At IDEA2026, district energy professionals from around the globe share ideas and insights, as well as recognize the accomplishments of their peers. The Norman R. Taylor Award is named for a former president and executive director who made major contributions to the organization and was known for treating people with dignity and humility. It honors IDEA’s “Person of the Year”: an individual whose career has had an undeniable impact on the industry. The 2026 honoree is Bruce Ander, Former President and CEO of Markham District Energy and founder of Ander Advisory.
When Bruce Ander describes his 40-year career, he talks about bookends.
The first: 2002, when he said yes to a job most colleagues considered a lateral move. Markham District Energy had one customer, one small plant, and two employees. The company was a startup in a field most people had never heard of, and was located in Bruce’s hometown, with uncertain prospects.
The second: summer 2024, standing at the groundbreaking for a wastewater energy transfer project (one of the largest of its kind in the world), with IDEA President and CEO, Rob Thornton, beside him. Twenty-three years and 18 million square feet of connected space later.
A City That Needed a Champion
The story of Markham District Energy is inseparable from the people who believed in it early.
When Bruce joined in 2002, the system was anchored by a single IBM facility. The city was growing fast, but whether the greenfield land beside the plant would develop enough to justify the investment was an open question.
Mayor Donald Cousens had an answer. In 2001 he had spoken at a Canadian District Energy Association conference in Vancouver, and Bruce was in the audience. By Bruce’s account, it was the best speech on district energy he’d heard from a politician. The mayor understood the full picture: economics, sustainability, and resilience. A year later when the time came to decide whether to take the top job in Markham, that speech made the difference.
“Every municipal system needs a champion. Usually the mayor. And when times get rough, because they will, you need someone who believes in it,” said Ander.
Cousens championed the system until illness forced him to step down in 2006. Mayor Frank Scarpitti picked up where he left off and has continued ever since. That continuity of local leadership, Bruce believes, is a significant reason Markham District Energy has thrived.
Since 2000, every new building in Markham Centre has connected to the district energy system. A second system, anchored by a local hospital, launched a decade ago. A third is now in development. What began with one customer covers 18 million square feet today.
The Merger That Expanded Canadian Reach
Between the two bookends sits work Bruce considers equally central to this recognition: leading the merger of the Canadian District Energy Association into IDEA in 2015.
At that time, district energy in Canada was seen as a small market. Bruce saw the value in consolidation. He led the Canadian Board through the decision, and the decade since has borne it out. Canadian members gained a seat at the table, a voice in the magazine, and conferences on home soil, including IDEA2026 in Ottawa.
“Beyond what has been accomplished in Markham over the decades, one key reason I’m here at IDEA today with the Norm Taylor Award is the Canadian IDEA merger, bringing the Canadian membership into the international member family,” said Ander.
36 Recipients. Many Friends.
Bruce never met Norm Taylor. But when he went through the full list of 36 award recipients since 1986, he counted: he has known and worked with half of them. Most he considers genuine friends, people he's traveled with and whose families he's met.
Bruce is only the third Canadian to receive the award, following John Gray in 1994 and Jim Barnes in 1991.
“I’ve been involved with a lot of energy industry associations. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like the member culture at IDEA. Where colleagues are genuinely collegial and come together for three days [at IDEA’s conferences] and share their experiences and expertise – and build lasting relationships.” said Ander.
What Comes Next
IDEA2026 in Ottawa is Bruce’s last IDEA conference in his formal role at Markham. His successor has been in place since November, but he’s not calling it retirement.
Earlier this year, Bruce launched Ander Advisory, a sole consulting practice to assist selected municipalities to assess how to pursue district energy. His goal is not to sell the concept to everyone. Some cities shouldn’t pursue it. Knowing the difference is the whole point.
His advice to anyone coming up in the industry: use what IDEA offers and keep talking to industry colleagues. The opportunity, technologies, benefits and barriers haven’t changed as much as the terminology. One example, sector coupling is a new term for what district energy system operators have understood for decades.
Ander said, "If you stop reading, stop talking, stop networking, things change under your feet before you know it."
That's not borrowed wisdom. It's the throughline of everything Bruce has built over four decades. IDEA is proud to honor him and his career with this year’s Norman R. Taylor Award.
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