Inside story

For some businesses, the shift toward sustainability has to start small. It may be a cost-cutting measure that inadvertently trims their carbon footprint, or it could be an internal measure taken as a toe in the water before the company is ready to announce sweeping changes.

The latter in particular is an easy win, with many methods available to achieve it. One of the more effective ways is to adopt a more energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system in the office. In that way, you’re fighting on two fronts: you’re protecting your staff against heatwaves and extreme weather events outside, and you’re making an impact on the 15 percent of carbon emissions caused by air conditioning worldwide.

Essentially, it’s a purpose, and one that’s squarely at the heart of the work done by Trane Technologies, a global specialist in sustainable climate solutions.

Making an impact

It was this purpose that attracted Holly Paeper, President of Commercial HVAC Americas, to the company, which goes to market as Trane, in the first place.

“I was an engineering graduate attracted to innovation,” she tells The CEO Magazine. “I was already in the macro energy space, and after I had my first child, I started to think, ‘How can I continue to help make a positive impact on the next generation?’”

After spending several years in Silicon Valley working for various tech companies, she found her way to Trane Technologies, enticed by its sense of purpose and mission-driven nature.

“I saw how I could take what I’ve learned from the tech world, apply it to the innovative work the company was already doing with energy solutions and wrap it all up in sustainability to really be able to make an impact,” she reveals.

A decade later, Paeper is completely immersed in the company’s innovative work.

“We want to help solve customer problems in ways that haven’t been done before, which make buildings more resilient and largely lower greenhouse gas footprints,” she says. “I spend a lot of my time bringing solutions to those problems into real-world action.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has transformed at a exponential rate. From data centers to AI, new frontiers are changing perspectives and highlighting new ways to make decisions.

“We don’t have the same time to respond to challenges as we did 10 or 20 years ago,” Paeper says. “But what I’ve noticed is that the more you’ve seen, the more you have to draw on, and the more equipped we are to respond and react, the better those decisions will be.”

Measuring sustainability

Sustainability in particular has prompted many such momentous decisions, and Paeper says Trane Technologies is working hard to make those easier.

With a firm foundation in science and elevated by ambition, the company and its brands, including global refrigerated transport leader, Thermo King, are making today’s workplaces – at home, in the office or on the road – much more efficient, comfortable and sustainable.

“We’ve been able to attract some amazing talent because we all want to have a purpose, and we’re finding that’s game-changing,” she explains.

“The things we make can impact global emissions by 50 percent, and frankly, we can change the world by going down that path.”

One guiding metric is applied to all of Trane Technologies’ output: the Gigaton Challenge. The annual carbon emissions of Italy, France and the United Kingdom combined equate to roughly a gigaton. According to Paeper, products proposed by Trane Technologies are designed intentionally with one guiding question: how can they better that situation?

“We track the solutions we put in place, whether it’s energy saved by our solutions in a building or low global warming potential refrigerants,” she says.

“But we measure the business impact, the energy savings, the greenhouse gas and the emissions impact. All this is in our reports in every customer deal, all the way to the sustainability reports we put out as a company. Transparency is ingrained in who we are.”

Curiosity in leadership

While the work may be inspiring in and of itself, Paeper says as President, she feels it’s a privilege to lead her team toward such a positive outcome.

“I spent a lot of time thinking about leadership as I try to mentor and foster my organization,” she confirms. “You have to set a vision and inspire others to follow, you have to empower really smart people to go and do the work – they are fundamental to our success.

“But I think in today’s work, leaders have to have a curiosity of their own. I’m a student of learning from other people and when I look at the best leaders, including our CEO, they’re all very curious humans naturally.”

Particularly when doing the kind of pioneering work Trane Technologies has become renowned for, from air conditioning and heat pumps to air filters and purification systems, being able to ask, ‘We haven’t done this yet; how do we do it?’ comes from that curiosity, according to Paeper.

“We’re making things that aren’t as obvious to put together, so I think curiosity today serves us all very well,” she says.

The heart of the company

However, purpose and intent are enhanced by an inherent sense of goodness, which Paeper believes Trane Technologies is imbued with at a molecular level.

“Any company can have good innovations and develop good solutions, but I think that Trane Technologies as a company has a good heart,” she reflects.

“We always try to do the right thing for our customers and for the environment, and you probably can’t say that about every company.”

And that heart is made up of its people, Paeper adds.

“People are the differentiator always,” she says. “It’s the moments of truth, the heroic micro-moments that happen with customers or in a meeting – they come from the people.

“We’ve been around for over 100 years, and part of my role is helping figure out what the next 100 years look like. Frankly, people are going to continue to be at the center of that.”