08/27/2025
The Best Practices 2025 EXPO & Conference, taking place in Kansas City, Oct. 21-23, announced the Opening and Plenary Session keynote speakers, featuring experts from CAGI, CTI, Pactiv Evergreen, 3M, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Wasmer and ALPLA North America. This year’s show is introducing five new conference workshops and five new EXPO Pavilions, and offering over \$20,000 in compressed air equipment giveaways including a leak detector camera and DIY aluminum piping kits. There will also be the Daily EXPO \$1,000 Energy Treasure Hunt Raffle with two \$250 prizes and one \$500 prize given away each day of EXPO. To view the full conference agenda, click here.
Lineup of the Opening Session keynote speakers
Opening Session Keynote Presentations
The Opening Session will take place Tuesday, Oct. 21, 10:15 a.m. to noon and attendees will earn two professional development hour credits.
Welcome! Synergies in Central Utility Plants – Presented by Roderick M. Smith, Publisher, Best Practices Magazines & EXPO
Standards & Program Update From CAGI – Presented by Matt Smith, President, Compressed Air & Gas Institute
President of the Compressed Air & Gas Institute will provide an update and share the association’s latest news.
Central Energy Plant Optimization: Best Practices and Low-Hanging Fruit – Presented by Hemant Tiwari, Energy Engineer, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Central energy plants are quite literally the powerhouse of any large campus. This presentation briefly describes common low-cost-no-cost measures along with implementation best practices, that can result in improved energy efficiency, plant reliability and smooth operation.
Transform Your Chiller and Boiler Plants with Thermal Energy Storage – Presented by Mike Filler, Sustainable Systems Sales Leader, Trane
This presentation will explore how thermal energy storage systems can address your concerns about energy costs, sustainability and regulatory compliance. Discover the economic benefits, control strategies to enhance energy loads and real-world applications that help demonstrate cost savings, reduced carbon emissions and enhanced operational flexibility.
Energy Savings via Compressor Lift Reduction – 1,000,000 kWh Annual Energy Savings – Three Examples – Presented by Ryan Schmidt, P.E., CEM., Mechanical Engineering Specialist, Chilled Water and Compressed Air Systems Specialist, 3M Company
Explore three ongoing projects, each associated with 1,000,000 kWh in annual energy savings, that represent strategies that can be applied to a wide range of industrial compressed air and cooling systems. The projects include using an integrated systems approach in consolidated process cooling system design, replacement of a plant air compressor with a process-specific low-pressure air compressor without sacrificing firm capacity and applying a variable-speed base load chiller to bolster efficiency in a legacy chiller plant.
Lineup of the Plenary Session keynote speakers
Plenary Session Keynote Presentations
The Plenary Session will take place Wednesday, Oct. 22, 10:15 a.m. to noon and attendees will earn two professional development hour credits.
Standards & Program Update From CTI – Presented by Jim Baker, President, Cooling Technology Institute
The President of the Cooling Technology Institute will provide an update and share the association’s latest news.
Unlocking Hidden Savings: Smarter Compressed Air Management for Energy Reduction – Presented by Edison Kivatsi, Principal Energy Engineer, Pactiv Evergreen
Compressed air, often called the “fourth utility,” remains one of the least efficient energy users in manufacturing. This session explores practical strategies to reduce energy consumption and costs through improved demand management, pressure optimization, proactive OpEx initiatives and leak reduction programs. It’ll also discuss the importance of isolating idle assets from the air system to eliminate hidden waste. Attendees will walk away with actionable insights to drive measurable savings and enhance system reliability.
Waste Heat: Your Untapped Resource for Energy Efficiency and Cost-Savings – Presented by Rob Tanner, Marketing Director – Applied Equipment, Johnson Controls
This presentation will explore how heat pump chillers can harvest thermal energy available in the existing cooling process heat rejection load to drive energy efficiency, reduce operating costs and minimize cooling tower usage. Discover how new, low-global warming potential refrigerants can further enhance chiller efficiency and expand operating capacities and how on-board smart controls can streamline central utility plant operations and maximize up-time.
Water & Chemical Conservation in Process Cooling Loops – Presented by Monte Hackwith, Infrastructure Specialist, ALPLA North America
Using water treatment controllers at ALPLA NOAM plants, the causes of large water losses in the cooling circuits of the molds were often unknown, which led to increased fees and downtime. As a solution, digital, internet-connected, pulse-output water meters were installed on the supply and withdrawal water lines, making it possible to determine which losses were caused by mold growth, leaks or tank overflows. This resulted in 16 of 22 monitored systems significantly reducing their water consumption and the savings from eliminating the need for chemicals to treat the 970 cubic meters of water saved over $80,000.
Kirsh Foundry Optimizes Compressed Air & Nitrogen Generation Systems – Presented by Tim Wasmer, Founder and CEO, The Wasmer Company
Kirsh Foundry in Wisconsin had a system with two air compressors for the plant and was planning to purchase a third air compressor for the new nitrogen generation system, but a comprehensive study revealed there were issues with pipping and the controls of the system. The study showed the system could run with only two air compressors instead of three to run both the plant and the nitrogen generation system. The implementation cost of this project was \$74,676 and resulted in $58,181 in energy savings, making the payback period 1.28 years.
Click here to register for the show. Secure early bird rates (up to $150 in savings) when you book before Sept. 30. Group discounts are available; reach out to Kimberly Hill at [email protected] for more information.
About Best Practices 2025 EXPO & Conference
The Best Practices 2025 EXPO & Conference is the leading North American event focused on sustainable, safe and reliable on-site utilities powering automation. The event takes place Oct. 21-23, 2025, at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, MO. Attendees come from engineering firms, manufacturing plants and equipment companies responsible for specifying, purchasing, operating, selling and maintaining on-site utility equipment in industrial compressed air, vacuum and cooling water systems. For more information, visit https://cabpexpo.com/attend.
