Trane® Advances Connected Building Technology to Improve Energy and Operational Efficiency of Commercial Facilities
New wireless and enterprise-wide connected building technology enable better indoor environments and help organizations achieve sustainability goals
DAVIDSON, N.C., June 19, 2017 – Trane, a leading global provider of indoor comfort systems and services and a brand of Ingersoll Rand, is advancing connected building technology to address one of the world’s most pressing issues, which is to improve the energy and operational efficiency of commercial buildings. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, buildings consumed approximately 40 percent of the nation’s energy in 2016[1].
Today Trane announced two new and enhanced connected buildings solutions, Trane Tracer® Ensemble™ building management system and Trane Air-Fi® CO2 Wireless System, which can optimize building performance and enable more efficient building management. The new solutions highlight Trane’s commitment to provide intelligent systems, building automation and energy management services to help optimize a building’s performance.
“Buildings today are full of hidden potential and have wasted energy flowing throughout, due to inefficient heating, cooling, and lighting,” said Dave Molin, vice president, controls. “Through the use of new Trane technology, we can access valuable data and insight that can be the catalyst for new levels of efficiencies.”
The new Tracer Ensemble and the enhanced Air-Fi Wireless CO2 give facility management professionals the flexibility to manage buildings more efficiently with long term data collection and analysis, while reducing costs and delivering a better indoor environment to tenants through secure data-driven, technology-enabled services. By maintaining and analyzing building data effectively, facility managers can use this information to enhance overall operations and management.
“At Trane, we understand buildings, their role in our society and their impact on our world’s sustainability,” said Brad Trevillian, energy services director at Trane. “By offering efficient and connected indoor comfort systems that are maintained, analyzed and improved by our energy analysts and engineers, we provide the facility management professionals the tools they need to successfully operate and maximize their building’s potential.”
Tracer® Ensemble®
Tracer Ensemble is Trane’s newest web-enabled building management system, which provides an enterprise-wide view into all building automation systems — whether there are two buildings or hundreds. New capabilities offer business advantages for both building owners and their tenants, and more secure control of vital systems, and include:
- Enhanced user interface – Boost efficiency and productivity through an easy-to-use interface that features out-of-the-box standard pages and navigation, fully customizable navigation and an enhanced touch screen.
- Fast, easy troubleshooting – Use any mobile connected device to address comfort issues, make schedule changes, adjust set points, manage alarms and more.
- Target needed improvement – Impact your bottom line through vital performance metrics that help you identify areas for improvement across your entire enterprise
- Enhanced tenant services – Industry-leading building automation tool offers the ability to increase revenue streams through tenant satisfaction and retention, built-in billing capabilities, after hours building management and more
- Flexibility – The new Tracer Ensemble system is available in three scalable installation options – Tracer Ensemble, Tracer Ensemble Express and Tracer Ensemble Cloud – ensuring there is one to meet any business need and budget.
To learn more about Tracer Ensemble, visit trane.com/ensemble.
Air-Fi® CO2
Many building owners face maintenance and repair challenges with traditional wired controls systems, which fail when wires are cut, disconnected or damaged. An extension of Trane’s Air-Fi Wireless System, Air-Fi CO2 delivers advanced reliability, faster and easier installation, low maintenance cost, and easy integration from space sensors that now include CO2 to the service tool and to the system controller. Features and capabilities include:
- Optimized building performance – Air-Fi can help optimize a building’s performance with less risk, thanks to self-repairing mesh technology that features redundant signal paths to help prevent communication failures.
- Signal range – The system offers twice the signal range and four times the potential paths to help prevent communication failures.
- Battery life – The lifetime[2] battery eliminates the need to replace batteries over the life of the system and saves time, and money.
- Certified and compliant – Air-Fi wireless is a ZigBee® Certified Building Automation solution, and the system is built on a platform that supports BACnet® open standards.
It also conforms to the IEEE® 802.15.4 standard, giving customers a wireless building automation communication system that reliably coexists with other wireless systems, including Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi®, without interference.
To learn more about Trane Air-Fi® Wireless CO2, visit trane.com/airfi.
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About Ingersoll Rand and Trane
Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR) advances the quality of life by creating comfortable, sustainable and efficient environments. Our people and our family of brands — including Club Car®, Ingersoll Rand®, Thermo King® and Trane® — work together to enhance the quality and comfort of air in homes and buildings; transport and protect food and perishables; and increase industrial productivity and efficiency. We are a $13 billion global business committed to a world of sustainable progress and enduring results.
Trane solutions optimize indoor environments with a broad portfolio of energy efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, building and contracting services, parts support and advanced control. For more information, visit www.ingersollrand.com or www.trane.com.
Trane, the Circle Logo, Air-Fi, and Tracer Ensemble are trademarks of Trane in the United States and other countries. BACnet is a registered trademark of ASHRAE. ZigBee is a registered trademark of ZigBee Alliance. All trademarks referenced in this document are the trademarks of their respective owners.
[1] U.S. Energy Information Administration, “How much energy is consumed in U.S. residential and commercial buildings?” May 10, 2017
[2] Based on typical indoor operating conditions
SOURCE: Ingersoll Rand and Trane