Scott Tew

STAY

Alec Crawford welcomed Scott to the Stay Podcast to discuss sustainability, technology, artificial intelligence, and their impact around the world. Scott has had a long career in the environmental field, beginning with working as an environmental scientist for a chemical company, to managing environmental issues globally, and finally joining Trane Technologies to help work in refrigerants. Scott recently attended Davos and his takeaway was that every sector of the economy needed to help move towards a better future with improved sustainable practices and reduced emissions is now at the table. The conversation between the interviewer and the sustainability leader revolves around the concept of sustainability and how it is integral to the success of the company. The sustainability leader defines sustainability as being about who a company wants to be, and how they can continuously improve. Train Technologies has two major facets: HVAC systems and transport refrigeration. The sustainability leader is responsible for leading sustainability efforts and running the Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability. Sustainability is not just about environmental efforts, but is also about social work, how employees are treated, and the expectations of suppliers. Sustainability is about making sure the company is positioned for success in the future. Scott, the Sustainability Officer at Trane Technologies, discussed his team's role in designing products for the future and how sustainability is now interwoven with the purpose of the company. He highlighted their program called Operation Possible which encourages employees to think of ways to solve big societal issues, such as increasing access to fresh food. He also discussed his interactions with the CEO and the board, emphasizing that for companies that see sustainability as their business, the CEO, board, and leadership team are fully engaged on all sustainability efforts on a daily basis. Trane Technologies is serious about its commitments to reduce emissions, increase diversity and provide opportunity for all. These commitments are attached to the CEO and manager's compensation, showing how serious the company is. The board has also readjusted expectations, linking progress to ESG issues. The company has set leading commitments around gender parity, investing in STEM education and allowing employees to volunteer in their local communities. Employees are given paid time off to volunteer and the company matches their time with contributions to the organisations.

Timestamps

0:00:01

Scott Discusses Sustainability and Artificial Intelligence on the Stay Podcast

0:02:34

Discussion on Sustainability and Trane Technologies' Role in the Economy

0:07:18

Sustainability Governance and Interactions with the CEO and Board at Trane Technologies

0:12:40

Trane Technologies' Commitment to Emissions Reduction, Diversity, and Community Engagement

0:15:35

Trane Establishing the Firm's Sustainability Goals Through an Inclusive Global Process

0:17:24

Exploring Trane Technologies' Sustainability Strategy and Commitment to Transparency

0:19:12

Sustainability and ESG Disclosure Gaps Between the US and Europe

0:21:09

Exploring the Benefits of Next Generation Heat Pump Technologies

0:25:30

Examining Trade-Offs in Sustainability and Energy Efficiency During a Recession

0:26:57

Conversation on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Addressing Societal Issues

0:29:11

Advice for New Chief Sustainability Officers: Materiality Assessments and Bold Public Commitments

0:32:15

Conversation with Sustainability Leader on Net Positive Impact and Engaging Employees

0:33:54

Interview with Scott Tew of Trane Technologies on Climate Change Solutions

Highlights

This has becomes a North Star for a new sustainability leader because it becomes a North Star for a company and your leadership and your employees. And by the way, employees, whether they would articulate it this way or not, they're really engaged in this. This is a personal value thing. The things we're talking about are about making communities better. It's about a commitment to make a company better.. Who doesn't want to work for a company like that? And so it's about engaging people differently. It's about helping people understand that they have a personal role and actions that they can take to help. I think those are all really exciting things.

There are a couple that are important, Alec. One is science based. Targets Initiative, the SBTi. We believe that it's really important for a company not to set their emissions and climate commitments in a vacuum, and that you should run to those groups that are using science that are rooted in your own company's history of progress, how big your commitment is, and let them evaluate whether or not they think that it's big enough to be meaningful.. And we really like their process. We think it's objective, it's fair, it's transparent, and we think it's a good one. So I think the SBTi is a good one. There are others that we think are also good. Some of the reporting frameworks are important. sAsB, the sustainability accounting principles, we believe that that's an important one because that one is the one that has principles for disclosure. Based on the industry that you're in, I think it makes sense for most of your viewers to understand that. Trane Technologies it's hard to compare what we do to maybe a company that makes toothpaste.

Well, I mean, here's the issue. Eating and cooling buildings represents roughly 15% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. I mentioned food loss earlier. Food loss alone represents roughly 10% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. If you add those two together, that's simple math. Trane technologies every day. The opportunity in front of us. The big challenge is how do we reduce 25% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions?. That is just an incredible opportunity for any company. It's also really good to have your eyes wide open about the challenge, because if that's the challenge, then you need to commit in big ways to make it happen, which was sort of the lead in for why we made some big commitments around. We'll do our part. We're also calling on other companies to do their part. It's not the only societal issue. There are others.

I think the faster adoption of some of these technologies with the incentives from IRA is just going to be great. It's going to be great for homeowners. It's obviously going to be great for the environment because we're removing the need for fossil fuels for heating. By the way, fossil fuels used in heating represents roughly 6% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. So it's going to be really nice to begin reducing that number by transitioning over to next generation technologies.

We've been a transparent company for a long time, so some companies have not been and some companies have been cherry picking the things that they want to talk about, maybe the things they didn't want to talk about. But we're at a point now where there's about to be a new minimum for all companies that's predominantly going to be about emissions, greenhouse gas emissions and your efforts to reduce them.. So there will be a requirement that companies become more transparent around their greenhouse gas emissions footprint and what they're doing to reduce it. I think this is a great thing. We welcome these changes. We believe that once all companies are being transparent about their footprint, at least we'll all know where the biggest opportunities are for us to go and do some things to reduce them.

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