PM Engineer

Astronauts Repairing Urine Recycler
Yuck factor aside, astronauts aboard the International Space Station get much of their drinking water from recycled urine, sweat and condensation. A malfunction occurred with the recycler during the current trip by a Space Shuttle crew, who at last report was hard at work repairing it. Click the headline to read more details.

IAPMO Releases Green Code Supplement
IAPMO has released its Green Plumbing and Mechanical Code Supplement, created to standardize sustainable residential and commercial plumbing and mechanical systems. The Green Supplement addresses use of alternate water sources (gray water, rainwater harvesting), proper use of high-efficiency plumbing products, conservation of hot water, energy conservation in HVAC systems and training/education in green plumbing systems.

ASHRAE Conference To Focus On Schools
Maximizing facility performance is at the heart of the ASHRAE High Performance K-12 School Facilities conference, to be held Mar. 1-2, 2010 in Atlanta.The conference will present an integrated approach to complying with codes and standards while achieving a cost-effective high performance solution to K-12 facility design, construction and operation. Advance conference registration is $450 ($350 member price) and $500 onsite ($400 member price). More information can be found at  www.ashrae.org/highperformanceschools.

Geberit Named Global Top 10 Greenie
Geberit has been named one of the top 10 in a new study that ranks the world's most sustainable companies. Corporate Knights, a Toronto media company, worked with a research firm to clarify sustainable practices by collecting data on 3,000 global public companies and evaluating them according to 11 different metrics. The 10 most sustainable companies also included General Electric, Pacific Gas and Electric, TNT NV, Hennes & Mauritz, Nokia, Siemens, Unilever, Vodafone and Smiths Group. Geberit is the only plumbing manufacturer to make the list.

Siegenthaler To Conduct All-Day Program At COSEIA
John Siegenthaler will be presenting "State of the Art Hydronic Design for the Solar Thermal Professional," an all-day seminar on Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, at the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association's Annual Conference & Expo. It will be held in Lakewood, CO. Click on the headline to register.

ASSE Receives 10 ANSI Approvals
The American National Standards Institute has recently recognized 10 ASSE Standards as American National Standards. For a complete, up-to-date chart of all progress made on ASSE Product Standards and ASSE Professional Qualification Standards, visit ASSE's website at: http://www.asse-plumbing.org.

Harrington Engineering Wins Award
Harrington Engineering, Inc. received an Excellence in Construction Award from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Connecticut for its Armed Forces Reserve Center (AFRC) project located in New Windsor, NY.  Harrington was responsible for the mechanical, electrical, HVAC and fire projection design, and installation portion of a sustainable; SPiRiT Gold rated campus/facility jointly shared by the Armed Forces Reserve and the New York Army National Guard.

IAPMO Seeks Award Nominees
The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) is calling for nominations for the George Kauffman Lifetime Achievement Award and the newly-renamed Joseph Kneidinger Green Contractor of the Year Award, both to be presented to the recipients at IAPMO's 81st Annual Education and Business Conference, Sept. 26-30, in Seattle. The Kauffman Award, named for the former 43-year IAPMO member and industry trailblazer nicknamed "Mr. Code," who passed away in 2001, is IAPMO's highest honor, presented to those who have left an indelible mark upon the association and the plumbing and mechanical industries. The Kneidinger Green Contractor Award, given for the first time last year, honors the IAPMO member contractor who best fulfills or symbolizes a commitment to environmental sustainability through his or her work in the plumbing and mechanical industries. It has been renamed this year in honor of Joseph Kneidinger, an IAPMO member and passionate Green advocate who passed away last September. Send nominations to geoff.bilau@iapmo.org or  gaby.davis@iapmo.org. Deadline is May 15.

Bradford-White Gets Green Endorsement
Bradford White has earned the endorsement of the Green Restaurant Association (GRA) for both the Ultra-Efficient eF Series® of commercial water heaters and Energy-Saving line of EverHot® tankless water Heaters. GRA endorses products that exemplify environmental leadership in their category and meet the GRA Product Endorsement Standards. Since 1990, GRA has been helping restaurants cut energy, water and waste costs.

Webstone Introduces New Website
Webstone has redesigned its website making it easier to browse their complete line of valve solutions, find the latest product news, view specification sheets, product literature and more. Visit Webstone at: www.webstonevalves.com. 

Speakman Selects 1st Non-Family President
Rob Cook (photo) has been named by Speakman Co. as its 6th president and first non-family member to lead the company in its 141-year history. Cook comes to Speakman from Vistage International (formerly TEC), a peer-to-peer business leadership organization.  Rodman Ward III will continue as Speakman Co.'s chairman.

PMI Names Strategy & Technology Head
The Plumbing Manufacturers Institute (PMI) announced that David Hagopian has joined the organization as drector of stategy and technology. He will be responsible for analyzing and reporting proposed code and standard changes, maintaining and managing effective relationships with PMI members, certification agencies and industry peers and representing PMI at various industry meetings. Prior to joining PMI, Hagopian worked for Fortune Brands as senior director of technical innovation. His previous professional experience includes work in the oil, chemical and aerospace industries.

Susan Kennedy Joins ASPE
Susan Kennedy, who recently retired after 17 years as marketing director at Sloan Valve Co., has joined the American Society of Plumbing Engineers as its director of marketing. Her first assignments will include the launch of a new research and development endeavor into a worldwide green plumbing initiative.

T&S Hires Business Development Manager
T&S Brass announced the addition of Mike Orlando as business development manager. Focusing primarily in the foodservice industry, he will work directly with industrial accounts, OEMs, fabricators, chains, and in some instances, dealers and lab/plumbing segments. Orlando has over 30 years of experience in the foodservice industry. Prior to joining T&S Brass, he was a partner in Dine-Out Consulting/FEQUIP which helps select national and international companies launch new products in North America. He also worked with CHG, USA (Component Hardware Group) as vice president of sales and marketing.

Haws Makes Executive Changes
Haws Corp. announced that President Sallie Haws, the great-granddaughter of company founder Luther Haws, has been elevated to chairman of the board of directors. replacing Michael Traynor, who is now chairman emeritus. Moving up to president is former executive vice president Thomas White, a veteran of more than 15 years with Haws.

Vincenti Joins Firespray
Joe Vincenti has joined Firespray International as vice president for the company's North American operations. He will lead U.S. and Canadian market expansion for Firespray International, a designer and manufacturer of fire resistant ductwork systems for commercial buildings under the Flamebar BW11 brand. Vincenti most recently managed a five-state territory for Firespray's Florida-based licensee.

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Got a question about plumbing, fire protection, hydronics or process piping? Just send it to me at olsztynskij@bnpmedia.com, and we'll get an answer within days.

Meantime, check out what others have been asking lately.

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Got something to get off your chest? You, too, can be a blogger sharing opinions, insights and experiences with fellow professionals.

Send us your article or just tell us what you want to say by contacting Jim Olsztynski at olsztynskij@bnpmedia.com, or Bob Miodonski at miodonskib@bnpmedia.com.

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Piping Databook - $112.95
Whether it's the thermal conductivity of insulation materials or a conversion factor for viscosity, sizes and types of metallic or nonmetallic pipe or fitting dimensions, manufacturers' names or that elusive bit of terminology, the Piping Databook will spare you hours of frustrating fact-hunting. Follow this link for a complete description.

Pocket Guide to Flanges, Fittings, and Piping Data - $60.95
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College of Product Knowledge CD - NOW $89.85
The Best-Read, most highly acclaimed product training series ever published in the plumbing industry has been made available to fill the gaping hole in the plumbing industry's knowledge training.  The College of Product Knowledge  is ideal for wholesalers, manufacturers, agents, designers, contractors, technicians, engineers, architects and other pros that need to understand a variety of plumbing systems and components. Follow this link for a complete description.

History of Plumbing CD -- Sponsored by American Standard - $35.00
PM magazine's wildly popular History of Plumbing Series is available on CD-ROM. History articles cover informative topics such as ancient plumbing, water-borne diseases, early-American innovation, the history of hydronic heating, and more! Follow this link for a complete description.

Visit AECStore.com to view all of our technical resources, CDs and DVDs.

Webstone Expansion Tank Valves
Webstone's latest innovation in the Pro-Pal line of step-saving valves designed to streamline installation and facilitate replacement of any expansion Tank. This full port, forged brass fabricated assembly eliminates multiple joints and fittings reducing labor and material costs as well as potential leak paths. Anywhere you might normally combine a tee, elbow, boiler drain, hose bibb, ball valve or union can now be replaced with a single Pro-Pal valve.

Webstone Pro-Connect Universal
Virtually every Webstone SWT valve up to 2" can be transformed into a Pro-Connect Universal™. These heavy duty valves feature machine-soldered copper nipples extending 2 inches on each side, allowing male ends to be connected or crimped with any standard push, press type or standard copper sweat fittings. With this versatility, Pro-Connect Universal valves are a single stock item for wholesalers and a UNIVERSAL connection solution for the professional. 

Rheem's Sizing Guide
CertiSpec3.2 is the latest computerized sizing guide release for Rheem-Ruud Commercial Water Heaters and is now available on the Internet at www.rheem.com. CertiSpec3.2 covers virtually the entire Rheem-Ruud commercial water heater offering, including the six new models in the SPIDERfire® line of condensing-type, gas-fired, commercial water heaters. New users can download the new software any time by accessing the Commercial Products section of the Rheem Water Heaters web site. For existing CertiSpec users, updating is as simple as clicking the "Check for Update" button under the File tab on CertiSpec3.1.

Bradford White Accessories
Bradford White Water Heaters recently introduced their new Bradford White ICON System™ Accessory Packages. The new accessory packages work in conjunction with the company's recently introduced ICON System gas control to provide homeowners with additional benefits such as comprehensive leak protection and better, more energy efficient performance including up to 36% savings on energy usage and an increase in usable hot water by 50% or more.

Digital 2010 Radiant Flooring
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The 2010 Radiant Flooring Guide is an indispensable tool for engineers and other project team members. 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.