Irvine, CA – October 9, 2026 – Navien, Inc., the number one selling brand of gas tankless water heaters and condensing wall-hung boilers in the United States, today announced the grand opening of its Innovation Center & Training Academy in Irvine, California. The new facility brings together product development, engineering, testing, quality support and hands-on training in one integrated location, strengthening Navien’s connection to the North American market and its partners.
The grand opening was attended by Navien representatives, contractors, distributors, customers, industry partners and company leadership from North America and Navien’s global headquarters in Korea. The event marked an important milestone in Navien’s continued investment in North America and its evolution toward a more technology- and innovation-driven organization.
.jpeg)
The Innovation Center is designed to serve as a strategic hub for Navien’s North American product development, engineering, product testing and quality response. It will provide a local environment for evaluating product performance under North American market and field conditions while creating a stronger connection between the North American organization and Navien’s research and development capabilities in Korea.
The facility will support a range of activities, including product performance evaluation, field testing, engineering analysis of customer and field quality issues, product and component improvements, product certification and compliance, and evaluation of technologies and concepts suited to the North American market.
“The Innovation Center & Training Academy represents much more than an expansion of our facilities,” said TH Kim, CEO at Navien, Inc. “It is a long-term investment in North America and in the people who help us understand the market, deliver our products and serve customers every day. By bringing innovation, engineering, technical education and our partners together under one roof, we can create a stronger connection between what the market needs and what we develop for the future.”
By bringing these capabilities closer to the customers and professionals who use Navien products, Navien aims to more quickly incorporate customer feedback, field data, certification requirements, and market trends into product development and improvement.
.jpeg)
“North America is a diverse and demanding market, and understanding the needs of our customers requires us to be close to the field,” said Darren Sheehan, COO at Navien, Inc. “The Innovation Center gives us a dedicated environment to listen, test, learn and collaborate, while creating a stronger bridge between our North American organization and our global technology resources.”
The Innovation Center will also expand collaboration with industry partners, utilities, academic institutions and research organizations, helping Navien identify emerging needs and explore new opportunities for the North American market.
A defining feature of the new Irvine facility is the integration of the Innovation Center and Training Academy. While the Innovation Center focuses on developing and improving technologies and solutions, the Training Academy helps translate those innovations into practical knowledge and skills in the field. The new Training Academy provides a significantly expanded training space and a stronger hands-on learning environment compared with Navien’s existing Irvine training facility. Dedicated classrooms and hands-on labs allow participants to combine classroom instruction with product demonstrations, installation practice, inspection, diagnostics, and troubleshooting exercises.
“Innovation is not complete when a product leaves the engineering lab,” said Kim. “The professionals who install, service and support our products need to understand that technology and know how to apply it in the real world. The Training Academy gives us the opportunity to build those skills while creating a direct feedback loop from the field back into our innovation and product-development efforts.”
The shared location creates an ongoing cycle between training, field experience, and product development. Questions and insights raised during training can help inform engineering and quality efforts, while new technologies and product improvements can be incorporated into future training programs.
.jpeg)
The Irvine Innovation Center will also serve as an important bridge between Navien’s North American business and its global headquarters in Korea. Through closer collaboration between North American teams and Navien’s global research, engineering and product-development organizations, the company expects market insight and field experience from North America to play a greater role in future product and technology.
The grand opening marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Irvine facility and for Navien’s North American business; one focused on bringing the voice of the market closer to product development, expanding technical education and creating stronger connections between Navien, its global organization and the professionals it serves.
The addition of the Innovation Center and Training Academy continues the Navien investment into new and improved facilities and operations for the North American market. Navien recently held a grand opening event for their renovated New Jersey Training Academy, which features an improved hands-on experience for plumbing, HVAC and water treatment products along with two large training classes.
Navien will start holding training classes at the new Innovation Center and Training Academy in December 2026.
