All language subtitles for Tomorrows.World.Today.S06E08.Cooling.Our.World.1080p.WEB.h264-CBFM_track3_[eng]

[narrator] On
Tomorrow's World Today,

we explore
the cutting-edge advances

that are shaping
four different worlds.

The world of inspiration,

where the wonders
of the natural world
amaze and inspire us.

The world of creation,
where ideas come to life
from traditional arts.

The world of innovation,
where ideas and inventions
move us all forward.

The world of production,

where innovations
are mass-produced
to improve our lives.

From Inventionland
world headquarters,
here's your host

George Davison.

Hi, everyone.
I'm George Davison.

You know,
the goal of any innovation

is to make
existing products better.

And the evolution

of heating and cooling systems
in America

is an excellent example
of progress over time.

The 19th century
introduced us to... radiators

which brought
consistent warmth

into our homes
and workplaces.

With radiators,
the concept of central heating
began to take shape.

And then,
in the 20th century,

we ushered in
a technological revolution.

From systems
that circulated warm air
through ducts,

to ventilation
and air conditioning systems

that brought relief
from scorching
outdoor temperatures.

The boundaries of comfort
were stretched.

This changed how we lived,
worked, and interacted
within our spaces.

Today, the demand
for cooling is increasing.

But how do we meet
this rising need

and keep sustainability
and energy efficiency in mind?

We meet it
with innovations

that digitally connect
buildings

and with the growth
of solutions that allow us
to store energy.

Imagine a system
that doesn't just heat
and cool in real time,

but also stores extra energy
for when we need it the most.

I'm sending Greg,
our field reporter,

to the world of innovation
in the Twin Cities.

I heard
there's an emerging technology

that's gonna change
the way we live.

[Greg] Humans.
We love to be comfortable.

But as we look
at the challenges that we face
in today's world,

we have to make choices
around that comfort

that prioritize
sustainability.

I'm at White Bear Lake
in Minnesota

to meet with John Sustar
and the experts
at Trane Technologies

to discuss some exciting
and innovative ways

that we'll stay
comfortable responsibly
in tomorrow's world.

-Hi, John.
-Hey, Greg.

-Good to see you.
-Good to see you.

So, John, we've all
heated and cooled our homes
for such a long time.

We take it for granted.

We really don't think
about the energy use involved
or the environmental impact.

Tell me more about that.

Yeah, so, cooling in buildings
is complex.

And it's complex
'cause there's a wide variety
of building types out there.

From hospitals, schools,
retail stores.

But these systems in buildings
are energy hogs.

Heating and cooling systems
typically account for 40%

of the overall
energy consumption
in buildings,

and that energy usage
translates into
environmental impacts

in a few different ways.

One of the largest ways
is the carbon emissions
associated with that energy,

whether that's coming from
the electric grid

or coming directly
from the equipment.

And we're helping
our customers

reduce their
environmental impact

by improving
the energy efficiency
of their buildings.

That's great. Obviously,
reducing that impact is key,

but you have to keep
the humans in the building
comfortable as well.

Yep, so, keeping the people
comfortable in that building
is key

because if they're
not comfortable,

they're not
gonna be productive.

Right. What are some
of the other cooling needs
that a building might have?

Yep, so,
comfort cooling is only a part
of the energy equation

for cooling in buildings.

There's other
applications out there

that are even more intensive
from a cooling standpoint.

One of the fastest
growing markets out there
for cooling is data centers.

From an energy standpoint,
what would be the difference

between a regular building
and a data center?

Yeah, so data centers

are among
the most energy-intensive
building types.

They often consume
10 to 50 times more energy
per square foot

than your typical office
or a commercial space.

And the cooling systems
within that building

is about 40%
of that building's
energy usage.

[Greg] What would some
of the consequences

of not keeping
your data center cool be?

[John] So those server rooms
in data centers
emit a lot of heat.

And if those data centers
aren't cooled properly,

that leads to downtime
and that'll lead to potential
network failures.

And there's lots
of organizations out there

from hospitals
and schools and banks

that depend
on reliable networks.

But believe it or not,
the same equipment
that we use for cooling

can also be used
for heating.

And we're scaling
that technology up

to make buildings
even more sustainable.

So this sounds like technology
that we might see
around our homes,

but on a much larger scale.

Yep. So the technology's
called heat pumps.

Heat pumps
have been around
for decades,

but we're starting
to see a resurgence
in this technology

due to innovation

making this technology
more capable.

Also, they offer us a way
to move from fossil fuels
into electrified heating.

But because
of their name, heat pump,

people may not realize
that heat pumps not only heat,
but they can also cool.

And they do this
by moving heat
from one place to another.

When they're
operating in heating,

they're moving heat
from the outside
of the building

and moving that heat inside.

And they can even do this
when it's really cold outside.

When operating in cooling,

they're moving heat
from the inside
of the building

to the outside
of the building.

[Greg] Well, what would be
the advantages to a heat pump

as opposed to
a more traditional system
like a boiler?

Yep, so, boilers create heat
whereas heat pumps move heat.

And that process
of moving heat

from one place to another
is a lot more efficient.

It takes one unit of energy
to move three units of heat

which effectively makes
this technology three times
more efficient

than your traditional boiler.

Okay, is there someplace

maybe in town

where we can get a look

at how this technology works
in action?

Just down the road,
there's the Science Museum
of Minnesota,

and they're using
our cooling equipment
to also do heating.

Let's take a look.

Sounds good. Let's do it.

[Greg] Heating and cooling
are essential to our
everyday lives

and they have to run
sustainably.

So far, we've explored
the difference between

cooling for people
and cooling for equipment.

Now it's time to see
just how efficient it can be.

John, this is
an amazing facility.

[John] So here at
the Science Museum
of Minnesota,

there's lots of visitors,

and we need to keep
these visitors nice
and comfortable.

But we also have to preserve
the artifacts here
in the museum.

This is Patrick Hamilton,
he's the manager
of sustainability initiatives.

Well, Patrick, the museum's
been around for a while.

Have you always used
this kind of efficient
heating system

or is this relatively new
for you guys?

Sure. Back in 2010,

the Science Museum
contracted with a consulting
mechanical engineer

to do a top-to-bottom
energy analysis
of this building.

Several months later,
he came back with his report

and he said
this building was using

6.5 million kilowatt-hours
of electricity annually.

I'm not an engineer,
I'm not a facility manager,
but I am a geographer.

So I put that in terms
that I could understand.

What he was saying
is that this one building,
in 2010,

was using as much electricity
as all 300 households

in an 18-block area
of St. Paul.

[Greg] Wow. How exactly
does the system work?

[Patrick] Well,
under his recommendation,

we purchased and installed
two devices called
heat recovery chillers.

A fancy name for a big,
commercial-scale heat pump.

Think of your refrigerator
which takes heat out
of the compartment

and then dumps it into the air
in the kitchen.

These devices
take that heat energy

that they extract
from the compartment
from the Science Museum

and we use that heat energy
to warm the fresh but cold air

that we bring in
all winter long.

[Greg] How exactly
is all that heat generated?

[Patrick] Well,
our bodies generate heat,

but also all the electricity
coursing through
the Science Museum

eventually degrades into heat.

And prior to doing
the heat recovery system,

we expelled a lot
of that heat energy
to the environment.

How does that
raise the efficiency
of the facility?

Well, depending
on the severity
of the heating season,

we've been able
to cut our purchases
of hot water by 35% to 60%.

Wow, and I know
what we look at,
what we see here

is really only a small part
of the Science Museum
of Minnesota.

You're actually charged
with taking care

of a large number
of artifacts.

[Patrick] That's right.
Two million artifacts.

We have the responsibility
for maintaining
and perpetuity.

And we need
to maintain very narrow

humidity and temperature
controls on those objects.

Much more narrow
than the public at large,

which is quite challenging
given the extremes
of Minnesota's climate

from cold to hot,
from winter to summer.

So, John, this sounds
like an immediate-use
kind of situation

where the air comes in,
they warm it,

and then bring it back
into the museum to be used
to keep people comfortable

or to keep
the artifacts protected.

But it seems to me that,
as efficient as that is,

we could really even raise
the efficiency more

by storing that energy
for later use.

Yep, absolutely,
and now we're using

thermal energy storage
battery systems.

And systems like this
that do heating and cooling

are becoming
even more efficient.

Let's go back
to White Bear Lake
and I'll show you one.

-Sounds good.
Thank you, Patrick.
-Thank you.

-Thanks, Patrick.
-Thank you.

So, Greg, think of this system
as having a battery,

but instead of storing
electrons in these batteries,

we're actually storing
cooling and heating
for later use

depending on
the building's needs.

Okay, well,
how exactly does it do that?

[John] Yep, we've got
a chiller that actually
can make ice

within each of these tanks.

Each tank consists
of 1,600 gallons of water

which changes phase
from water to ice
and back into water.

When they have ice
in the tanks,

you can actually store
cooling in those tanks

to provide cooling
for the building.

And by a by-product,
we're actually melting
those tanks

and turning those
into water.

When they're
filled with water,

we can actually source heat
from that water

and provide heating
to your building

with the use of a heat pump
or a heat recovery chiller.

And by doing that,
we're actually refreezing
those tanks and back into ice.

Okay, well, how much energy
does each of these tanks hold?

Yep, so each tank consists
of two million BTUs
of cooling,

which is
enough cooling to cool

four 2,000 square-feet houses
for an entire day.

[Greg] What are some
of the other benefits

to installing
a system like this?

[John] Yeah, so there's
several benefits.

The number one benefit
is it improves
the business' bottom line.

There's utility incentives

to encourage businesses
to use their energy
during off-peak times

instead of peak times.

And by building ice
during those off-peak times,

the company
actually will save costs
on their utility bills

'cause they're not
consuming energy
during those peak times.

Right, well, I would imagine
having a thermal storage unit
like this

would be great
to integrate into a system

that maybe uses
renewable energy sources.

Yep, so,
thermal energy storage

is a great way to supplement
renewable energy sources
such as wind and solar

which aren't continual
generation of sources.

So by storing that energy
into thermal energy batteries
like these,

that actually makes
the utility grid
more resilient

and lowers
the carbon emissions
on the grid.

[Greg] So far,
we've explored the science

behind cutting-edge
thermal energy storage

and the benefits
of chiller plants.

But how do you integrate
yesterday's cooling systems
into tomorrow's world?

John, a company's ready
to upgrade their HVAC system.

What are some of the resources
that are available for them

to figure out exactly
what the best thing to do is?

Yeah, so there's lots
of resources out there.

One really important resource
is energy modeling software.

So Trane makes
an energy modeling software
called TRACE 3D Plus

and this allows a customer,
a building owner,
to model their building

and to evaluate
different systems

and compare and contrast
each of those systems

in terms of how much energy

and how much
environmental impact
those systems have.

Okay, well, say this is
a business that isn't ready

to overhaul
their entire HVAC system.

They wanna just integrate
some new controls into that.

Can Trane help them
with that?

[John] Yep, so by doing
this energy modeling

or using other tools
that Trane has,

we can actually decipher
which of the actions

is gonna have
the most impact

and most economic sense
for the company.

Okay, well, we talked a lot
about heat pumps

and the way they are used
to cool and heat buildings
and such.

Are there other
sort of energy sources

that can be used
along with that?

Yeah, so we talked about
air source heat pumps,

so pulling heat
out of that air

and putting that heat
into the building.

But there's other sources
of heat out there.

For example, geothermal
allows you to pull heat
out of the ground.

Or maybe you wanna
pull heat out of waste water
or a lake.

So you can source heat
from different sources

and actually pull that heat
into the building

in order to heat
that building.

[Greg] I mean,
we're talking about
a lot of systems here,

things are starting to get
a little bit complicated

and I wanna know
how you integrate all of this
and control it.

[John] So I've
set you up with Jane,

she's our controls expert
and she's gonna
walk you through

how all these systems
work together.

[Greg] Excellent.

-Hi, Jane.
-Hi, Greg.

Well, John and I talked a lot
about different systems

and I wanna know
how they all work together,

and he says
you're the expert on control.

Well, there are
millions of pieces

of heating
and cooling equipment
in buildings around the world

and the real opportunity
is to connect them
through equipment controls

which really act as the brain.

Okay, well,
say I have a business

and I'm not
in a financial position

to upgrade my entire
HVAC system all at once.

Would integrating
one of these control modules
into my existing system

provide me
with any benefits?

[Jane] Yes, many companies
take a phased approach.

In fact, only 2%
are really considered
high-end smart buildings,

so that's a lot
of opportunity out there
for upgrading buildings.

Well, I imagine if you have
a large office building,

you have hundreds
of offices,

even a small change
could have a big impact.

Yes, just by
upgrading controls,

you can take advantage
of the technology to help you

really dial in
that energy optimization.

And a small improvement

can have a huge
measurable impact

across a hundred
office spaces.

Give me a real-world example
of an older system

that's being kept relevant
by the use of one of these
control modules.

[Jane] Yeah, we work
with a hospital in Canada

that's had a Trane chiller
for 40 years

and just through
on-going maintenance

and control updates
and modernization,

we expect to extend the life
of that another ten years.

Wow, I'd really like to see
this all in operation.

Is there any way I can get
a look at that today?

Yeah, let me send you over
to meet Susie.

She's got a great
demonstration planned for you.

-Hi, Susie.
-Hey, Greg.

So Jane was
telling me about
all the different systems

that might exist
in a building.

She said you could tell me
how they all work together.

Yeah, so this is
our Trane Solutions Center.

This is where we bring
our customers in

to demonstrate how
these different systems

get pulled together
in a single user interface.

Excellent.

Well, how do we get started?

So most buildings
have secured access,

and you'd badge in
in the morning,

-and the building responds
to your badge like this.
-[module beeps]

-[Greg] Okay.
-Let's take a look.

Wow, okay, Susie.
So the room knows we're here.

Right, so there's a bunch
of sensors in this space

that are determining
whether or not somebody
is occupying it

to turn on the lights,
to turn on the HVAC system,

as well as some
of the other systems
within the building.

Okay, so, now as we
look at this screen,

is this the kind of thing

that maybe

a building supervisor

or an operations manager

would use to control

all the systems

within a space?

That's exactly right.

So we can look at

a particular floor
in the building,

we could look
at multiple buildings

and pull all that together
in one user interface.

So this is kind of
a macro view
of the building.

In this case,
we have a hospital

where they can look
at all the different spaces

to make sure
that the control system
is working as expected.

Okay, now
this is the whole building.

Can you look
at individual rooms
within that space?

[Susie] You can.

So you can see that we have
lighting indicators, security,
HVAC status.

And then we can also
go ahead and zoom into
a particular space.

In this case,
we have a surgery suite.

So we can look
at the different parameters
and the statuses

within that space.

So is this the kind of thing
that a building manager
would have to handle?

Or could other staff members
maybe have access
to this system as well?

That's a great question.

You know,
our building managers
aren't gonna be on-site 24-7,

so they can either
schedule this in advance

or they can
access the system remotely
with a mobile app

so they can make
some adjustments as they go.

Okay, could also
a nurse, maybe,
prepare this surgery suite?

[Susie] That's exactly right.

So sometimes we have
non-technical users

that need to interface
with the system,

and in that case
we can have a nurse

maybe set this room
to occupied mode

so that
it does get conditioned
in advance of a surgery.

Okay, and whenever
it's not being used,

you shut it down
and save energy that way.

-That's exactly right.
-[Greg] Okay.

Now, this is all
very specific.

You know, you can get
pretty granular in the way
that this is all controlled.

What are some of the goals
and where is this going
as we move forward?

From a technology
perspective,

we think that
artificial intelligence

is gonna start supplementing
our control systems.

And the reason for that
is to continue to refine

the energy savings
opportunities that
our customers might have.

Basically what that means
is we're taking data
from the system,

both the occupancy

as well as the way
that the system reacted
in the last couple of days

along with outdoor
weather conditions.

We take all that data
and pull it together

to automatically
optimize the building.

And in that case,
it's really an energy-saving
opportunity.

Excellent. This has been
really exciting.

Everybody
at Trane Technologies
has been great.

Scott's gonna get together
with George,

and I've gotta get back
to Inventionland.

Thank you so much for coming.
Let me show you out.

Hey, Scott,
welcome to Inventionland.

Hi, George,
thanks for having me.

You bet. What's that?

I have something
for you here.

It's an all-electric
high-efficiency chiller
made out of building blocks.

Very nice!

Yeah, I thought your visitors
might like to hold something
in their hand

even though these systems
sometimes are gigantic.

Well, they are.
They're too big to hold
in your hands, right?

[chuckles] They are.

[George] Oh, that's gonna go
really well.

I'll put it right
in the museum

-where all the kids
are coming down.
-Good.

Well, I'm glad you're here.

You know, in Inventionland,
we're all about innovation
and the world of tomorrow.

So can you
talk with me a little bit

about Trane Technologies
and where we're headed?

Yeah, Trane Technologies
is focused on innovations
and inventions

that help these systems
use less energy in buildings.

Because today
the systems use about 40%
of the energy in a building

just to heat and cool
the space.

-[George] Wow.
-And that's too much.

[George] Yeah,
that sounds like a lot.

Is that a short-term,
long-term goal?
Where are we here?

Yeah, we do have some
short and long-term goals.

One of the things
we're focused on now

is something we're calling
the Gigaton Challenge.

So, a gigaton?
That sounds huge, Scott.

It is huge,
but it really means

one billion metric tons
of CO2 emissions

that we wanna reduce
from our customers' operations
by 2030.

So a billion...

Okay, can you...
Can you put that
into perspective for me?

A billion
metric tons is equal

to 100 billion gallons
of gasoline.

It's also equal
to 200 million vehicles
on the roadways.

That would be fantastic.

Yeah, it's gigantic,
and that's a big goal
for 2030,

but we're not
stopping there.

Our next focus is on building
net zero heroes,
which really is all of us.

Our customers, our employees,
community members, even you.

Hey, count me in.
I wanna be one of those.

A net zero hero.

-That's it. Thanks, George.
-Thank you.