North America Is Deploying Over $1.7 Trillion in Infrastructure. A Critical System-Level Gap Is Emerging.
Calgary, Alberta — April 2026 —
Across the United States, infrastructure investment is accelerating at a historic pace. More than $1.2 trillion in funding has been authorized through federal programs, with hundreds of billions already committed across tens of thousands of projects intended to modernize critical systems, support economic growth, and improve long-term reliability.
At the same time, the infrastructure supporting these investments is aging. The average U.S. commercial building is now over 50 years old, and public housing systems face tens of billions in deferred maintenance. Much of this exposure sits within the mechanical and energy systems that operate continuously inside these buildings, including heating, cooling, ventilation, electrical distribution, and power infrastructure.
Canada is experiencing similar pressure. Over $500 billion is expected to be deployed across energy systems, grid infrastructure, and data centres over the coming decade. As both countries continue investing at this scale, the ability to understand how infrastructure performs over time is becoming increasingly important for governments, operators, and institutional capital.
The challenge is not the volume of infrastructure being deployed or maintained, but the absence of consistent visibility into the systems that support it. Mechanical and energy systems are installed, serviced, replaced, and upgraded across decades, yet they do not maintain a continuous lifecycle record. As contractors change, ownership transitions, and operational platforms evolve, the history that should inform future decisions becomes fragmented.
This fragmentation has practical consequences. Capital planning is often based on age rather than actual system condition. Failures surface without early visibility. Emergency repairs become more common, and long-term capital plans shift to accommodate unplanned events instead of following structured timelines.
Harmelo, a Calgary-based infrastructure technology company founded in 2025, is addressing this gap by establishing persistent identity at the system level. Through HMIN™ (Harmelo Mechanical Identification Number™) and HEIN™ (Harmelo Energy Identification Number™), individual systems are assigned a persistent identity that remains attached across installation, service activity, ownership transitions, and modernization cycles. Installation records, service history, and lifecycle events remain connected to each system over time, even as contractors and platforms change.
By maintaining continuity at the system level, organizations are able to better understand how infrastructure is performing, identify aging assets earlier, and plan capital deployment with greater accuracy. Over time, this allows infrastructure to be managed more predictably, with fewer unexpected failures and more deliberate investment decisions across portfolios.
“We are investing at an unprecedented scale across North America, but the systems inside buildings still do not carry continuity over time. Without that visibility, capital planning remains reactive. Harmelo is building the system-level foundation required to manage infrastructure more predictably across decades,” said Brad Pettes, Founder and CEO of Harmelo.
Harmelo is currently being deployed across early builder and operator environments, establishing system-level identity at the point where infrastructure is installed and managed. As adoption expands, lifecycle continuity begins forming across assets, creating the foundation for more consistent capital planning over time.
As infrastructure investment continues to accelerate and existing systems continue to age, lifecycle visibility at the system level is becoming increasingly important for managing long-term performance, risk, and capital planning.
Media Contact
Brad Pettes
Founder & CEO, Harmelo
