Eden Energy Equipment 2026 AGM: Forward by Design
About this Event
Heating and cooling is changing fast. The people who design, build, install, specify, and influence these systems need to be in the same room.
Eden Energy Equipment’s 2026 Annual Conference, Forward by Design, brings together contractors, builders, engineers, utilities, educators, manufacturers, skilled trades leaders, and electrification professionals for a full day focused on the future of heating and cooling.
This is a practical, high-value industry event built around the technologies and conversations shaping the market right now, including heat pumps, hydronics, geothermal, air to water systems, air to air systems, phase change thermal storage, grid impact, building science, energy efficiency, retrofits, skilled trades, and builder electrification.
Attendees will hear from a strong lineup of industry voices, including Robert Bean, Leigh St. Hilaire from Volta Research, Corey Diamond from Efficiency Canada, Martin Luymes from HRAI Scott Schrier from Building Knowledge Canada, Patrick Marion from OGA and Mattamy Homes, and Michael Ridler from Team Eden, with special guest Jeff Hammond from IGSHPA and more.
Contractors will leave with practical ideas they can apply in the field. Builders will gain a clearer view of the systems and partnerships needed to deliver better performing homes. Engineers will engage with real design challenges around comfort, performance, peak demand, hydronics, thermal storage, and electrification.
The day will also include technology displays, great food, networking, and an evening reception. Attendees will get to see the latest in heat pump technology, including systems paired with phase change thermal storage, while connecting with the people helping move the industry forward.
We have also invited new graduates from local skilled trades programs to attend, learn, and connect with industry. For contractors and employers, this creates a great opportunity to meet motivated new talent and potentially find your next rockstar apprentice.
Forward by Design is designed to be one of the must-attend heating and cooling events of the year for contractors, builders, engineers, and anyone working in electrification.**
Space is limited and the event is expected to fill quickly. Priority seating will be given to Eden Energy partners and customers, but the event is open to everyone in the industry.
Register early to reserve your spot.
Agenda
Grid Modernization and the Future of Electrification
Host: Umar Waqas
Info: Umar will speak about how local distribution grids are evolving to support electrification, growth, reliability, and customer needs. His keynote will explore the shift from simply building more infrastructure to using smarter planning, demand flexibility, distributed energy resources, grid data, and non-wires solutions to manage peak demand and improve resilience. For contractors, builders, engineers, utilities, and industry partners, this session will connect the future of heating and cooling to the real-world grid challenges and opportunities shaping Ontario’s energy transition.
Better Buildings, Better Systems: Connecting Design & Performance
Host: Scott Schrier
Info: Scott Schrier will explore how mechanical systems, building science, and energy efficiency come together, and how contractors, builders, designers, and energy advisors can work together to deliver better buildings.
Canada’s Retrofit Mission: Scaling Building Retrofits for Net Zero
Host: Corey Diamond
Info: Corey Diamond will speak about Canada’s retrofit mission and the urgent need to rethink how we upgrade existing buildings. At today’s pace, it would take roughly 142 years to retrofit every building in Canada, while the country’s net zero target requires a much faster path.
This session will explore why retrofits need to be treated as a national mission, not just a series of one-off projects. Corey will discuss the need for stronger leadership, better funding, empowered retrofit teams, and coordinated action across government, utilities, industry, and the private sector.
For HVAC contractors, engineers, builders, utilities, and electrification professionals, this session will connect policy, workforce, equipment decisions, affordability, heat pumps, and real market opportunity. Corey will challenge the industry to think bigger about the role we must play in transforming Canada’s existing building stock.
Skilled Trades, Challenges, and Opportunities
Host: Martin Luymes
Info: Martin Luymes will speak to the workforce challenges facing the heating and cooling industry and the opportunities ahead as the market shifts toward heat pumps, geothermal, hydronics, controls, and electrification.
Heat Pumps and the Grid: Why the Right Equipment Matters
Host: Leigh St Hilaire
Info: Leigh St. Hilaire will explore how heat pump choices affect more than the home they are installed in. As builders, utilities, contractors, and designers move deeper into electrification, the industry needs to think carefully about which technologies are being deployed, where they make sense, and how they impact peak demand, infrastructure, resilience, and long-term affordability.
This session will look at geothermal, air to water, air to air, and phase change thermal storage through a grid and building performance lens. Leigh will discuss why different climate zones, building types, budgets, and utility constraints require different solutions, and why the best answer is not always one technology.
For contractors, engineers, builders, utilities, and electrification professionals, this session will connect equipment selection, load shifting, thermal ride-through, grid stability, and homeowner value.
How Builders Are Electrifying: Options, Lessons, and Leadership from Mattamy
Host: Patrick Marion
Info: Patrick Marion will share how builders are approaching electrification, the technology pathways available, and how Mattamy Homes is helping lead the way while balancing comfort, cost, construction realities, and performance.
Hydronics That Work: Avoiding the Design Mistakes That Cost Comfort
Host: Michael Ridler
Info: This panel will focus on practical hydronic design for the next generation of heating and cooling systems. As more projects move toward air to water heat pumps, low temperature distribution, retrofits, and thermal storage, the details matter more than ever.
Panelists will discuss common hydronic mistakes that lead to comfort problems, callbacks, poor efficiency, and unhappy customers. Topics will include retrofitting existing boiler systems to air to water heat pumps, understanding emitter temperatures, buffer tanks, flow rates, piping layouts, controls, zoning, and the importance of designing systems that can actually perform in the field.
The panel will also explore how thermal storage is changing the conversation by helping manage peak demand, improve system flexibility, and create new opportunities for load shifting. For contractors, engineers, and builders, this session will offer real-world do’s and don’ts for designing hydronic systems that work.
Rethinking Heating and Cooling for Electrified Buildings
Host: Robert Bean
Info: Robert Bean will deliver a feature presentation on the future of mechanical system design in an electrified world. As buildings move toward geothermal, air to water heat pumps, air to air heat pumps, thermal storage, and lower energy demand, the industry needs to think beyond simple equipment swaps and start designing complete comfort systems.
This session will explore why water-based systems, thermal storage, and thoughtful system design are becoming increasingly important in the next generation of heating and cooling. Robert will connect hydronics, building performance, comfort, energy efficiency, heat pump applications, and grid resilience into a broader vision for better buildings.
For contractors, engineers, builders, and electrification professionals, this session will challenge how we think about heat transfer, system design, and the role mechanical systems can play in delivering comfort, reducing peak demand, and supporting the future of electrified buildings.
The Art of System Selection: Choosing the Right HVAC Solution for the Project
Host: Niss Feiner
Info: Niss Feiner will present a practical framework for selecting HVAC systems based on project needs, not habit, bias, or lowest first cost. This session will walk through a disciplined four-step process: define the problem, quantify the unknowns, compile possible solutions, and ask the most important design question: “What sucks about it?”
Using a real church renovation case study in the Greater Toronto Area, Niss will show how forced air and hydronic options were evaluated against budget, occupancy, ventilation, structural constraints, zoning, efficiency, redundancy, and long-term performance.
For engineers, designers, contractors, and builders, this session will reframe system selection as both analytical and practical. The goal is not the most familiar system. The goal is the fittest solution for the defined problem.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
CAD 0.00
