Dive Brief:
- Trane Technologies has signed a definitive agreement to buy Nuvolo, a connected workplace and enterprise asset management firm.
- The move aims to scale Trane Technologies’ digital capabilities by incorporating Nuvolo’s connected workplace software into its sustainable climate services portfolio, Trane said.
- Nuvolo’s software will enable Trane to draw on cloud-based solutions and services to help its clients meet their decarbonization and workplace management goals, Paul Camuti, Trane Technologies’ executive vice president and chief technology and sustainability officer, said in a Oct. 2 news release.
Dive Insight:
Trane Technologies is the parent company of the Trane and Thermo King brands, which provide indoor environment and refrigeration services. The firm also owns the American Standard, Ameristar, ICS RunTru and Thermocold heating and cooling brands. The acquisition is in line with the growing convergence of workplace management, occupancy data and HVAC controls, as building operators continue to look to adjust building controls to balance employee comfort and energy efficiency.
The Nuvolo Connected Workplace software, built on the ServiceNow platform, provides customers with tools to “modernize facilities management, optimize spaces, and manage the full lifecycle of enterprise assets” with a single solution, the release said. Incorporating Nuvolo’s software into Trane’s building management systems, equipment and services is expected to improve workplace management across the healthcare, life sciences, retail, public sector and education sectors, Trane said.
Nuvolo’s software includes work order and preventive maintenance automation, asset lifecycle management and centralized vendor dashboards that give facilities managers return-on-investment insights and give technicians access to service history, maintenance contracts and parts inventory, according to its website. The software also allows facilities staff and building operators to visualize and manage workplace setups, seat employees based on predetermined assignment rules and create annual forecast surveys based on head counts by sites or departments.
This bolt-on acquisition will allow Trane to build on its model of “adding leading technologies” that fortify its core business, with a potential to scale and “deliver strong returns over time,” Camuti said in the release.
The transaction is expected to wrap in the fourth quarter of 2023. Nuvolo founder and CEO Tom Stanford will join Trane Technologies in a leadership role and continue to lead the Nuvolo business and its approximately 250 global employees.
Trane Technologies recently partnered with BrainBox AI to integrate autonomous decarbonization technology into its cloud-based building automation systems. That partnership aims to leverage weather forecasts, control schedules and occupancy data to cut greenhouse gas emissions and operational costs for Trane customers, it said.
