Double-walled heat exchanger reduces household water heating costs by up to 40%
MOUNTAIN TOP, PA. — George Hayden Jr. lives with his wife and four young children in a 4,200-sq.ft., two-story craftsman traditional house near Mountain Top, Pa., in a new development. While it may look similar to neighboring houses on the outside, a few things about the plumbing and water systems inside make it unique.
PMI sees strength in numbers
Industry trade associations are built on the premise that there is strength in numbers. Individuals or companies with similar interests group together in a formal, legal setting to build consensus and to then combine and amplify their collective voices to affect change on issues important to them.
Builders, tenants find the right answer at Answer Heating & Cooling
FREELAND, MICH. — Building, holding, and maintaining apartment complexes can be complicated business. Rent’s paid late, but the bills are still due. Equipment can fail and tenants will complain, inevitably at the least convenient moment. But none of this comes as a surprise to Jim Boufford, owner of Boufford Builders, JB Enterprise and Real Estate, and JB Rentals, all located in Freeland, Michigan. He’s been in the business for 20 years.
MCAA Conference inspires with futuristic thinking for today’s businesses
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — Nothing prepares you for the coming busy season like networking with 2,000 of your friends, soaking up a week of learning, and having some fun while doing it. That’s the Mechanical Contractors Association of America’s philosophy, and it followed through on it yet again, with another impressive convention, March 17-21, in San Antonio, Texas.
Efficiency is immune to the law of gravity
HANOVER, MASS. — Despite the harsh winter in the Northeast, one Massachusetts family was the coziest they’ve ever been following a much-needed mechanical overhaul. And, what’s best, said the homeowner: they watched in satisfaction as their energy bills fell to levels they’ve never seen. Their home — a 4,500-sq.ft., farmhouse built in the1850s on Boston’s South Shore — came with its own piece of history.
After a decade, hydronic system reaches its summit
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.—You can lead a blind man to the top of Mt. Everest, but you can’t keep a house comfortable with mangled hydronics. Mike O’Donnell ought to know. Because, in fact, he has lead a blind man to the summit of Mt. Everest. And at home, his dilapidated hydronic system was about as unpleasant as a Himalayan snow squall.
Water heating technology saves apartment residents energy, space
ANAHEIM, CAlif. — Hundreds of details must come together to build any type of residential structure. For a new apartment community, increase the hundreds of details found with a single-family home by a factor of 10 — maybe more. Some of those details are non-negotiable: code requirements, local zoning rules and energy-efficiency mandates. Others fall into what can be called optional: aesthetic considerations, plan modifications, product specifications or construction schedules.
Plumbing to protect the health of the world: A report from the Gates Foundation Toilet Fair
SEATTLE — Bill Gates changed how the world works. Now his Foundation aims to change how the world uses the toilet. In August, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation hosted its first ever Reinvent the Toilet Fair, a year after announcing its Reinvent The Toilet Challenge (RTTC). More than 40 universities and non-government organizations (NGOs) exhibited their progress on the Foundation’s Seattle campus. Many competed for a chance to receive additional grants.
Setting the pace at a boiler a day
FORT GARLAND, COLO. — Sierra Grande K-12 school in Fort Garland, Colo., struggled to make it through the mild 2011-2012 winter. Of the three 1.8 million Btuh LP-fired, cast iron boilers in the mechanical room, one had been down for some time. Another caught on fire halfway through the heating season.
Bipartisan bills invest in industrial water and energy efficiency
WASHINGTON — Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, has introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to create federal tax credits of up to 30% for projects that increase water efficiency in manufacturing plants.
Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-ME, and Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, are co-sponsoring the bi-partisan proposal in the Senate.
Germophobia: ASPE turns to Montana State lab for faucet study
DES PLAINES, ILL. — The American Society of Plumbing Engineers Research Foundation has contracted with Montana State University, Center for Biofilm Engineering to find out if electronic hands-free faucets are germier than manual faucets. The issue was brought to the forefront when Johns Hopkins Hospital released a report saying that Legionella bacteria grew inside the mechanisms of hands-free faucets.
ASPE is seeking benefactors to help fund the research.
Nature center goes au naturel
INDIANOLA, IOWA — What would be a more fitting application for geothermal energy than an educational nature center in need of an HVAC retrofit? Well, that’s what members of the Warren County Conservation Board thought when the 13-year-old Annett Nature Center here was due for a makeover.
The NATE Magazine is the official publication of North American Technician Excellence, the nation’s largest non-profit certification organization for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration technicians
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