Eden Energy Equipment 2026 AGM: Forward by Design
About this Event
Heating and cooling is changing quickly. New technologies, grid constraints, building-performance expectations, workforce challenges, and the transition toward electrification are changing how systems are designed, selected, installed, and operated.
Forward by Design, Eden Energy Equipment’s 2026 Annual Conference, brings contractors, builders, developers, engineers, utilities, educators, manufacturers, skilled trades leaders, and electrification professionals together for a full day of practical learning, technical discussion, technology demonstrations, and industry connection.
This is not simply a conversation about replacing one piece of equipment with another. It is about designing better buildings, choosing the right technology for each application, managing peak demand, improving comfort, and building the partnerships needed to move the industry forward.
Featured Sessions
The day will include practical discussions on:
• Grid Modernization and the Future of Electrification
• Better Buildings, Better Systems: Connecting Design and Performance
• Canada’s Retrofit Mission: Scaling Building Retrofits for Net Zero
• Skilled Trades: Challenges and Opportunities
• Heat Pumps and the Grid: Why the Right Equipment Matters
• How Builders Are Electrifying: Lessons and Leadership from Mattamy
• Hydronics That Work: Avoiding the Design Mistakes That Cost Comfort
• Rethinking Heating and Cooling for Electrified Buildings
• The Art of System Selection: Choosing the Right HVAC Solution for the Project
What to Expect
The program will explore the technologies and issues shaping the heating and cooling market, including:
• Geothermal, air-to-water, and air-to-air heat pumps
• Hydronic design and low-temperature distribution
• Phase change thermal storage and load shifting
• Grid modernization and peak-demand management
• Building science, comfort, and energy performance
• Residential retrofits and builder electrification
• Skilled trades development and workforce opportunities
Attendees will hear from leading voices across construction, utilities, research, energy efficiency, building science, and the heating and cooling industry.
The speaker lineup includes Robert Bean ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer, Umar Waqas VP Grid Modernization Grandbridge Energy, Leigh St. Hilaire of Volta Research, Corey Diamond of Efficiency Canada, Martin Luymes of HRAI, Scott Schrier of Building Knowledge Canada, Patrick Marion of Mattamy Homes, and Michael Ridler of Eden Energy Equipment, with special guest Jeff Hammond of IGSHPA and more industry contributors.
Practical Value for Every Part of the Industry
Contractors will leave with practical ideas they can apply to equipment selection, system design, installation, controls, hydronics, thermal storage, and customer conversations.
Builders and developers will gain a clearer understanding of the technologies, infrastructure considerations, and industry partnerships required to deliver comfortable, efficient, and grid-conscious buildings.
Engineers and designers will engage with real challenges involving heat transfer, peak demand, low-temperature distribution, building performance, system integration, and electrification.
Utilities, educators, manufacturers, energy advisors, and industry partners will have an opportunity to connect directly with the people designing, selling, installing, and operating the next generation of mechanical systems.
See the Technology
Throughout the day, attendees will be able to explore technology displays featuring new developments in geothermal, air-to-water and air-to-air heat pumps, hydronics, controls, ventilation, and phase change thermal storage.
The event is designed to connect technical education with real equipment, real applications, and the people bringing these systems to market.
Build Valuable Industry Connections
Forward by Design will bring together professionals from across the building, energy, and heating and cooling sectors. The day will include lunch, technology displays, industry networking, and an evening reception. It is an opportunity to strengthen existing relationships, meet new partners, exchange ideas, and connect with the people helping shape the future of the industry.
New graduates from local skilled trades programs have also been invited to attend. For contractors and employers, this creates an opportunity to meet motivated emerging talent and potentially connect with a future apprentice or team member.
Who Should Attend?
Forward by Design is built for contractors, builders, developers, engineers, designers, energy advisors, utilities, educators, manufacturers, skilled trades professionals, students, and anyone involved in heating, cooling, building performance, or electrification.
Registration is complimentary, but space is limited. Priority seating will be provided to Eden Energy partners and customers, and the event is open to professionals from across the industry.
Reserve your seat and join the people designing what comes next.
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
