In celebration of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy’s 30th Anniversary, the Solutions for a Net-Zero Economy interview series promotes the leadership and innovation of clean energy businesses and the membership of BCSE. Featured speakers will showcase the broad range of technologies available to achieve sustainability objectives and a net zero economy.
By Lisa Jacobson, President, Business Council for Sustainable Energy
Over the past year, BCSE has shared several executive interviews as part of our Solutions for a Net-Zero Economy thought leaders series, in celebration of BCSE’s 30th anniversary. In this interview, I’m excited to speak with Nanette Lockwood, who recently retired after more than two decades of environmental policy advocacy work, including as Secretary for BCSE’s Board of Directors through her role at Trane Technologies. Nanette has had an incredible career in energy and environmental advocacy at both the federal and international level, and I’m pleased to have been able to sit down with her to discuss her accomplishments and how she views the future of the clean energy transition.
Nanette most recently served as Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability at Trane Technologies, where she was responsible for advocating for climate and energy policies that drive sustainability in the global building and transportation sectors. Nanette shaped initiatives for engine emission monitoring and updating refrigerant building codes, leading Trane Technologies to meet decarbonization goals a decade before required. With her guidance, Trane Technologies became the first company in its industry to transition to low GWP chillers – setting the bar for the rest of the industry to meet.
“Nanette has been a colleague, a mentor, and a friend and we have done many great things together while having a lot of fun along the way,” said Steve Kujak, Director of Next Generation Refrigerant Research at Trane Technologies. “She helped initiate the idea of Trane Technologies’ first 2020 climate commitment in 2013 with the challenge of what we could do with our low-GWP refrigerants investments. Nanette is a shining example of how one person can catalyze a few people to change a company, which changed an industry, and ultimately made the world a better place.”
On the international stage, Nanette has been at the table for nearly all major environmental policy negotiations in the past 20+ years, including the Paris Agreement and the Montreal Protocol. She is recognized by the Supervisory Body to the Paris Agreement as a climate policy expert and has been a dedicated and determined voice to push the correct initiatives before they became a priority for the rest of the industry. Nanette is known for helping stakeholders transform huge global challenges – that seem impossible – into achievable, feasible, and actionable policy solutions.
“To truly make a change in this world you must be willing to speak up and collaborate across stakeholders,” said Scott Tew, Vice President of Sustainability and Managing Director of Trane Technologies’ Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability. “Nanette’s dedication to advocating for the refrigerant transition while holding a track record of moving the needle is a testament to what coming to the table with a can-do attitude accomplishes.”
Nanette is also committed to building up the next generation of clean energy and environmental leaders. She was a known mentor at Trane Technologies for Women in Engineering Leadership and since August 2021, she has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver in the graduate Environmental Policy Management curriculum. As she states in our interview, Nanette’s work in education and mentorship is a labor of love. “If we don’t engage this next generation, I don’t know how we expect to do things any differently,” she says. “It’s a real passion to try to get students to think about what’s missing [from environmental policy], what needs to change.”
BCSE is thrilled to have had Nanette serve on our Board of Directors and the invaluable contribution she has made to our international policy work. We look forward to continuing our collaboration and wish her a huge congratulations on her retirement from the entire BCSE team.