Every two years, Tridium puts on an event with the objective of educating and sharing knowledge with the Niagara Community. This year’s Niagara Summit ramped up the excitement, quality of informative exchange, and attendance numbers by yet another notch when it happened April 7-9. About 1300 people came to National Harbor, Maryland, to participate. The Niagara Summit attracts systems integrators, consulting engineers, application developers, manufacturing partners, and building portfolio owner/operators.
Why do they come? A big draw is the opportunity to learn more about what’s next in Niagara Framework. Attendees value any time with Tridium developers and application engineers, where they can glean practical how-to tips from those that know the product best. Moreover, they come to share knowledge with each other. Over 50 Niagara Partner companies signed on as sponsoring exhibitors to support the event.
The theme of Niagara Summit 2026 was ‘Seamless Connectivity, Powerful Intelligence,’ two phrases meant to encapsulate the shared goals of the Niagara Community. After almost three decades of near limitless device integrations with Niagara Framework, those goals still drive momentum.
Opening Day General Session
The characteristic that makes Niagara Framework the ‘open’ option for organizations looking for a building automation platform that is more than a building management system is its widespread support by a host of equipment manufacturers and software developers beyond Tridium and its parent company Honeywell. Niagara Framework isn’t just a technology answer to the challenge of integrating myriad equipment brands and protocols, it is a business that brought all those brands to the same table. The business pioneered by Tridium is predicated on ‘everybody wins,’ not winner takes all, and this is what makes Niagara suitable as an enterprise-level platform that supports decision-making across a business or portfolio. NS2026 attendees come to hear from all stakeholders in the platform on the business outlook for the industry, which makes the Executive Panel during the General Session so popular. The ballroom was big at the Gaylord National Harbor hotel, but still this event spilled into and filled the corridor.
Breakout Sessions
The NS2026 education program was built around the topics that most define building automation and controls challenges today like supporting mission critical operations; advancing energy management strategies to keep up with stated goals and reporting requirements; refining workflows and incorporating new AI approaches; providing a better user experience incorporating advanced visualization techniques; attracting and retaining your workforce, etc. Over 100 speaker submissions were received and reviewed, and the best were slotted into the program. The agenda is still published here, if you would like to review the whole program.
Moment of Inspiration
George Dennehy, a musician from Richmond, VA, that is capturing attention all over the world, was a featured speaker on Day 2 of the conference. Born without arms, he plays music from his heart using his feet. George’s voice and guitar work is second to none, and those in the room left inspired. George shared his powerful message about overcoming challenges. He believes that every individual has a purpose and absolutely anything is possible. Learn more about George at his site, ‘that armless guy.’ At Tridium we’re very fortunate to work with George’s father, Michael Dennehy.
Expo & Podcast Studio
The expo at NS2026 was a very busy area when the conference was not in session. 50 sponsoring companies filled the booth space. Meals were served there, providing plenty of networking opportunities. We also ran a podcast studio, with a little help from friends like Joe Aamidor of Aamidor Consulting. Some of the podcasts are available now, with more to come soon:
NextGen on where they find the information and mentors they need to further their building automation careers. Oleg Koujikov, Sunbelt Controls, interviews Thomas Ranalli and Matt Witmer of Broudy Precision.
Original Gangsters on Scaling a Building Automation Business
Marc Petock of Lynxpring leads the conversation that also includes Paul Czerwin, Albireo Energy; John Zappa, Building Controls Group; Brian Oswald, Unified Controls; and Ed Merwin, Tridium.
Joe Aamidor, Aamidor Consulting, interviews Erin Defrieze of The Building People; Bobbie Tincher of the University of Kentucky; Nicole Niles of XLAutomation; and Roxette Melancon, Tridium.
