Carbon Capture, Yes;
Cap & Trade, No

Cap & trade legislation is stalled, which is a good thing since that's a clumsy and ineffectual way to fight climate change. European nations that passed similar legislation are not meeting their targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and there's no reason to believe a U.S. effort would fare any better.

Draconian restrictions would kill our economy yet do little or nothing to reduce global emissions, because U.S. manufacturers would end up moving more production to countries overseas that are less fastidious about the environment. Check out this Economist article for more gloomy news about restraining emissions globally.

So maybe it's time to pay more attention to capturing and sequestering carbon rather than continue the quest for international cooperation that will never come about. Here's a peek at one promising technological solution. -- Jim Olsztynski

In this edition:

• Siggy's New Glitch & Fix -- Radiant Heat & Mod/Con Boilers
• Online Now: Chicago MCA's Bold Green Training Initiative
• In the News: ASHRAE, B&G, Enerworks, Lochinvar & more

ASHRAE Names 1st Female President
ASHRAE installed new officers and directors at its 2010 Annual Meeting held June 26-30. The new president is Lynn Bellenger, P.E., a partner in Pathfinder Engineers & Architects, Rochester, NY. Bellenger is ASHRAE certified as a Building Energy Modeling Professional and a High Performance Building Design Professional. She is the first female president in the Society's 116 year history.

B&G Issues Balancing Bulletin
ITT has published a new bulletin that provides a comprehensive summary of its Bell & Gossett brand solutions for hydronic balancing. Included in the bulletin is a Balancing System Selection Guide, which allows users to identify the valves most suitable for their specific projects from manual valves to field adjustable, automatic temperature control valves. The new bulletin (A-509) also helps users select the most efficient balancing solutions for reducing energy and operating costs while increasing comfort. A PDF of the bulletin (A-509) is available at http://www.bellgossett.com/literature/files/7532.pdf.

Founder Returns To EnerWorks
EnerWorks announced that Mike Noble has rejoined the company as Vice President, Corporate Development. The role will be focused on the expansion of EnerWorks' business in multiple strategic market segments and geographies. Noble founded EnerWorks in 1999 as a manufacturer of solar space heating, water heating and other renewable energy appliances.

Lochinvar Unveils VIP Winners
Lochinvar Corp. announced that Josh and Nathan Lodder of Lodder Brothers Ltd. in Guelph, Ontario, have been named the grand prize winner in the 2009-2010 VIP Contractor Showcase. The Lodders were awarded the grand prize for their installation of two wall-mount KNIGHT Heating Boilers at Ontario's newly constructed Mount Forest Day Care (photo). In addition, five other VIP Contractors have been recognized as this year's monthly winners.

IDEAL Schedules Thermal Imaging Training
IDEAL Industries announced a finalized schedule for its three-day thermal imaging training courses. Registration is $1,750 USD and includes course instruction, course manual, Level I exam, and evaluation of an infrared report. IDEAL is discounting the fee to $1,150 for current owners of its HeatSeeker™ thermal imaging camera. The remainder of the 2010 schedule is as follows: August 10-12, Baltimore; September 21-23, Minneapolis; October 12-14, Phoenix; December 14-16, Atlanta. To register online, visit www.idealheatseeker.com. 

Bob Davis Joins HeatLink
HeatLink Group Inc. announced the addition of Bob Davis to their U.S. sales team as South regional sales manager. He brings with him more than 30 years of experience in sales and management, and will be responsible for all heating and plumbing sales in 10 southern states, including Texas and Oklahoma.

NAHB Selects HydroCare For Model Home
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) selected HydroCare as the solution for lime scale prevention in the New American Home, the Official Showcase home being built for the  International Builders Show in Orlando January, 2011. HydroCare technology met the criteria for a green, energy efficient and effective solution that is easily integrated into any home. HQ Hometek based in Oceanside, NY is the U.S. distributor for HydroCare, which has been sold worldwide for years in residential and commercial applications. www.hydrocareusa.com. www.hqhometek.com.

The search for a rep just got a lot easier.

The 2010 Rep Locator, brought to you by the publishers of Supply House Times, PM Engineer and Plumbing & Mechanical Magazines in partnership with AIM/R, provides a comprehensive database of manufacturers' reps in the plumbing market.

Year-Round Reference

• Published in print in the June issues of Supply House Times, PM Engineer and Plumbing & Mechanical
• Fully searchable online at www.locatearep.com year-round (launching June 2010)
• Key information all in one source, complete contact info, lines represented, states and territories served and much more.
• Online extras like company brochures and line cards, live web and email links, Google-based keyword search, and more, right at the fingertips of manufacturers, plumbing contractors, engineers and wholesalers to locate products and representatives.

Reps who wish to stand out from the crowd may purchase print ads, listing enhancements and online upgrades. Pricing and packages are available for every budget. AIM/R members receive special discounts and exclusive options.

Contact Deborah Reda at redad@bnpmedia.com or 630-694-4389.

If you have listed your rep firm in AIM/R's printed Locator in the past, your account is already set up. For new listings, changes or inquiries contact Breanne Rozek at rozekb@bnpmedia.com, or 248-244-6259.

Digital 2010 Radiant Flooring Guide Now Available

Are you at a client's home and forgot to bring a copy of the 2010 Radiant Flooring Guide? Or are you at a convention and need some quick information about using cork flooring over a radiant heating system?

Open your Internet browser, key in this address - http://tinyurl.com/rfg-digitalmag-2010 - and browse through the pages at your convenience. The Table of Contents contains links to take you directly to the article you want to read. Or you can browse through page by page as you would with the printed version.

Ads are linked to advertisers' web sites to provide more information on products or services readers are interested in.

The 2010 Radiant Flooring Guide is an indispensable tool for architects, heating contractors, mechanical contractors, floor covering retailers and installers, builders, wholesalers, radiant system specifiers and homeowners. It provides all the information for making proper choices on flooring over radiant heating systems, including an updated directory of radiant floor product manufacturers.

To purchase printed copies of the 2010 Radiant Flooring Guide for $15, contact Stephanie Weingartz at weingartzs@bnpmedia.com, phone 248-244-1275, or visit www.AECstore.com.

Quotes To Live
(Or Die) By

"Yesterday, I was a dog. Today, I'm still a dog. Tomorrow, I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh. There's just so little hope for advancement!" -- Snoopy. (Thanks to Words from Woody)

Training Is The Key To A Green Future

The Mechanical Contractors Association of Chicago and Pipe Fitters Local 597 have established a Green Construction Institute to pave the way.

©2010, J. Siegenthaler - all rights reserved

Click here to access a full-size PDF.

Radiant Floor Heat And Mod/Con Boilers

 

The Glitch

Overview: A project requires both medium- and low-temperature radiant floor panels. The installer proposes the following system design. Since the mod/con boiler already has an internal outdoor reset controller, he decides to use a standard 1-inch tempering valve to lower the water supply temperature to the lower temperature zones. He also decides that since the boiler supply and return connections are 1 inch, he can pipe the entire system with 1-inch tubing.

Exercise: Can you spot at least six design or installation details that are going to create problems?

 

The Fix

The header piping in the original design is the same size (1-inch) as the piping to individual zone circulators. This will likely create a high pressure drop when all zone circulators are operating. The pipe size of the distribution headers in the fix drawing has been increased to minimize head loss and, thus, minimize hydraulic interference between zones.

The boiler circulator needs to be hydraulically separated from the circulators in the distribution system. This has been corrected using the closely spaced tees.

The 1-inch tempering valve with Cv = 3.0 has been replaced with a properly sized three-way rotary mixing valve with much higher Cv (Cv = 10) and hence lower pressure drop. Although a motorized actuator is shown on the mixing valve, it may not be required.

A manually set (nonthermostatic/nonmotorized) three-way valve can provide proportional reset control to the lower temperature zones when the hot water supplied to the valve is reset by the boiler. The motorized actuator is recommended in situations where the lower temperature zones will have frequent setback or temperature adjustment. A check valve is installed in the hot water pipe to the three-way valve to prevent flow reversal when other zones are operating.

The remaining glitches and their corrections are as follows:

• A microbubble air separator has been added such that flow from the boiler passes through it during both space heating and DHW operating modes.  
  
  
• In the original drawing, the purging valves on the return side of the zone circuits were installed backwards.  
  
  
• In the original drawing, all zone circulators are shown with very little distance between their inlet port and the header. This distance should be a minimum of 12 pipe diameters to reduce the level of turbulence entering the circulator.  
  
  
• The DHW circulator in the original drawing lacks a check valve. Without it, there will be some reverse flow through the coil of the indirect water heater when the space-heating portion of the system is operating.  
  
  
• Finally, the point of no pressure change in the original system is incorrectly located on the discharge side of the circulators.

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Greening Steam: How to Bring 19th-Century Heating Systems into the 21st Century (and save lots of green!)  -  $30.00

Author: Dan Holohan

When it comes to saving money on heating, old steam systems are delicious low-hanging fruit. There is so much you can do to make them better, and most of what you do won't cost a fortune. - Dan Holohan

There are many steam systems in service today, and they'll be around for some time to come. It's not that easy (or inexpensive) to rip out a steam system and start anew, and that's why so many of them are still around. Dan Holohan's Greening Steam: How to Bring 19th-Century Heating Systems into the 21st Century (and save lots of green!) walks you through your old steam heating system and shows you how to get the most out of it without putting a lot of money into it. It's an entertaining and informative book that will have you looking at steam heating in a whole new light. You'll be amazed at how small changes can make a big difference when it comes to efficiency and savings. Read this book and start greening your steam heating system (and your wallet) today! Follow this link to view the table of contents or to purchase this item.  

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