Please enlighten us on the core competencies and strengths of your company?

Our major strength lies in our employees, stakeholder and our deep commitment towards creating sustainable solutions. By building on our strengths, investing in our people and empowering through a proven business operating system that generates productivity and execution excellence, we push the boundaries of what is possible for the benefit of all our customers.

How do you look at ending this fiscal and the future outlook?

In India, our focus is on the creation of new technological advancements with increased energy efficiency across our product range. Our Engineering Centres in Bangalore and Chennai incorporates best in class laboratories and testing facilities to bring in more sustainable innovation for the HVAC industry. Over the years, we have developed the capability to provide complete end-to-end solution for our customers to help them become efficient and productive. Our approach and focus on providing end-to-end ‘solution', and not just a piece of ‘equipment' lies at the centre of the customer delight we have been able to create in market.

HVAC CHALLENGES

The Challenge of Talent Crunch

Several common problems arise as a result of shortage of skills amongst the workforce. These include quality of products, slower production, lesser productivity of tasks leading to the limited growth and higher attrition. While there are options of hiring apprentices and  independent contractors to meet the service obligations but Smart HVAC companies focus their attention on building sustainable recruiting systems to secure a stream of talented and trustworthy employees. They also invest more in employee training, re-training and skill enhancement programs.

Challenges Posed by the Smart Home

The HVAC industry remains hard-pressed to offer connected service. For the same cause, it needs to invest in state-of-the-art software ecosystems to enter and function seamlessly in the IoT age. The challenge extends even to redrafting their standard contracts and forms to sync with the new digital realities.

Challenges of Changing Customer Behavior

There is a pressing need to build trust. Trust stems from transparency in operations, fair and accurate pricing, and reducing risks for customers. For instance, backing up advice to replace an old and inefficient furnace with a record quantifying the improvements and savings in the utility bill builds trust and transparency. Inculcating an enterprise culture, where the overriding focus is on customer satisfaction, with customer delight kept as the ultimate objective of all enterprise activities, also helps.

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