Connectivity Drives Results for Crosstown Concourse

Connectivity can drive significant results for building owners and managers. After all, connected buildings open the door to better service and technology for building owners and managers. Insightful data allows for solutions that improve a building’s performance — including decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy savings, and helping building owners make the right decisions for both their facilities and the planet.

Trane has a partnership with Crosstown Concourse, a mixed-use development in Memphis, Tennessee, where 1,200 pieces of equipment are connected. The connectivity enables optimal daily operations, tracks tenant energy use, troubleshoots issues, and schedules changes to the system. 

While it may be tempting to think of new construction when imagining the benefits of the Internet-of-Things-(IOT)-level connectivity implemented at Crosstown Concourse, the previously abandoned warehouse is, in fact, nearly a century old. Nonetheless, the building is now reaping a wealth of IOT connectivity benefits.

Why this matters: This connected building success story demonstrates how even a 90-year-old building can reap the financial and sustainability benefits that connectivity can offer

Building Proves Age No Barrier to Connectivity Success

When the Crosstown Development Team wanted its 90-year-old abandoned building to serve as a catalyst for growth in the arts, education and healthcare in an under-served area of Memphis, they envisioned a building that incorporated state-of-the-art connectivity. They hoped the building would serve as a financially and environmentally sustainable “vertical urban village” and play a key role in revitalizing the neighborhood.

The team established strategic goals to help increase value for building owners, allow tenants to conduct effective commerce, and help property managers attract tenants. These goals included lowering operational costs, promoting sustainability, and maximizing asset potential. In the end, building connectivity has played a key role in enabling the team to achieve these goals and more. In 2017, the U.S. Green Building Council® named the groundbreaking building the largest and oldest LEED Platinum® Adaptive Reuse Building on the planet.

Remote Building Access Enabled, 24/7/365

The Crosstown Development Team and Commercial Advisors, the property management firm, partnered with Trane on the building upgrade. Among the improvements, they selected cloud-based building management system Trane Tracer® Ensemble® which enables users to access a gold mine of data that enables them to reduce operating costs and optimize comfort and efficiency. Facility managers have 24-hour secure, remote access they can use to monitor their building systems from a phone, tablet or computer from virtually wherever they are, day or night.

The building management system enables the use of Trane Intelligent Services, which uses data to uncover opportunities and provide recommendations to optimize equipment performance, while reducing operational costs and carbon emissions.

Metrics Demonstrate Multi-Level Success

The development team reports that the project is a success and cites building connectivity as one of the key factors in many of the following outcomes:

• The property has seen energy cost and carbon emission reduction of 3 percent year-over-year since the building reopened in 2017, while increasing occupancy to 98 percent in 2020
• The building is on track to save $760,000 in annual utility costs and 8,400 tons of carbon emissions/year compared to LEED® baseline
• Trane helped the development team reduce upfront capital costs by over $250,000
• Earned Energy Star® certification with a score of 89 (2020)
• The property became the largest and oldest LEED Platinum Adaptive Reuse Building on the planet (2017)
• The Development Team received the Trane Energy Efficiency Leader Award (2018)

Trane Technologies is a world leader in connected buildings, with nearly 20,000 connected buildings in the United States and Europe, and nearly 1 million pieces of connected equipment. The company recently launched the Center for Healthy and Efficient Spaces, has made advancements in connected controls, and has pledged to and bold 2030 Sustainability Commitments.  Learn more about connected buildings at (Trane URL page) and check out our Dec. 2019 blog on “The Benefits of Wireless Controls for Connected Buildings”