David Brakenwagen took over the helm as CEO of Leonard Valve Co. during one of the most tumultuous times in modern world history: the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, he and his organization were confronted with adapting and adjusting to the new world of material availability and supply chain unknowns, and the related logistical challenges to continue delivering the thermostatic temperature controls for which Leonard Valve is known.

Brakenwagen helped the organization pivot by remodeling internal processes and planning needs to contend with the unknowns of that time, investing in people, tools and processes to help Leonard Valve work more efficiently and effectively while ensuring quality and service were maintained without disruption to the company. 

With a more than 100-year history, Brakenwagen considers it a privilege to have joined the manufacturer at that pivotal time to continue its legacy of delivering well-known, quality and reliable solutions to manage water temperatures in various commercial applications. 

Fast-forward to today, the Leonard Valve team has an array of innovative technologies across its portfolio with compliance and safety, data connectivity/communications and product simplicity (user experience) for its contractors, installers and facility personnel in mind.

Read on to learn more about Leonard Valve’s current and future initiatives as water management continues to evolve in this exclusive interview with Plumbing Engineer. 

Plumbing Engineer: Leonard Valve has been around for more than 100 years and created the first thermostatic mixing valve. What makes them so unique? 

David Brakenwagen: Leonard still operates under the same values on which our founder built the company. This foundation has been maintained for many generations. We have differentiated Leonard as the premier water temperature controls company in several ways. 

Firstly, making water temperature controls is our core competency at Leonard. We are hyper-focused on delivering the most technically sound products with the highest level of quality and reliability. Secondly, our people make Leonard unique. We employ an army of skilled craftsmen who manage and assemble extraordinarily complex industrial products in our Rhode Island locations. The pride and workmanship exhibited by our factory employees cannot be matched. 

Finally, our call to service is done with speed and rapid response to customer needs. For example, our engineering team is always available for field service-type needs. If someone has a technical question relating to our products or a contractor at the jobsite needs support during an installation, they actually speak with a member of our engineering team. Few companies today allow for direct communications between our engineering services team. 

PE: What specific areas or initiatives is Leonard Valve prioritizing for future growth? 

DB: Leonard continues to look at evolving technologies for “connected” products that allow for cohesive facility management and increased precision. The Leonard product portfolio will continue to expand to various applications, as our team is always thinking of ways to revolutionize the industry. Our Neutron product is a good example of this. It is the industry’s first digital product for use in high-flow emergency water applications.

PE: Tell us about your digital line of offerings; specifically, recently launched items. 

DB: Leonard has a broad offering for distributed water systems across all sizes and flow requirements. Our main products for these are the Proton and Nucleus families, used across various commercial building applications. The Nucleus is tailored toward a higher-end application where enhanced monitoring and connectivity are required. 

All of our digital products contain functions and features for ease of use and to be connected to a higher building network system, such as a self-cleaning function, a self-balancing function and diverse connections to communications protocols. Depending on the application, various derivatives and options are available. 

Leonard also offers the Neutron as mentioned previously for industrial (emergency) applications. We’ve introduced a digital hose station solution in 2024 for industrial safety applications, such as food processing plants, breweries, etc. 

PE: When was the digital host station released? 

DB: The digital hose station was released in spring 2024. The industrial safety market was asking for a higher-end, digitally controlled water temperature mixing valve solution that also allowed for a single controller to feed multiple outlets simultaneously. This product is being widely specified and adopted for a range of applications. This is a great example of Leonard using its existing digital controller platform to solve other industrial needs.

PE: Legionella mitigation is crucial, especially in environments where it can thrive. How does Leonard Valve’s product line help? 

DB: This is a particularly important topic. Training and education are at the forefront of Leonard Valve’s values. To exhibit this commitment, we invested in many personnel at Leonard to be certified in ASSE 12080 Legionella and Water Safety Management so they can be consultative partners for engineers and building designers. 

While understanding the components of Legionella and other waterborne bacteria, our team works on designing proper water temperature controls and water management systems to mitigate Legionella. Our products allow for precise control of water temperature, which is key to maintaining safe environments to minimize bacteria growth. 

PE: Tell me a little about your outreach to those who specify plumbing systems. What sort of training do you provide engineers? Where does this take place? 

DB: We are committed to educating and training plumbing engineers on the latest technologies, functions and features of water temperature controls. We offer external, virtual and in-house training modules. We also offer video-based training for those with specific training needs. Leonard believes it is our responsibility to train and educate the engineering community to ensure that their designs provide the safest and optimal solutions within the industry while allowing for simple and efficient installation and user interface.

PE: How has Leonard Valve set itself apart in this industry? 

DB: Leonard maintains a century-long commitment to the plumbing industry. With this legacy, we continue to focus on water temperature controls that provide the safest and environmentally friendliest solution for all applications. We possess the broadest product line dedicated solely to mixing valves in the industry, encompassing solutions across the many required codes, standards and applications. 

We couple this with progressive technology development and unparallelled engineering support and product reliability. Leonard has a unique value proposition that combines many elements into being a worldwide innovator in water temperature controls.

PE: Is there anything you’d like to add? 

DB: For more than a century, the Leonard brand has resembled our continued commitment to provide premium water temperature control solutions to our industries. The foundation built by our founder, F. C. Leonard, remains in place and will continue. Most of all, we operate with integrity and purpose to deliver the highest level of service and product solutions to all the industries we serve.