Industry News
Welcome to the first edition of the Plumbing Engineer E-newsletter. As a subscriber to the print edition of Plumbing Engineer, you are automatically entitled to receive this monthly electronic newsletter, which we promise will contain the world of plumbing, hydronic, PVF and fire protection industry news and information that is pertinent to your business. We would like to take this opportunity to give a special thanks to this month's first sponsor -- Lawler Manufacturing, Inc. Established in 1896, Lawler manufactures and distributes a wide range of thermostatic mixing valves which are used to blend hot and cold water producing tempered water for individual showers and group showers used in schools, hotels and nursing homes. To find out more about special e-newsletter advertising opportunities, please contact your Plumbing Engineer sales rep by visiting www.plumbingengineer.com.
Look for E-newsletters from Plumbing Engineer’s sister publications Phc News and The Wholesaler soon! If you haven't visited any of our newly redesigned web sites, please visit them today by clicking on the links above. All of our web sites now feature postings of current articles, indexed archives of past articles, industry news, new products, industry links and daily news blogs.
Each of our web sites now feature RSS feeds. Nearly every morning, our editors from Phc News, Plumbing Engineer and The Wholesaler upload current news to each respective blog. The news is then instantly downloaded into an RSS Reader of your choice, keeping you informed of the latest developments as they happen!
A.O. Smith Earns Green Building Product of the Year Award
The A.O. Smith Vertex received the AHR Expo Innovation Award Green Building Product of the Year at the 2007 AHR Expo on Jan. 30 in Dallas, TX.
Winning products were chosen for their ability to help HVAC&R professionals best provide safer, healthier, more efficient and/or more comfortable indoor environments. The annual competition is sponsored by ASHRAE; Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute; and International Exposition Co. The awards recognize and encourage innovation and creativity in the HVAC&R industry.
Vertex is a 76,000 BTU power-vent residential gas water heater that features 90% thermal efficiency. It combines higher input with more-efficient combustion to produce more hot water, with lower operating costs. For more information, visit www.hotwater.com.
HARDI to Launch Hydronics & Radiant Heat Council
It is estimated that nearly a third of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International's (HARDI) 450 total distributor members sells hydronic/radiant heat products. In reaction to the growing importance these products have among HARDI distributors, the board of directors voted unanimously to create a new Hydronics & Radiant Heat Council.
HARDI's councils, as versus its operationally-focused committees, are centered on specific product groups and bring together the manufacturers of such products and current or interested distributors to discuss product- and system-focused issues, challenges and trends. This new council will be especially important for members in the Northeast, Great Lakes, and Mountain regions, where the residential markets, in particular, rely heavily on such products. Its first formal meeting will be at the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic regional meeting in Galloway, NJ, May 6-9.
Participation in HARDI councils is open to any distributor, manufacturer or service vendor member company. The councils generally hold two in-person meetings per year, and both the councils and committees hold frequent teleconferences throughout the year as new information or new topics arise.
For more information, contact Talbot Gee at tgee@hardinet.org.
Siemens Helps Health Center Win Ohio’s 2006 Governor’s Award
For the last 13 years, the state of Ohio's Office of Energy Efficiency has honored individuals, businesses and organizations that implement innovative approaches to promote efficiency and save energy. Most recently, Humility of Mary Health Partners' St. Elizabeth Health Center and Siemens Building Technologies Inc. were recognized, receiving the 2006 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Energy. This was the result of a joint effort that dramatically cut energy use at the hospital and helped save approximately $5 million in avoided utility and operational costs from 2002 to 2005.
For more information, visit www.usa.siemens.com/buildingtechnologies.
Standing Committee on Building & Plumbing Services Announces Recommendation on Delivery of Hot Water
At its November 2006 meeting in Montreal, the Standing Committee on Building and Plumbing Services decided to recommend to the executive committee of the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes (CCBFC) that hot water delivery of more than 49 C to bathtubs and shower fixtures be prohibited. The executive committee made its own recommendation to the CCBFC for final decision at the commission's meeting in February 2007.
Current provisions regulate the maximum temperature at the outlet of showers and shower/bathtub combinations and so, if adopted as is by the CCBFC, the new provision would impact stand-alone bathtubs. In keeping with the spirit of performance requirements, the method of complying with this new provision is not explicitly prescribed in the new requirement: It is up to the designer to determine which of the various methods of design and installation will be used to comply with this temperature limit.
Other proposed changes addressing water temperature, namely the maximum temperature of water supplied to lavatories, minimum water storage temperature for water heaters and maintenance of temperature in re-circulating systems, have been withdrawn from the Standing Committee's recommendations, based on comments received from the public review of the proposed changes.
The current code already requires that mixing valves supplying showerheads be pressure-balanced, thermostatic or a combination of both, to limit thermal shock; therefore, this new provision in the National Plumbing Code will be an extension of current practice.
Further information can be obtained from Adaire Chown at the Canadian Codes Centre at 613/993-0352 or from Raman Chauhan at 613/993-9633.
New Products
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911®E ETS Product Info at www.lawlervalve.com Lawler’s newest product, the 911®E Emergency Tempering System (aka “Big Boy”), drew several hundred engineers from throughout North America to the Web for the company’s first-ever online product introduction. Today, engineers will find submittal forms, brochures, an online SpecWizard™, manuals, and product presentations for this and all of Lawler’s products at www.lawlervalve.com. Lawler’s “Big Boy” is an economical, stand-alone solution to help meet ANSI Standard Z358.1-2004. It fills a critical need in the industry to economically deliver tepid water for high/low flow emergency applications. The new system features Lawler’s patented 911® mixing valve technology -- the #1 selling valve technology in the emergency category. |
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Combination Water & Space Heating System Bradford White Corp. offers its Combi2 combination water and space-heating system for light commercial and residential use. Direct-fired, quick-recovery water heaters provide both home space heating and potable hot water from a single energy-saving source and are available in capacities of 50 and 75 gallons. In addition, gas-powered systems require a very small footprint and are available in power-vented and atmospheric-vented models. |
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Multispeed Wet Rotor Circulator Line Grundfos Pumps offer its line of VersaFlo multispeed wet rotor circulators. With a shorter flange-to-flange pump length, with matching flanges, pumps offer an easy drop-in replacement without the need for pipe modifications. VersaFlo circulators are designed so that water being pumped surrounds the rotor, cooling and lubricating the shaft and bearings. Wet rotor design eliminates the need for a fan to cool the motor. Wet rotor circulators are virtually maintenance-free. The seal-free pumps do not require lubricants or coupler replacements. |
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Single-Loop Fire Panel Gamewell introduces a new line of analog addressable fire alarm control panels (FACP) for smaller applications. Ideal for commercial, industrial and institutional applications, the 7100 Series FACPs can support up to 198 or 396 devices. With complete networking capabilities, each panel can be connected using a single pair of wires. The front panel of each unit includes an interface that is easy to utilize. The front interface provides technicians another convenient device for system configuration. |
Movers & Shakers
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Moen Inc. recently promoted Mark Loeper to vice president and general manager of Creative Specialties International, a leading manufacturer of decorative bath accessories and innovative bath safety products. Loeper previously served as vice president sales, retail at Moen where he was responsible for growing core accounts and expanding the firm’s distribution into new and profitable relationships with key retailers. Loeper earned a B.S. in Analytical Methods from Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA. |
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) board of directors has appointed four new members to the association’s Standards Council. They are: James W. Carpenter, Plano, TX; Ronald R. Farr, Otsego, MI; Roland J. Huggins, Dallas, TX; and Fred M. Leber of Toronto, Canada. All appointments were effective Jan. 1, 2007. |
Chicago Faucets announced that Jim Nahin has been promoted to national sales manager for OEM and residential products. Nahin joined Chicago Faucets in May 2004 as regional sales manager - residential, with his most recent responsibility being the company's West region. Art Petracco has joined the company as director of market development. Petracco has more than 17 years’ market development and sales experience in the plumbing and construction businesses and will be responsible for identifying and developing new markets for Chicago Faucet's concealed cistern product line within the U.S. He was most recently director of project commercial sales with Grohe America, has served as national project sales manager for Dornbracht USA Inc. and was the U.S. market development manager for TOTO USA. |
The Gastite Division of the Titeflex Corp. appointed Craig A. Barry as its new director of marketing. Barry will oversee all facets of marketing communications at Gastite, including advertising, new-product launches, sales promotion, product packaging and public relations. He has more than 19 years’ extensive marketing and sales experience in consumer package goods and manufacturing. Prior to joining Gastite, Barry served as the director of marketing at the LENOX division of the Newell/Rubbermaid Corp. He worked for 11 years in various marketing and sales positions in LENOX's commercial division, where his primary responsibility was the marketing commercialization of power and hand tools into the plumbing, electrical, hardware and industrial channels. |
Jeffrey Trimpe has joined Noveon as a piping systems consultant for the company's east Midwest territory. From his office in Taylor Mill, KY, he is responsible for creating awareness and developing primary demand for FlowGuard Gold CPVC water distribution systems for residential and commercial applications in Eastern Kentucky, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, Western West Virginia and Western New York. Trimpe comes to FlowGuard Gold CPVC Pipe & Fittings with nearly 10 years of related experience. For the last 5 years, he was associated with BWA South Inc., a manufacturer's representative agency, where he acted on behalf of numerous lines, Prior to BWA, Trimpe was with Ferguson Enterprises, where he handled outside sales and branch manager responsibilities for Ferguson satellite operations. |