Speakers

Sergio Almeida is President of Geo-Xergy Systems, an engineering design firm specializing in integrated geothermal/ground source heating and cooling systems for commercial and institutional buildings. With a portfolio of projects across Canada and the US, he leads an innovative design team that delivers cost-effective and reliable geothermal systems for buildings of various sizes and occupancies. Throughout his career in the design and delivery of building HVAC systems, Sergio has developed a specific expertise in delivering fully integrated geothermal systems that are proven to maximize the return. He capitalizes on his detailed knowledge of control systems and mechanical equipment to optimize system performance and find the greatest long-term value for building owners. Sergio is also a co-Founder of Diverso Energy, a geothermal utility company focused on providing developers the ability to create low carbon buildings while reducing their construction costs and eliminating all of the risk associated with the technology.

Shaun Loney is the former Director of Energy Policy with the Government of Manitoba. He went in to a career in the social enterprise sector co-founding several ventures including BUILD and Aki Energy both of which hire people with barriers to employment in the clean energy sector. Shaun is the author of An Army of Problem Solvers and The Beautiful Bailout: How Social Innovation will Solve Government’s Priciest Problems.

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Topic: Aki Energy and Social Finance
Social Innovation is gaining momentum worldwide. Learn how innovative financing and procurement tools are changing how geothermal companies can grow their businesses. Shaun will use the example of Aki Energy’s work on First Nations in Manitoba where 500 homes have been converted from electricity to geothermal using innovative financing tools.

Andrew Marquess has over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry in multifamily development. For the past decade his firm has incorporated geothermal as the energy source in various multifamily projects. Andrew has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

Michael has over ten years experience in the geothermal industry in Manitoba and is the former Vice President of the MGEA. As a consultant, he assists building owners explore the economics of geothermal HVAC systems vs. conventional (electric or natural gas) HVAC systems. As a business development manager, he oversees the sales, design and installation of horizontal drilled, horizontal excavated, shallow vertical drilled, deep vertical drilled, well-to-well and hybrid ground loop heat exchangers in Manitoba and Northwest Ontario. Michael has a Bachelor of Commerce (Hon.) from the I.H. Asper School of Business.

Don has over 35 years of mechanical engineering experience primarily in the design and inspection of heating, ventilation, refrigeration, air conditioning (HVAC) systems for municipal, institutional, recreational, healthcare, educational and commercial facilities. He is currently the Managing Principal of the mechanical engineering practice at Falcon Engineering in Kelowna, BC. Within his HVAC team, Don has developed specialized skills to encourage the development of high-performance energy systems. As part of this effort, for over 12 years he has carefully worked to develop specialized geothermal expertise as a core competency within his HVAC practice. Under Don’s direction, the Falcon HVAC team has designed and implemented approximately 30 geothermal systems in the institutional sector (mainly public school and university campus applications). He has also been engaged in many other assignments to rehabilitate under-performing geothermal systems. Along his journey, Don has identified key factors that lead to geothermal success and other common factors often associated with poor success.

Paul Neufeld is President of SCMI, and has accumulated over 30 years of experience in the mechanical contracting industry. As an accredited member of the MGEA, Paul is responsible for technical system design, installation compliance, and project management of commercial and residential geothermal installations throughout Manitoba. SCMI geothermal installations are completed as design/build projects where Paul is actively involved in the integrated design process. He is also a partner in Earth4U Consulting Inc, a geothermal installation company based in Kenora Ontario.

Gerry is a founding director of the MGEA. He started in the plumbing and HVAC trade full time in 1981 and has been involved with the installation and service of GSHP since 1985. Gerry been involved in over 800 unit installations of residential, commercial, ice rinks, curling rinks, numerous churches, community halls and credit unions.

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Topic: Residential - From Yesterday to Today
A look at how residential heat pumps have changed over the years and what hasn't changed.

Roger Perron had a 35 1/2 year career with the Government of Canada with four different departments. Upon his retirement, he took on a part time position with the RM of Ritchot as their Economic Development Officer. He applied for funding for a new community centre for Ile Des Chenes, upgrade to arena and a district geothermal system. Was successful in getting grants and became the Project Manager overseeing the construction. He also started the Ritchot Chamber of Commerce in the RM of Ritchot. In 2014, he was asked to be the Project Manager of Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre, a registered charity, to fundraise and oversee the construction of a new Wildlife Hospital and Education Centre campus. Project has raised over $3 million dollars since 2014 and the new campus was opened in 2019 with a geothermal energy efficient facility.

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Topic: Ile Des Chenes Geothermal Projects
Roger will talk about two geothermal projects that he worked on in Ile Des Chenes. The first, a district geothermal project in the RM of Ritchot which includes the local community centre, arena, firehall and ambulance garage. The second project is the new construction of a new campus for Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre connected to a district geothermal system.

Jeff has 30 years engineering design experience with the past 21 years dedicated to evaluating, developing, and designing geoexchange (geothermal) energy systems. He leads the geoexchange practice at Falcon Engineering based in Kelowna, BC. Prior to 2016 he led JDQ Engineering Limited, a specialty geothermal engineering practice integrated into Falcon Engineering in 2016. Jeff has designed some of the earliest and some of the most prominent large-scale geoexchange systems in western Canada, including institutional, commercial, municipal, multi-unit residential, and industrial sector applications. Jeff has served GeoExchange BC (geothermal industry association in British Columbia) in several capacities since its inception in 2002 and currently serves as the Board Chair. Similar to Don Poole, along Jeff’s journey, he has identified key factors that lead to geothermal success and other common factors often associated with poor success.

Grant has over eight years in the geothermal and HVAC industry as an Engineer in Training. He currently provides consulting services as a design team manager and produces residential and commercial geothermal and mechanical system designs. He has a Bachelor of Science in Biosystems Engineering from the University of Manitoba.

Chris has performed various roles in the ICI construction industry for more than 30 years. Since 2005 Chris has been involved in the installation of over 600 units of open loop GSHPs, including district systems. He is an accredited installer with the Manitoba Geothermal Energy Alliance.