In three years of business Mike Missimer at MGI Mechanical has put 19 trucks on the road and is selling +90% heat pump equipment for both air and water in the Fort Collins area. He’s found success using his passion for a fundamental understanding of what the home needs and how the duct system works to create high performance installs and happy, comfortable customers. Hear hard lessons learned on how to offer the complete heat pump package, how it’ll differ from traditional gas furnaces with ACCA QI5 and QI9 standards, and more.
// Mike Missimer, MGI Mechanical
Xerxes Steirer helps homeowners review and understand HVAC quotes. He created Just Heat Pumps, LLC to help homeowners navigate the wide spread of quotes they may get from HVAC contractors. He's helped hundreds of customers get quality equipment installed correctly, and has numerous tips for your sales and quoting process to ensure both an easy close and a satisfied customer.
// Xerxes Steirer, Owner, Just Heat Pumps, LLC
The answer to "Will my utility bills go down after this heat pump install?" has typically been a guess at best. Rocky Mountain Institute's new software tool the Green Upgrades Calculator offers a data driven answer. Using the customer's energy bills, information about all energy devices in their home, and more, the tool can more accurately estimate changes to a customer's bills for various equipment changes. This session is designed to complement the two related sessions before it.
// Ryan Shea, ManagerCarbon-Free Buildings, Rocky Mountain Institute
Federal, state, and local - get the latest info on what programs are available. Hear directly from program representatives with brief overviews and tips for getting the most out of their rebates and financing.
// Representatives from Xcel, Colorado Energy Office, Colorado Clean Energy Fund, Boulder County, Platte River Power Authority, and the City of Denver
Businesses are often caught in a web of marketing options, with each promising unparalleled growth and visibility, making it difficult to discern the most effective path forward. As the CEO of CI Web Group, a digital marketing company founded in 2006, Jennifer Bagley has navigated these turbulent waters, emerging with a blueprint for marketing success that leverages data, technology, and strategic foresight to maximize ROI and ROAS. Jennifer will guide attendees through the critical aspects of optimizing marketing performance, transforming complexity into clarity and challenges into opportunities for home service companies.
// Jennifer Bagley, CI Web
What should innovation look like in the trades? Hear from founders and senior leadership at several tech enabled companies brining new models to contracting, financing and more. Moderated by Rewiring America's Nick Stevens, this panel will dive into how tech can help contracting, where it can get in the way, and how traditional contracting businesses should think about these new entrants.
// Jack Policar, Carbon Free Homes | Grant Gunnison, ZeroHomes.io | Josh Lake, Elephant Energy | Emily Baker, BlocPower
Meet other leaders in the heat pump world and connect with Summit sponsors and exhibitors
Seeking speakers
Welcome comments from Daikin - 2024 Title Sponsor of the U.S. Heat Pump Summit
Hear how the heat pump revolution is creating massive business opportunities that are yours for the taking! 40+ year veteran of high performance buildings, Mark LaLiberte, will share why the best business is in heat pumps and how it’s time to become an expert in the technology. Through fundamentals and real world success stories like a $1m new build contract won on heat pump knowledge, Mark will demonstrate how comprehensive knowledge of the building’s envelope and systems is essential for creating a comfortable, efficient environment.
// Mark LaLiberte, Construction Instruction
Eric Kaiser will dive into how heat pump performance changes across temperatures, why variable speed models outperform single or dual stage models, how peak load sizing leads to poor performance in both furnace and heat pumps, why blasts of hot furnace air are no match for continuous warm air from a heat pump, and more.
// Eric Kaiser, TrueTech Tools
Dive into all the things you need to do to deliver superior comfort, efficiency, and performance. Learn why you should have a structured process based on ACCA Manuals J, S, T and D but don’t need to bust them out every time. Go far beyond rules of thumb with easy to follow math and science that will avoid most all common design and equipment selection mistakes.
// Jeremy Begley, HVAC Home Performance
Ben Knopp's heat pump obsession goes back over a decade to the Advanced Technologies Engineering Lab at Daikin. Since then he's designed and advised on hundreds of heat pump installations. Ben will cover heat pump specific airflow fundamentals and advanced fluid dynamics that make or break a system design.
// Ben Knopp, Community Housing Partners
Grab food truck lunch and meet the companies exhibiting!
Commissioning your heat pump installations is more than checking a few boxes on a form. Heat pumps require many steps including proper evacuation and critical charge and measuring airflow to name a few. Document that these processes were performed correctly with measured results can prevent issues that may send you back with performance callbacks, addressing comfort complaints, and ultimately your bottom line.
// Joe Medosch, MeasureQuick
The presentation will explore the importance of heat pumps in achieving decarbonization and sustainability while empowering contractors to embrace energy-efficient solutions. It encourages contractors to take the lead in HVAC innovation, positioning them as key players in the energy revolution and contributors to a greener and more sustainable future.
// Roberto Herrera, Senior Product Manager, Split Systems - Daikin Comfort
Tour the companies exhibiting at the U.S. Heat Pump Summit!
Ditch the myths, and do it right. Heat pumps can perform in the cold. With the summit's four-part fundamentals in mind, let's dive into installations in the real world and how to talk to our customers. Shawn LeMons and Robby Schwarz will show (with data and from experience) how double checking details can lead to proven all-electric heating outcomes, even on the coldest days. How missed details, inappropriate equipment selection, and improper expectation setting led to some unhappy outcomes in Marshall Fire Rebuilding efforts.
// Shawn LeMons, Vice President, Midwest Appliance and HVAC | Robby Schwarz, Principal Thinker, BuildTank Inc
Content continued from previous session.
// Shawn LeMons, Vice President, Midwest Appliance and HVAC | Robby Schwarz, Principal Thinker, BuildTank Inc
Meet other leaders in the heat pump world.
Hear from Mark's decades of experience in high performance buildings! This talk will cover: learn why improvements in thermal efficiency are critical to your design and their effect on customer satisfaction, understand the building science principles essential for your customers to meet changing codes, communicate the value of better performance by adding products and features to your bids, and learn why coaching and educating your team about better-performing systems improves retention and loyalty.
// Mark LaLiberte, Construction Instruction
Give your input and ideas directly to rebate program representatives in this small-group based breakout session! Providers will start with a brief overview of programs, then attendees will break into small facilitated groups to provide direct feedback to program representatives.
// Representatives from the City of Denver, Boulder County, Platte River Power Authority
The IRA brings large rebate opportunities, but also challenges in implementing them. To solve this, a wave of new companies are attempting to help contractors succeed with these programs. In this session, learn about the Home Energy Rebate programs funded by the IRA, and differing ways to get the most out of them.
// Lauren Salz, CEO, Sealed | Jeff Coleman, CEO, Eli | Aimee Bailey, CEO, RockRabbit.ai
Get up to speed on the latest from rebate providers. Hear from their representatives on program specifics, updates, recommendations for effective deployments, and more. Providers will give individual overviews for their programs, and then take questions.
// Representatives from Xcel and Colorado Clean Energy Fund
Join us to explore the crucial role of builders, architects, and manufacturers in shaping a greener future with Heat Pumps and Heat Pump Water Heaters. Discover how these innovative technologies can revolutionize heating, cooling, and water heating, offering exceptional energy efficiency, cost savings, and enhanced comfort while significantly reducing carbon footprints. Learn how adopting these systems can meet sustainability goals, improve indoor air quality, and increase property value, making them indispensable in modern construction.
// Voya Milasinovic, Sr. Business Development Manager, LG Electronics HVAC Solutions
In 2023, the most common question our team received delivering trainings and presentations was "When will air to water heat pumps be ready?" The Center for Energy and Environment is tracking and researching the energy savings and cost-effectiveness of air-to-water heat pumps to determine the best suited system types and configurations for cold climates. We will summarize the CEE research project and discuss the opportunity for air-to-water systems in cold climates. The presentation will cover both energy and non-energy benefits, the market assessment and opportunities, and performance data from real air-to-water heat pumps monitored and installed in the field.
// Dan Wildenhaus, Sr. Technical Manager, Center for Energy & Environment
Want to know how to Get Heat Pumped Up with water heating? Hear Gregg share his thoughts having introduced the 1st Energy Star rated HPWH back in 2009. Learn the history of how this technology works, saves, pays for itself, and how to choose the right product for the right application. Learn proper installation to ensure customer satisfaction, and learn how to tell the story which leads to proactive replacement by building trust and confidence, because they really do work!
// Greg Holladay, Business Development Manager, Bradford White
Dan has been working around HPWHs since 2010 in the Pacific Northwest. Over the last two years, he's been delivering trainings and consulting around HPWH programs across the Midwest. Join Dan for a rousing attempt to bust myths around heat pump water heaters. We'll discuss performance, efficiency, sizing, sound, and more! Come prepared with questions and thoughts.
// Dan Wildenhaus, Sr. Technical Manager, Center for Energy & Environment
You’ve heard all the great things that HPWH’s can do for the homeowners you interact with, but what about you? In this session, Kevin Clark from Rheem will discuss successful business models and what to look for if you’re considering adding HPWH’s to your everyday offering. From that initial call about a failed heater to a routine maintenance call years after installation. Kevin will also set the stage of how hot water heating will be transitioning to help give your organization that first mover advantage.
// Kevin Clark, Region Sales Manager-Utility & New Construction, Rheem Manufacturing Company
Take a behind-the-scenes look at how an award-winning installer was able to design an award-winning heat pump system by setting new energy performance standards. Following the real-life project, we will review the fundamental principles and then demonstrate how the difference between an average and an exceptional system lies in the surprisingly straightforward details that are crucial for standout performance. You'll leave this presentation with a clear, actionable strategy to differentiate your work through industry-leading efficiency.
// Jonathan Mousdell, Founder, H2X
Contractors doing high quality heat pump installations face the challenge of convincing homeowners that larger, more comprehensive jobs, and higher tickets, are worth the investment. Heat pumps are popular, and demand is growing, but few homeowners understand what a quality installation means. With so many new entrants in the heat pump market--many positioning on price and often not doing load calculations, these challenges are even more elevated. The result is that “high performance” contractors—those practicing building science, doing load calculations, and solving problems with a whole house perspective—are facing a whole new breed of competition. Peter Troast of Energy Circle, one of the country's leading authorities on heat pump marketing, will provide actionable approaches to standing out amidst an increasingly crowded and competitive market.
// Peter Troast, Founder/CEO, Energy Circle
Go beyond rules of thumb and learn how to get long life and high performance out of your HPWH installations. Duct for optimal performance and comfort; high efficiency filtration for low maintenance, low cost, equipment protection; savvy controls, how to optimize use of heat pump and minimize use of electric resistance and more. Ben Knopp’s heat pump experience spans 10+ years as an engineer and designer from deep into technology at Daikin and now responsible for heat pump air and water designs across 3000+ units of affordable housing at Community Housing Partners in Virginia.
// Ben Knopp, Community Housing Partners
