Inside Trane's 100-Year HVAC Training Legacy

Inside Trane's 100-Year HVAC Training Legacy

From Cool Air, Hot Takes by Trane

May 5, 2026 · 33 min · Episode 24

About this episode

The episode celebrates Trane's Graduate Training Program's 100-year legacy and discusses its evolution and future with AI in HVAC workforce development.

Today on Cool Air, Hot Takes™, hosts Charlie Jelen and Dan Gentry celebrate a milestone: Trane's Graduate Training Program turns 100. Kris Gagermeier, Trane’s Director, Technical Training Center of Excellence joins to walk through the program's origins, how it's evolved over a century, and where AI fits into the next chapter of HVAC workforce development, including what it takes to get through 14 weeks in La Crosse. We also have: HVAC Headlines: Repair revenue is eating a bigger slice of mechanical contractors' business — up from 21% to 31% since 2021 , with more jobs, higher ticket sizes, and lower costs. Plus: Bill Gates-backed TerraPower is breaking ground on a 500 MW sodium-cooled nuclear reactor in Wyoming, targeting 2030. Stat of the Day: Dan mulches it over and shares some surprising landscaping industry stats. We want your hot takes and questions! Email coolair.hottakes@trane.com, drop a comment on YouTube or Spotify, or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Don't forget to rate and follow too! Take our survey: We love making Cool Air, Hot Takes™, but we want to make sure you love listening to it. Head to podpolls.com/hottakes , fill out our quick listener survey, and give…

People in this episode

Hosts: Charlie Jelen, Dan Gentry

Guest: Kris Gagermeier

Topics covered

  • HVAC training
  • workforce development
  • AI in HVAC
  • Trane history
  • industry trends
  • nuclear energy

Keywords

  • HVAC
  • training program
  • AI
  • workforce
  • Trane
  • TerraPower
  • nuclear reactor
  • landscaping stats

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Trane, TerraPower

Places: Wyoming

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