In leadership roles, it's important to demonstrate responsibility towards society: Valluri, Chairman, President of Ingersoll Rand India

As Chairman and President of diversified industrial firm Ingersoll Rand India, Venkatesh Valluri has his task cut out to focus on growth, innovation and productivity. Going beyond the obvious, he is looking at his work through the prism of environmental sustainability. In an email interview with Rajiv Tikoo of OneWorld South Asia, he talks about his vision and business.

Excerpts:

OneWorld South Asia: Ingersoll Rand’s portfolio includes air compressors, security technologies like locking devices and fingerprint readers, and climate solutions like commercial refrigeration and cold storage equipment. Going forward, how significant is the business of climate solutions for the group?

Venkatesh Valluri: Ingersoll Rand is a $14-billion world leader in creating and sustaining safe, comfortable and efficient environments in commercial, residential and industrial markets.

Climate solutions is a key business for Ingersoll Rand that integrates solutions to enhance comfort, improve energy efficiency and sustainability for customers and it contributes almost 50% of the global revenues. In the climate solutions business, we are leaders in creating environmental temperature controlled systems (HVAC), energy management solutions, systems for cold chain infrastructure and air-conditioning for transportation.

In the climate solutions segment of our business we are a key industry player and foresee a 15-20% growth. Our unique approach to this business (as with other businesses) is to actively pursue growth through innovation, collaboration and technology convergence. What we do is to basically create markets based on solutions and not just products.

OWSA: How? Please quote an example please?

VV: To give an example, studies have shown that India wastes about 30-40% of perishable food which is valued over $15 billion. We are one of the largest global players in the world that can provide end-to-end technologies for cold chain applications to serve food security needs, in terms of preventing loss of perishable products.

To address the issue of infrastructure creation and to prevent food loss, we launched a product that could address the issues of the first mile collection and last mile delivery by following a "convergence approach." We recently introduced the "I100" product that is expected to cater to the creation of mobile refrigeration infrastructure in the Indian market.

Whereas our expertise lies in refrigeration technology, we collaborated with other organisations who build small vehicles that can negotiate the narrow roads in India for the first mile collection and the last mile delivery of food products under controlled temperature environments. So, now instead of just providing a product that delivers refrigeration, we sourced a ruggedized transport vehicle, collaborated with the vehicle manufacturer, modified the offerings to provide refrigeration for a hostile road terrain, ensured regulated temperature that would not allow the carrying produce to perish and thereby created a "converged solution" through a partnership approach.

OWSA: What else falls under climate solutions business?

VV: As part of our climate solutions business offering, we also recently launched cold chain consultancy services. Again, though India has embarked on laying standards for the cold chain industry, there is still a deficiency in following and designing processes towards building world class infrastructure because of lack of knowledge and technical competency.

Ingersoll Rand intends to fill the gap in this space because it is a world leader and has developed many of the industry best practices in this area over a period of time through 'responsible consulting'. Through this, we aim to provide competitive leverage to our customers, through consulting assistance in structural planning, storage knowledge, automation, remote tracking and cold chain transport and refrigeration.

In the HVAC segment, Trane, a brand of Ingersoll Rand, develops solutions that incorporates emerging technologies to optimise energy, achieve operational efficiency and increase sustainability. These solutions allow building owners to optimise energy management, and enable them to reduce operating costs to turn their buildings into value-adding assets.

OWSA: Ingersoll Rand is playing a leadership role in the sustainability space globally. How come the company is not as active in India?

VV: It is not true that we are less active in India. Developing and influencing standards for sustainability in emerging economies is a major initiative for Ingersoll Rand.

World over and in India, Ingersoll Rand is actively leading the change to address needs for energy usage and conservation. In India, we are at the forefront of partnering with industry and government to help raise awareness around sustainability and specifically around the benefits of energy efficiency programs.

We believe that while competitive pressure and regulatory requirements compel global companies to think and act more sustainably, yet there is agreement today among global executives that taking a more proactive approach towards sustainability and policy management will play an increasingly important role in their business strategy over the next several years. Thus our approach to sustainability is to think on ways we can collaborate to build products that are environment friendly, energy efficient and can improve lives of the people, and yet build a sustainable business out of that.

OWSA: How do you do it?

VV: Take, for example, buildings, in India. Buildings account for 30% of total energy consumption (according to the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). Organisations can collaborate on technologies to design high performance buildings that can reduce their environmental impact.

High performance buildings are energy and water efficient. They use durable, non-toxic materials that are high in recycled content. They preserve natural areas on their sites and restore damaged ones. And they use non-polluting, renewable energy to the greatest extent possible.

Ingersoll Rand (and its brand Trane) works to convert conventional buildings into high performance buildings that are specifically designed and operated to meet specific standards for energy consumption, water use, system reliability and uptime, environmental performance, indoor air quality, noise levels, occupant health and comfort, and other mission essential factors.

Operating standards are set, measured and continually validated to deliver established outcomes within specific tolerances. The standards vary depending on an organisation’s mission. For example, a hospital would likely set different acoustical and indoor air quality standards than a school, which would have different standards than an office building or factory.

For instance - Godrej Bhavan in Mumbai recently completed a project to improve the performance of its building. With heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system upgrades, web-enabled building controls and other improvements, the company created a better environment for employees while reducing annual energy costs. The building became the first in the city of Mumbai to earn Gold certification from USGBC in the existing building (EB) category. The HVAC systems were supplied by Ingersoll Rand (Trane) in this instance.

This is just one such example. The case of I100 for food sustainability is another one. By such initiatives, we believe that we have great opportunities for growth through customer-focused innovations that improve the quality of life and our environment, including many that advance sustainable business practices.

Apart from innovations to drive sustainability, we also participate in several partnerships and initiatives that help drive improved performance for our company and the greater community. As a regular practice, our employees volunteer to improve their communities and their environment.

In recent times, we undertook a relief and rehabilitation program by building 100 permanent houses for the flood affected in Karwar, Karnataka. In 2011, we introduced the concept of 'social convergence' and are now instrumental in bringing together corporate organisations, government bodies and the larger public to take collaborative action towards environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. As part of our social convergence program, we are working in the areas of environmental preservation (waste management, water, energy conservation and preservation of lakes) through a Public–Private Partnership (PPP) approach.

OWSA: Ingersoll Rand underwrote the $300-House Design Challenge, which also led to some work in India. What's you assessment of the intended long-term outcome?

VV: At Ingersoll Rand, we have not only built an organisation-wide culture of innovation, we also collaborate extensively with the external world to investigate new technologies and create path breaking solutions. We believe innovation is critical for emerging economies because the solutions that result from research and development activities in emerging economies are expected to better address the needs of a large population that is defining the growth of the global economy. Given the pressure on natural resources, affordable housing that takes into account factors such as low energy usage, comfort, safety and security of occupants is a critical need for emerging economies today.

The $300 House Open Innovation Competition was aimed at collaborating with the larger community to help design a solution to innovatively address the housing needs of emerging economies while optimising both natural and financial resources. Globally we are now partnering with the winners to create prototypes of the $300 house. As an extension and a long-term outcome of this project in India, Ingersoll Rand will create pilot regions of sustainable habitats that conserve natural resources while potentially creating options for affordable housing.

OWSA: From problem creators to solution providers, the role of business in sustainable development has undergone a paradigm shift over the last few years. How is it reflected in forums like TERI's DSDS?

VV: How corporates view sustainability has indeed seen a remarkable change over the last decade, thanks to forums like the DSDS that bring together corporates across sectors, government dignitaries across countries, think tanks and academicians, to deliberate on how we can create a business that is sustainable as well as profitable.

Recently, an Economist Intelligence Unit survey of global C-level executives sponsored by Ingersoll Rand’s Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (CEES), showed nearly 80% of executives believe energy efficiency will be more important to their business in five years. Also, 61% of non C-level execs said their organisation does not do enough to integrate energy efficiency into its strategy. And in what was a surprising find, the survey showed that just a minority (22%) of executives believe that regulation is a burden to their business. Rather, their perception is that regulation can actually create a level playing field across geographies and help develop new markets.

Most global companies now realise that sustainable policy development doesn't have to come at a cost to business. Rather, policy can actually create opportunity.  Driving increasing standards through responsible policy and increasing incentives for energy efficiency investments benefits everyone. Governments win by delivering on their primary development objectives, end-users have new technologies to make investments, and businesses can find new growth markets in which to offer technology and improve operational performance – it's a winning scenario.

With this in mind, it is safe to say that the competitive pressure and regulatory requirements that compel global companies to think and act more sustainably are increasing every year. The challenge therefore, is the need to balance the world's limited energy resources with the growing demand for energy from increasingly urbanised populations.

This is especially true in high-growth economies such as ours. Whereas companies have historically approached sustainability with an eye towards compliance, there is agreement today among global executives that taking a more proactive approach towards sustainability and policy management will play an increasingly important role in their business strategy over the next several years.

OWSA: Whether it was Agilent or now Ingersoll, you have been working with companies that have been active in the development space. Is it a coincidence or by choice?

VV: Personally, I think it is important, especially when you are in leadership roles, to demonstrate the responsibility towards societal engagement. This cannot be lip service but leaders have to walk the talk. I am aware that there is a lot of good work happening by many individuals both in private and government sector to make the world a better place to live. We must leave behind a better place for the future generations. Unfortunately, the resources are getting consumed as if there is no end.

Responsible organisations recognise the need to conserve and responsible leaders make it happen. They drive behaviours in organisations and change culture. They bring forth the importance of societal engagement and develop a framework of partnership and not focus only on enterprise profitability in isolation.

Share holder value maximisation at the cost of environment is no longer a choice. Unfortunately, this was the norm in the decades of 70s, 80s and to a large extent in the 90s. We need to change this approach. The future consuming populations of the world will be in Asia and we must be active, especially in Asian countries, to help steer the sustainability initiative for the future generations.

I am particularly, keen on driving the "convergence" agenda where organisations could work together, share technologies and solve societal problems jointly. No single organisation or a government is capable of solving the current issues by themselves. We need an approach where technologies are converged and problems are addressed. This way everyone wins, the society, the government and the business fraternity. 

Therefore, I do not think it is a coincidence or a choice but it is a fundamental human responsibility, irrespective of where you work, to aid in the development of the societies in which we live and also allowing them to continue to flourish for the future. We at Ingersoll Rand, will be active participants in this journey along with many others who are equally passionate, if not more, in driving the sustainability initiative and engaging in roles that leverage our capabilities in making this world a better place to live.