Expanded Global Reach

Beginning in the early 1980s Carrier launched a dual globalization strategy. The company acquired leading air-conditioning manufacturers and brands around the world, adding Delchi (Italy) and Springer (Brazil) in 1983, Daewoo (South Korea) in 1985, Interclisa (Spain) in 1986 and Miraco (Egypt) in 1992. 

In parallel, the company completed a series of distributor acquisitions, joint ventures and greenfield initiatives that dramatically broadened its global footprint. By 1993 Carrier had more than doubled its revenue to $4.5 billion. 

At the same time, technology created exciting new opportunities. In 1981 United Technologies (UTC) combined Carrier and Otis with a new Building Automation subsidiary to form the Building Systems Sector, designed to create a unified package approach to the building industry. 

The new subsidiary was soon awarded a contract to develop an energy management system for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) at Disney World in Florida. In 1983, a 38-story office center called Cityplace opened in Hartford, the largest commercial structure in Connecticut and, thanks to the Building Systems Sector, “the world’s first intelligent building.” All services were orchestrated by a computer system and linked by a fiber-optic network. Other intelligent buildings served by Carrier were Tower 49 in New York City and the LTV Center in Dallas. 

In 1983, Carrier returned to Disney, but this time in Japan, providing much of the air conditioning for Tokyo Disneyland. 

Carrier also continued its commitment to historical preservation. In 1981, the company installed heat pumps in the beautiful Abbey of St. Pierre de Solesmes, a monastery of the Benedictine Order in western France. In June 1984, H.R.H. Queen Beatrix officially opened the renovated public museum at Palace Het Loo in Apeldoom, Netherlands where the Dutch royal family lived and worked for 300 years. Carrier protected 93,000 square meters of space containing paintings, antique furniture, porcelain and tapestries.

Tall, complex buildings—a trademark of Carrier for more than a half-century—continued to demand the company’s expertise. 

Carrier also celebrated its history when, in 1983, its oldest distributor and licensee in Latin America, Lix Klett, marked its 50th anniversary.

In 1985, Carrier Transicold manufactured its 25,000th container unit. Just three years later, with demand for container units doubling, the company produced its 50,000th unit.

During this period Carrier Transicold also introduced microprocessor based temperature controls on its container refrigeration units, while its Phoenix trailer refrigeration system received the 1987 Industrial Designers Society of America award for design excellence.

In 1988, Carrier made the most sweeping series of new product introductions and manufacturing improvements in its history. The company introduced 32 lines of residential and commercial air conditioning, heating and refrigeration products under the Bryant, Carrier and Day & Night lines, with an emphasis on increased efficiency, improved quality and reliability, more precise electronic controls and quieter operation. These included units that already met 1992 U.S. energy-efficiency standards. For the commercial market, Carrier introduced new rooftop units for schools, shopping centers and low-rise office complexes, an advanced control solution known as the Carrier Comfort Network, and a new generation of ductless air conditioners and heat pumps.

The company generated half of its revenue and manufactured nearly half of its products outside the U.S. Carrier chillers had accounted for 36 percent of all installations (excluding Japan) in the prior five years. Guests at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, travelers staying at the Cairo Marriott Hotel and visitors of the Caracas National Culture Centre in Venezuela all enjoyed the benefits of Carrier air conditioning. After inventing and leading the industry for 75 years, Carrier remained the best-known and most global air conditioning, heating and refrigeration company in the world.

Similarly, Carrier Transicold's presence around the world was growing, with equipment aboard France's bullet train, offshore drilling rigs and Jacques Cousteau's experimental ship, the Alcyone.

Carrier's impact on global growth continued to be extraordinary. In 1990, when Lee Kuan Yew stepped down as prime minister in Singapore—having turned a small territory at the tip of the Malaysian peninsula into one of the world's richest countries—he hailed the air conditioner as one of mankind's greatest inventions. "The humble air conditioner has changed the lives of people in the tropical regions," Yew said, leading some observers to call Singapore "the air-conditioned nation."

Growth and success also brought great responsibility, and Carrier embraced its leadership role in environmental sustainability. In 1988, the company introduced the Carrier Refrigeration Management System, developed to safely recycle CFC-11, a refrigerant linked to ozone depletion. In 1991, the company unveiled the industry's only centrifugal compressor that used HCFC-22, an environmentally-sound alternative to CFC-11. The following year Carrier was named a partner in the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Lights program to reduce energy use and pollution, and in 1993 it became the first company at the U.S. Green Building Council^®.