Ted Atwood began his energy industry journey over 20 years ago and was surprised to learn that, every year since, the world has been emitting more carbon than the year before. He explains that in 1994, the industry that captured about 12 million pounds of refrigerant from used HVAC/R appliances out of roughly 150 million pounds sold, and the number in 2014 was not much different but now there was 400 million pounds sold every year. He set out to really find a solution to this problem and learned that there is a 1 to 1 leak rate to energy increase ratio and that 37 to 60 percent of a building energy spend is on HVAC/R. Also, most people wanted their buildings to be cool and cheap, and as a result, they were deferring maintenance, which accelerated energy spending unnecessarily. The scenario was as an epiphany, which inspired Atwood to found Trakref and enable building owners to attain energy efficiency. “By tracking HVAC/R and thereby reducing direct and indirect emissions, the potential for energy savings is spectacular and substantial. And that’s what Trakref is all about,” extols Atwood, who also leads the company as its President and CEO.

Brentwood, TN, based Trakref gives relief to property owners by providing software to track efficiency of HVAC/R and prune energy expenditure. “We are changing the HVAC/R landscape through our trakref platform that has harmonized regulatory requirements and global best practices, so that the user has clarity and guidance at all times,” states Atwood. The platform utilizes HVAC/R service activity to generate equipment health index to ascertain compliance and ameliorate trustworthiness and performance of HVAC/R systems.

By leveraging Trakref’s patented tracking system, its software monitors labor, traces equipment, and feeds data to the trakref mobile application. The multi-platform mobile solution, which can be accessed offline or via web, updates on-field technicians about compliance requirements. “We scan regulatory activity from local to international levels and ensure our client’s workflows are updated to accommodate the changes, so their sub-contractors capture what is needed,” says Atwood.
“Then, they can use that in addition to an invoice or as a tool to build the invoice in their own system.” The mobile solution assists technicians in gathering on-field data and expedites data collection by injecting information in workmen’s invoice tool. The data is also shared with equipment owners to proffer view into service activity. “Trakref mobile app’s streamlined approach further reflects our total commitment to connecting all stakeholders involved in HVAC/R,” states Atwood.

Trakref solutions have created numerous success stories and in one of these instances, the client had data for only 15 percent of registered assets. Trakref matched on-field activity and other service events and gathered information for the remaining 85 percent of equipment. The collocated data enabled the client to manage its HVAC/R system with ease as well as improved communication, record keeping, and compliance (ISO 14000). As the client had deployed the trakref platform, presenting necessary details to an EPA audit committee was an easy task.

Currently, team Trakref is beta testing a new connectivity process that will empower the company to display information on desktop as well as its mobile platform collected from any IoT device or sub-meter. “Globally, there is a major push to better manage building energy costs because, in addition to the cost, there is the carbon impact from running a building,” says Atwood. Trakref aims to liberate the energy arena by entitling building owners with data custodianship. “Today, no blue book exists to guide on expenditure limits for maintenance of HVAC/R equipment. We want to be a part of the trend that leads to enriching owners with data about equipment performance,” concludes Atwood.