Davidson, N.C. –  Lifestory Research ranked Trane^®, a leading global provider of indoor comfort solutions and services and a brand of Ingersoll Rand, America’s Most Trusted® Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system for the third year in a row based on an opinion survey of more than 9000 people.

Lifestory Research uses customer surveys to track how trust impacts the evaluation of HVAC brands. Trust is measured through the Lifestory Research Net Trust Quotient in which a score of 100 is average for all brands included in the study. Trane earned the top place among the 17 brands in the study, receiving an index score of 119.5.

“We are honored to hear from independent research that our consumers can depend on the Trane brand to deliver high performance, energy efficient solutions for reliable indoor comfort,” said Brian Welborn, brand and marketing communications director for Trane. “Our commitment to producing quality systems that homeowners, home builders and residential contractors can depend on never rests on its laurels, so we’re even more pleased to be recognized for the third year in a row.”

“When a brand like Trane is ranked number one consistently over several years, it is a testament of the trust people have in the brand and products they offer,” said Eric Snider, Ph.D., president and chief research officer, Lifestory Research.

America's Most Trusted®, in its fifth year, is a designation awarded to brands that garner the most trust among those they serve. Awards are based upon the collection and evaluation of thousands of consumer opinions. Product categories included in the 2017 research program include: home builders, active adult resort home builders, faucets, HVAC systems, kitchen appliance brands, laundry appliance brands, paint, and residential real estate brokerages.

Trust is measured through a Net Trust Quotient Score in which brands are divided into three categories: "advocates," customers who feel a significant trust toward the brand; "neutrals," those who trust a specific brand, but do not see a specific brand as standing on the shoulders of other brands; and "antagonists," who are skeptics with little, if any, trust in a specific brand.