- Thermal Energy Storage provides a complete solution with building-level controls and digital services.
- Thermal Energy Storage tanks are easy to integrate, come with system design guidance, control sequences, and operation dashboards, delivering reliable performance and complete control. Visit Trane Design Assist.
- Buildings with Thermal Energy Storage can add electric batteries for a hybrid energy storage system, offering cost-effectiveness, longer lifespan, better cycle management, and enhanced energy flexibility for resilience.
- Made with durable polyethylene, Thermal Energy Storage tanks have an expected 40-year lifespan with proper maintenance.
Thermal Energy Storage
Thermal Energy Storage
Modernize your building's thermal management.
Modernize your building's thermal management with Thermal Energy Storage. Reduce peak demand, lower energy costs, and support renewable energy usage.
5th Annual Vision Awards Winner
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Proven Performance with Ice-Based Thermal Energy Storage
Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is a reliable solution for cost-effective, sustainable heating and cooling. With over 4,000 installations worldwide, TES offers a modular, scalable system backed by extensive research and expert support. Plus, with proper maintenance, TES tanks have an expected 40- year lifespan.
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Lower Your Energy Bills
Thermal Energy Storage acts like a battery, storing thermal energy during off-peak hours when electricity rates are lower and using it during peak times. This reduces demand charges and shifts consumption to more cost-effective times, helping to significantly lower energy bills.
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Support Your Sustainability Targets
Thermal Energy Storage supports sustainability by storing thermal energy during off-peak hours, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and cutting carbon emissions. It balances electric loads, enhances grid resiliency and helps increase renewable usage by up to 50%.*
*ASHRAE® RP-1607. 2018
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Avoid Unnecessary Upgrades
Thermal Energy Storage systems can avoid the need for electrical infrastructure upgrades and may qualify for federal incentives and utility rebates, making them a cost-effective solution for both new construction and existing buildings.
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Build Resiliency into Your Electrified System
Thermal Energy Storage can store cooling or heating during off-peak times to provide thermal management during periods of peak demand. This reduces strain on the grid and helps maintain occupant comfort.
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Take Advantage of Federal Tax Incentives
Thermal Energy Storage projects may qualify for federal investment tax credits worth up to 50% of costs if certain criteria are met. These incentives are currently available for projects that begin construction by 2032, giving you a valuable window to act.
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Trane Thermal Energy Storage
Thermal energy storage addresses one of the biggest energy users in buildings—HVAC—and can help increase the use of renewable energy by as much as fifty percent*. Recent tax incentives now make thermal energy storage more affordable than ever.
*ASHRAE® RP-1607. 2018
Related Products
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Thermal Battery Storage Systems
Trane Thermal Battery™ systems are premier HVAC plants that provide a distributed resource for our changing grid. Their ability to store thermal energy enables your building to reliably modify HVAC operations to optimize for carbon reduction or energy cost savings. -
Trane’s water-cooled chiller portfolio delivers an innovative product lineup that meets a variety of application challenges. Our CenTraVac® chiller is one of the industry's quietest, most reliable and efficient low-emission chillers.
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CALMAC® Glycol Management System
A Glycol Management System (GMS) helps maintain the proper volume of coolant in a building's circulating loop. -
High efficiency and low noise are the hallmarks of all our air-cooled chillers. Our robust portfolio features a wide operating map so—you can find the just-right solution for your building. We offer an array of tonnage sizes, efficiencies and performance features to meet your requirements.
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Trane System Completion Module
Our ice completion module is a Trane-designed, built and functionally tested skid that reduces design and installation time for completion of thermal energy storage systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is a lack of awareness around the true value of thermal energy storage to reduce energy costs and reduce carbon emissions.
The flexibility that thermal energy storage adds enables buildings to be active consumers of energy, actively participating in daily grid operations by shifting when energy is consumed from one time of day to another. This allows building operators to take advantage of less expensive energy when cleaner power is abundant on the grid.
Energy savings beyond the meter is overlooked. While, efficiency is an important indicator of energy savings, site energy savings—the amount of heat and electricity consumed by a building—may or may not occur with thermal energy storage. On the other hand, source energy savings—the total amount of on and off-site energy required to operate the facility—nearly always happens.
Thermal energy storage systems change the hours of chiller operation to help lower energy, water and maintenance costs. Buildings that can modify when they need electricity help utilities manage resources; incentives and various utility pricing structures encourage thermal energy storage systems that provide that energy-use flexibility. Building owners who install thermal energy storage systems may see up to a 30% savings in operating costs.
(Trane. Thermal Storage Systems - Remarkable Resilience from a Sustainable Footprint. March 1, 2018).
Today, electricity mainly comes from coal and gas, which are forms of stored energy. Renewable energy is variable; the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. As more wind and solar are generated, we will need to move toward technologies that can store and dispatch renewable energy for later use.
Thermal energy storage is one such technology. According to ASHRAE Research Paper 1607, thermal energy storage can increase the usage of renewable energy by up to 50%. The move toward sustainability and renewable resources will completely change the potential value of thermal energy storage in buildings.
(Plumbing Systems & Design. Making Buildings More Efficient with Hybrid Cooling. September 2010).
Electrification of heat is coming, so a building that can shift its electric consumption to leverage the supply will be very important. The advantage of an electrified building is, that as the grid gets cleaner, the building’s carbon emissions will go down proportionally. If the building burns fossil fuels, the associated emission stays the same. Understanding heat pumps, and thermal energy storage’s relationship to them, will be critical.
(ASHRAE Journal. Electrification, Heat Pumps and Thermal Energy Storage. July 2020).
With the increasing demand for warm thermal energy storage, scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are looking at developing next-generation materials and systems to be used as heating or cooling mediums. They are also creating a framework to analyze costs as well as a tool to compare cost savings.
(Berkeley Lab. Turning Up the Heat: Thermal Energy Storage Could Play Major Role in Decarbonizing Building. November 18, 2021).
Advances in intelligent services enable building operators to see how their system is operating and trends that may impact future performance as conditions on the grid change. Connected chillers and building automation systems have made thermal energy storage systems smarter and easier to monitor and control. Built-in control algorithms allow building operators to optimize for cost savings, emissions, or both. Design aid tools provide a repeatable approach with simple schematics and sequences to help reduce time and risk.
Resources & Insights
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Energy-Efficient Renovation: Kings County Courthouse Achieves LEED Silver Certification
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Sustainable Transformation: Trane's Thermal Energy Storage System at 11 Madison Avenue, NYC
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Customer Story
Shooting Star Casino’s Energy-Efficient Advancements: Sustainability and Comfort
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Zero Net Energy and LEED Gold: California State Lottery Headquarters' Innovative Energy Solutions
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Energy-Efficient Renovation: Kings County Courthouse Achieves LEED Silver Certification
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