Educating Everyone: The Power of Storytelling to Build a Net-Zero Future

As a marketing and communications team, we’re doing that through content that breaks down sustainability and climate terminology and storytelling that elevates the voices of experts and the stories of our customers.  

• When it comes to sustainability terminology, we’re careful to use definitions approved by trusted third parties, like the UN Net-Zero Coalition, CDP and the U.S. Green Building Council. We’ve built a series of YouTube shorts to help others understand this vocabulary, too. Sustainability Simplified includes videos on net-zero, decarbonization and carbon neutrality with more in the pipeline.
• Heat pumps can help play a major role in decarbonizing the built environment, but there is a lack of knowledge in the market about this technology. So we created this Five Cool Facts about Heat Pumps infographic to debunk myths. For example, did you know that if every home in the U.S. adopted heat pumps it would be like taking 32 million gas-powered cars off the road?
• We’re curating crucial conversations through our Healthy Spaces podcast, where we’re exploring the connection between human and planetary health. We talk with scientists, entrepreneurs and climate activists about how technology and innovation are transforming the spaces where we live, work and play.
• Our customers are the real heroes—taking action to decarbonize their operations, and we’re sharing their stories on our blog and through in-person experiences at special events like Climate Week NYC. 

Building toward a net-zero future begins with understanding what it means. Education is an important way to take action.

Educating the future

To meet our sustainability goals, we recognize the need for a diverse and well-prepared workforce. Armed with a commitment to work differently, we've established the Trane Technician Apprenticeship program, a four-year, paid training program that helps remove barriers to great career opportunities. This program, aimed at cultivating early career talent, offers comprehensive on-the-job education and holds national accreditation in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor. 

We are equally dedicated to educating the individuals who will not only carry forward our current efforts - but also have the power to positively transform them. Under our Sustainable Futures citizenship strategy, we've pledged 500,000 employee volunteer hours and $100 million by 2030 to support underrepresented communities of learners and future leaders. This funding will empower students to explore STEM career opportunities, offering enriched learning environments and sustainability-focused curricula.

This summer I had the opportunity to join our corporate citizenship team at Youth Science Day at the Science Museum of Minnesota. More than 1,500 kids gathered for STEM demonstrations and hands-on learning experiences, and I had the chance to read a story to the whole group. It was a really powerful moment. I was reminded of the power of storytelling, why we do what we do—and who we’re doing it for.  

Education, a path toward common good

The best writers are avid readers, and my team reads a lot. We consume business and industry news, we review studies from NGO partners and government agencies, and we monitor online conversation about sustainability and climate technology. After this record-breaking summer, there is a lot of doom and gloom out there.  

But as sustainability communicators, we can’t afford to become paralyzed by climate anxiety or overwhelmed by the magnitude of our challenge. We have a really important story to tell. Our job is to continue to find new ways to tell it with transparency, clarity and—most of all—optimism.