We design for efficiency, quality and environmental sustainability

UTC’s products convert energy into useful work, so we are passionate about reducing our products’ energy use and developing innovative, energy efficient technologies that help reduce our customers’ environmental footprints.

• Improve energy efficiency and reduce packaging of new products placed in service between 2007 and 2010 by 10 percent
• Continue to eliminate materials of concern in all new products

Key Performance Indicators

      

In 2008, UTC spent $3.8 billion in customer- and company-funded research and development. The United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) is dedicated to developing technologies that help us deliver high performance products that are energy efficient, quiet and safe. In 2008, 41.5% percent of UTRC funding was invested in projects that directly benefit the environment.

• In September 2007, UTRC signed a five-year, $5 million agreement with Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, to help create the technologies needed for the world’s next generation, high-performance buildings.


• In February 2008, Carrier joined UTC Power, chosen in 2007, as an official preferred supplier partner to the Clinton Climate Initiative.


• R&D magazine cited UTC’s PureCycle geothermal power system as one of the 100 most technologically significant products of 2007 and National Energy Resources Organization honor it with the Innovation Award in 2008.


• EcoPower engine wash system uses atomized and purified water instead of solvents and detergents to keep engines running smoothly. If all airlines used EcoPower it would save 3.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere.


• Pratt & Whitney's PurePower PW1000G engine with Geared Turbofan technology is expected to reduce noise by 50 percent, fuel consumption by more than 12 percent and achieve a double-digit reduction in emissions and operating costs.

• Carrier PrimeLINE digital scroll container refrigeration unit is designed to reduce environmental impact and is the most energy efficient container refrigeration unit ever offered in the industry.

• Sikorsky X2 Technology replaces mechanical flight controls with electronic systems that significantly enhance control and maneuverability.  This also increases safety and reduces the pilot's workload, aircraft weight and maintenance costs.

• Otis' Gen2 elevators reduce energy use by up to 50 percent compared with conventional systems and up to 75 percent when combined with Otis ReGen drives which feed energy generated by descending elevators back into the building, lowering overall building costs.

• UTC Fire & Security's HI-FOG water mist fire protection system uses micro-droplets of water that efficiently cool a fire to the point of extinguishing it.  The system requires up to 90 percent less water than conventional sprinklers, which results in less damage for customers.

Background

Since 1997, UTC has invested approximately $30 billion in customer- and company-funded research and development. These investments are increasingly focused on reducing the environmental impact of our products and assisting our customers to achieve similar goals.

Our greatest focus has been on eliminating materials of concern (heavy metals), something that we began doing voluntarily in 2001. Our products are technically complex and require the highest quality and standards to ensure safety. Finding safe, effective substitutes that are also acceptable to our customers is challenging. While we will continue to eliminate materials of concern in legacy products and processes, our primary goal is to eliminate them in new products by the end of 2010. At the end of 2008, we achieved 53 percent elimination in new products. Our latest EH&S goals also target all new products for improved environmental performance. Our goal is to increase energy efficiency and reduce packaging each by 10 percent, or achieve best-in-class performance, by the end of 2010. Since the beginning of 2007, we have met the efficiency goal in 68 percent of new products and the packaging goal in 100 percent of new products.