By: Barb Rishel

The dog days of summer are upon us, and I find myself seeking out cool temperatures wherever I can find them – indoors or outdoors, mostly indoors! I am especially grateful for the genius of Willis Havilland Carrier, an engineer by trade who invented air conditioning. Carrier installed his new product, named the “Apparatus for Treating Air” in a printing plant in Brooklyn, New York in 1902, and soon, numerous cotton and textile mills across the country found an increase in productivity wherever Carrier’s “air conditioners” were installed. Industrial companies all over the world wanted to equip their factories and mills with cooling products, and the Carrier Engineering Corporation was established in 1915. Even today, almost half of Carrier’s sales are from international customers.

Sales to private residences came next, and Carrier continued to create more applications of his cooling invention with more than eighty patents in total. One of Carrier’s earliest innovations was to equip the “new” Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1925 with an ice rink for professional hockey.

Today, Carrier Global Corp is one of the world’s leading heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) companies, with over $22 billion in sales and over seventy-five distinct brands. As a global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions, Carrier continues to develop innovative solutions for homes, businesses and data centers.

Since CARR became an independent company following the merger of United Technologies and Raytheon in 2020, the company has undergone a major portfolio transformation, with twelve acquisitions and divestitures over the past year.

Carrier currently has three main segments:

Carrier’s management team is focused on its heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) segment, which is its highest market share business and its largest contributor to profits. In 2023, CARR acquired Viessmann Climate Solutions of Germany, a leading European HVAC company, for $13.7 billion. In addition, CARR sold two smaller non-core businesses, beginning with the sale of its commercial fire and security business, to Honeywell for $4.95 billion. Carrier then announced the sale of its industrial fire business to Sentinel Capital Partners for $1.45 billion. These divestitures are expected to close by year-end 2024, and all proceeds will be used to pay down debt.

CARR has leading HVAC market share positions in the U.S. and Europe, and the European market has been identified as a high-growth market over the next five years. Recently, the European Union (EU) has mandated that each country in the Union must reduce building energy usage by 25% by 2035. Germany’s goal is to be greenhouse gas neutral by 2045. One of the ways the EU hopes to achieve this is by upgrading the current HVAC systems to heat pumps, and Carrier’s Viessmann Climate Solutions division is the leader in efficient heat pumps in Europe.

Carrier Global also has leading market share positions in the U.S., and its air conditioners and heating systems are an integral part of an Energy Star qualification. Several states offer tax credits and rebates to consumers if they install CARR products. Carrier also produces air purifiers, humidifiers, dehumidifiers and a “ductless” air conditioner.

Expansion of data centers to accommodate increased technology usage, such as cloud computing, is a potential high-growth market for Carrier. The production of Artificial Intelligence (AI) semiconductor chips generates seven times the heat as traditional chips, and these factories will require a lot of cooling. Carrier estimates this current $7 billion market will grow to $15 billion in the next three years. Carrier manufactures key products such as water-cooled chillers for this market.

Carrier is also a leading manufacturer of filters and systems for schools and office buildings with its Healthy Building product portfolio. During the pandemic, customers wanted to make sure that the buildings where people work, play and learn were providing clean and safe air quality. Carrier’s systems provide state of the art ventilation and filtration systems for school districts and offices around the country.

Carrier’s refrigeration segment helps move perishable goods from the producer to the consumer by “connecting the cold chain”. Every day, the world relies on the cold chain to provide fresh food, to safely transport and store vital medicines and to protect sensitive materials used in a variety of industries. Carrier is making the cold chain more healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent, with innovative solutions from transportation to cold storage. Carrier has invested over $1.3 billion in research and development since 2021 to advance more feasible and sustainable refrigeration solutions.

We believe that Carrier Global is well positioned to capitalize on several high growth trends over the next several years, especially as more companies and governments turn to higher efficiency energy solutions in industries such as technology, health care, food and manufacturing. Additionally, we foresee a higher demand for clean and safe ventilation and filtration in schools, offices and businesses. Stay cool!