1. Customer Profile
The American Center is comprised of
a 25-story office tower and an adjoining
retail and convenience center.
The 660,000 square foot property
is located in the thriving business
community of Southfield, Michigan.
Customer Issues
• Attract and retain tenants
• Address aging infrastructure
• Reduce energy costs
• Improve return on investment
Project Objective
Enhance building operations to improve
financial performance of the American
Center property.
Results
$3,200,000 in capital improvements
including:
• Chilled water plant upgrade
• Lighting retrofit
• Gas-fired modular boiler installation
• Variable frequency drive installation
• Air distribution efficiency
improvements
• Direct digital controls (DDC) upgrade
• Energy management system
installation
Performance management and training
$621,000 per year guaranteed savings
over a 10-year term
PACT
™
American Center
Southfield, Michigan
Trane Improves Property’s
Return On Investment

2. tenants. Electric boilers were replaced
with six gas-fired modular high efficiency
boilers. Extensive piping work was
required to replace the electric baseboard
heat with hot water radiation. Upgrades
were made to the building’s air
distribution system to improve the quality
and efficiency of air delivered to tenants.
The domestic water pumping system
was retrofitted to improve the efficiency
of its operation. ATraneTracer Summit™
building automation system was installed
to provide better environmental control.
Monitoring and scheduling capabilities
reduce equipment run times and,
therefore, energy costs.TheTracer system
provides the facility management at
American Center with a tool to respond
Return on investment is the
name of the game for investment real
estate.The American Center, a
Southfield, Michigan, office tower, is
now a better performing asset thanks
to the Performance Agreement for
Comfort from Trane (PACTTM
) program.
The American Center’s ownership
successfully used the PACT program
to make over $3,200,000 in capital
improvements, while reducing operating
costs and improving tenant comfort.
The project is creating over $621,000 in
annual savings and qualifies the property
to participate in the United States
Environmental Protection Agency’s
Energy Star Building® program.
“TheTrane PACT program has reduced
our electric bill by one third!” comments
Jim Jonas, executive vice president.
“The Trane PACT program has
reduced our electric bill by one third!”
©American Standard Inc. 2001 CASE-SLX036-EN
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Months
Utility Profile
Pre-PACT Energy Costs
Post-PACT Energy Costs
Variable frequency drives and a multiplexer
system provide more efficient domestic
water booster pumping.
Bill Jansen, property manager; Mike
Fetzer,Trane comprehensive solutions
team leader; and Jim Jonas, executive
vice president
Aging Infrastructure
The American Center property was
built over 25 years ago. Much of the
equipment was nearing the end of its
useful life.The ownership was facing
increasing operating costs resulting from
the aging infrastructure and high utility
costs due to the building’s design. Plans
to address the aging cooling system led
to discussions withTrane to take a more
comprehensive approach to solving
some of the building’s problems.
TraneApplies Its Building Expertise
Trane used its building system expertise
to develop a custom project to lower
operating costs and improve tenant
comfort. Once the project was approved,
Trane assembled an experienced team
to begin the work.
“Trane was selected based on their
demonstrated quality of service,
excellent products, and proposed project
value.We have had experience working
withTrane in a number of properties and
knew they were excellent contractors,”
comments Joe Mendez, vice president
of operations.
The original building design used the
lighting system as a major source of heat.
This design worked well when electricity
was inexpensive. Unfortunately, electrical
rates have increased significantly over the
past 25 years.To reduce the cooling load
in the summer and, therefore, the high
cost of cooling a building, a lighting
retrofit was completed.The reduced
summer load had a direct impact on the
size of the equipment necessary to cool
the building.Two new 640-ton
CenTraVac™ chillers were installed to
provide efficient cooling to building

3. “TheTrane team was very professional
and managed the project expertly.”
3CASE-SLX036-EN
“The local utility
sent a representative
to check the accuracy
of our property’s
electric meters.
They found the meters
working properly.
The large electrical
savings were a result
of the Trane PACT
program.”
Bill Jansen and DougWilliams, facility
engineer, check building conditions
using theTracer Summit™ system.
more efficiently to tenant calls and
manage the building more proactively.
Energy Star Building Participant
The PACT™ guarantee provides the
building’s ownership with the assurance
of long-term project performance.
Through periodic building inspections,
equipment maintenance, and
monitoring,Trane provides an annual
guarantee of $500,000 in energy savings
and $121,000 in operational savings.The
significant annual energy savings
qualified the American Center Property
as a participant of the U.S. EPA’s Energy
Star Building program. Quite an
accomplishment!
“The local utility sent a representative
to check the accuracy of our property’s
electric meters.They found the meters
working properly.The large electrical
savings were a direct result of theTrane
PACT program,” states Jim Jonas,
executive vice president.
Tenant Satisfaction
A critical component to the installation
was to keep the building’s systems fully
operational while the renovation was
taking place.Through careful planning
and coordination with the owner’s
representatives,Trane experienced
project management personnel were
able to execute the scope with minimal
disruption to the building’s tenants.
“TheTrane team was very professional
and managed the project expertly.We
have received positive feedback from
our tenants on the quality of lighting
and improvement in temperature
control”, states Mendez.
Two new 640-ton high-efficiency chillers
provide cooling to the tenants of
American Center.

4. Literature Order Number
Date
Supersedes
Stocking Location
Literature Order Number
Date
Supersedes
Stocking Location
SinceTheTrane Company has a policy of continuous product and product data improvement, it reserves the
right to change design and specifications without notice.
TheTrane Company
An American Standard Company
www.trane.com
For more information contact
your local sales office or
e-mail us at comfort@trane.com
CASE-SLX036-EN
March 2001
New
La Crosse
For more information call Trane Asset Management Services
1-800-877-1327.