PEOPLE NEWS

Tubbs named SFPE president

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers, the professional society for fire protection and fire safety engineering, has named Beth Tubbs, PE, FSFPE, as its 2022 president.

Tubbs serves as a key engineering resource and contributor to the International Existing Building Code, the International Fire Code, the International Building Code and the ICC Performance Code as a senior staff engineer with the Codes and Standards Development Department at the International Code Council, headquartered in Washington D.C.

Tubbs has been an SFPE member since 1995, elected a Fellow of SFPE in 2010 and has served on and/or chaired numerous SFPE committees and boards. She holds degrees in fire protection and civil engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. As SFPE president, Tubbs is currently serving as the program committee chair of the SFPE International Conference on Performance-Based Codes and Fire Safety Design Methods scheduled for March 2022, and the SFPE Annual Conference and Expo scheduled for October 2022 in Detroit, among other SFPE committees.

Jimmy Jönsson, director with JVVA in Madrid, Spain, was named president-elect. Jonsson has worked on a wide range of fire- and life-safety projects internationally over the last 20 years, with extensive experience in developing performance-based fire engineering design and analysis. He has been an SFPE member since 2002, past president of SFPE Europe and current president of the SFPE Spanish Chapter. Christopher Butts, PE, PMSFPE, AET, SET, CFPS, ARM; Elizabeth Pennacchio, PE, PMSFPE; Michael Wojcik, PE, PMSFPE; and John Denhardt, PE, FSFPE, have joined the SFPE Board of Directors, effective January 2022.

“SFPE has benefited from exceptional leadership in recent years, and we are so fortunate to have leaders like Beth, Jimmy, and our entire board of directors to guide us in 2022 and beyond,” stated Nicole Boston, CAE, CEO of Society of Fire Protection Engineers.  “With plans this year to reach more fire protection engineers through our industry-leading education programs, to publish our first standard since being accredited by ANSI, and to increase the recognition and competencies of fire protection engineers, our leadership has the depth and diverse experience to advance the Society and the profession of fire protection engineering.”

Amanda Kimball, PE, FSFPE; Jack Poole, PE, FSFPE; John Campbell, PE, PEng, CFPS, FIFireE, PMSFPE; Shaun Kelly, PEng, CEng, MIEI, PMSFPE; Bob Libby, PE, FSFPE; Albert Simeoni, PhD, PMSFPE; and Shamim Rashid-Sumar, PE, FSFPE, continue their service on the society’s board of directors. SFPE will be establishing its 2022 nominating committee and soliciting nominations for the society’s future leadership roles in the coming months.

Additional information about the Society of Fire Protection Engineers and its programs is available at sfpe.org.

P2S announces two promotions

P2S announced the promotion of Larry Swartz, principal, to vice president overseeing three engineering groups at P2S, and Brad Lentz to principal and group manager of its Seattle office. The Seattle office includes over 40 staff members and provides mechanical, electrical, plumbing, commissioning services. In addition to his new role, Lentz also serves as the firm's federal market leader.

P2S Inc. offers full-service mechanical, electrical, plumbing, energy and technology engineering, commissioning and construction management services. From higher education and healthcare to industrial, commercial and waterfront design, its team of over 270 staff develop solutions for challenging projects. P2S currently has offices in Seattle, Long Beach, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose, California.

 COMPANY NEWS

ICC, National Renewable Laboratory join forces to support clean energy technologies

The International Code Council and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have combined efforts to assess the code compliance of the permitting specifications for clean energy technologies and battery storage systems for integration into the Solar Automated Permit Processing Platform (SolarAPP+). This collaboration will continue to improve the use of SolarAPP+ with local governments that use the model codes developed by ICC, it noted.

As part of this work, ICC will provide key technical resources ensuring permitting requirements comply with the International Codes (I-Codes). Leveraging its technical expertise, ICC will assess the specification within the SolarAPP+ to ensure compliance with the 2018 and 2021 International Building Code and International Residential Code for all new features and enhancements added to the application starting with energy storage, ICC stated.

ICC will further assist in increasing SolarAPP+ awareness by jurisdictions through direct engagement with local governments that are members or customers of ICC

“We are delighted to be working with NREL on this initiative,” said Joan O’Neil, ICC chief knowledge officer. “Working together with NREL to increase the adoption of code-compliant solar energy solutions speaks directly to the Code Council’s mission to ensure safe and sustainable communities worldwide.”

This announcement represents the finalization of a long-standing collaboration between ICC, NREL and the SolarAPP+ coalition.

The collaborative assessment of the Solar APP+ permitting requirements’ alignment with the I-Codes is ongoing. “We are thrilled to bring the Code Council more formally into the SolarAPP+ development process,” said Kristen Ardani, solar analysis program manager at NREL. “The Code Council will be critical in our efforts to expand the application to new features all the while increasing adoption among local governments.”

Learn more about SolarAPP+ here.

Oatey names new Nebraska, Iowa rep

Oatey Co. announced that Central Sales Inc. (CSI) is now Oatey’s manufacturers representative in Nebraska and Iowa. The change comes as a result of CSI’s recent acquisition of In Depth Marketing, effective Jan. 3. All In Depth Marketing employees have joined the CSI team.

Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, CSI was established in 2006 and has additional offices in Omaha and St. Louis. “We are greatly looking forward to representing Oatey Co. throughout our territory,” said George Scheppmann, President of CSI. “Oatey has an extraordinary reputation for quality and excellence, and we are committed to working hard every day on behalf of Oatey and its customers.”

“CSI is a leading manufacturers representative agency with a track record of driving growth and results for the manufacturers it serves,” said Patrick Aquino, vice president, wholesale plumbing sales at Oatey. “We are pleased to welcome them to the Oatey team and look forward to a successful partnership.”

Uponor hires 100th employee in Hutchinson, donates to TigerPath

In late November 2021, Uponor North America reached a staffing milestone at its Hutchinson, Minnesota production facility. Uponor hired its 100th employee since 2018, when the company opened operations in McLeod County.

Uponor has been rapidly expanding its footprint in Hutchinson despite some challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, it noted. Uponor aims to hire even more employees as it expands its operations throughout 2022 and beyond.

As an ongoing show of commitment to the Hutchinson community and in recognition of this employment achievement, Uponor will provide a $20,000 donation to Hutchinson TigerPath Academies, an educational program at Hutchinson High School that merges traditional instruction with hands-on learning, rooted in real-world workforce opportunities.

This donation will help fund key initiatives aimed at helping students in Hutchinson attain meaningful experience needed to embark on their careers, all while helping to identify pathways for success in school or the workforce, Uponor explained.

“Supporting the future of programs like the Hutchinson TigerPath Academies ensures local students are prepared for whatever their career paths may bring. This donation is an investment in students who work hard, love their community, and are determined to make this region stronger and more sustainable for years to come,” said Jen Hauschildt, vice president of Human Resources, Uponor North America.

“TigerPath enables students to understand how their education sets them up for success after high school. TigerPath also provides students with authentic career exploration opportunities that are a ‘community conversation’ rather than something that exclusively happens within the four walls of our schools,” said Andrea Moore, TigerPath coordinator.

“The support, involvement and generosity of companies like Uponor help develop the right skills – and soft skills – of our students, while showcasing employment opportunities available to them at companies like Uponor in our community and beyond.”

Uponor continues to expand its community outreach in Hutchinson, including sponsoring the Hutchinson Hockey Association this winter and supporting the Hutchinson Health Foundation. Uponor also serves as an active member of the Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce.

To learn more about TigerPath, please visit HutchTigerPath.com.

Best 6.0: The Building Efficiency  System Tool now available for download

The Hydronic Industry Alliance-Commercial (HIA-C), a committee of the Radiant Professionals Alliance, has released version 6.0 of its Building Efficiency System Tool (BEST), an interactive commercial building HVAC system efficiency comparison application.

The revised software, available online at no charge, adds the ability to compare projected costs and energy usage for all HVAC systems and hot water consumption in any building based on what is known before money is spent on selection of the HVAC and water heating systems, and almost all inputs may be adjusted once the design process begins.

BEST 6.0 is available for download at http://forms.iapmo.org/hiac/software_register.aspx.

BEST 6.0 also includes the following advancements:

• Ability to model multiple heating and cooling sources. This enables modeling of all-electric systems using cascaded heat pumps and backup sources;
• Cascaded systems can include:
  • Air-to-water (ATW) heat pumps with water-to-water (WTW) boosters and boiler backup sources;
  • Water-to-air (WTA) heat pumps with ATW heat pumps and boiler backup sources;
  • WTW and WTA heat pumps with hybrid geothermal sources;
  • Air-to-air (ATA) heat pumps with furnace, boiler or resistance backup sources; and
  • Multiple types of heating or cooling sources are configurable for load splitting.
• Air source heat pumps with the ability to model user-definable ambient temperatures for cut in of backup sources or cutoff of the heat pump.

“BEST is an early modeling tool to sort out options for HVAC systems when very little information is known about the building,” said Greg Cunniff, P.E., director of applied solutions for Williams Comfort Products. “With the trend to all-electric solutions — including cascading heat pump systems — BEST is able to quickly and easily compare these innovative ideas. Legacy modeling software currently has a difficult time comparing these new ideas.”

Upon its introduction in 2016, BEST solved a long-standing industry issue of being able to accurately compare different styles of HVAC systems, which are all tested to different standards, with various efficiency ratings (EER, IEER, SEER, COP, HSPF), as they are applied in an actual building., RPA explained.

To learn more about the Hydronic Industry Alliance-Commercial and the Radiant Professionals Alliance, or to join this important efficiency advocacy effort, visit www.HIA-C.org and www.radiantprofessionalsalliance.org.