While it may feel like the other side of the world, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will have lasting effects — including sparking the European Union’s hasty transition to energy independence. Last month, the EU announced a $300 billion roadmap to ditch Russian energy — mainly oil and gas. The EU said it would slash consumption of Russian gas by 66% by the end of the year, and break its dependence completely by 2027 by saving energy, finding alternate sources and speeding up the transition to renewables, according to ABC News.

As global energy planning moves away from fossil fuels and toward electricity, an increasing number of hydronic heating systems are being supplied by heat pumps. Some use water-to-water heat pumps supplied by geothermal earth loops. Others use air-to-water heat pumps.

The initial COVID-19 outbreak fast-tracked the specification of touch-free restroom products in commercial facilities. The typical manual faucet and toilet handles harbor anywhere between 107 to 17,976 germs per 10 square centimeters. With the restroom full of these “high-touch” surfaces that can be a breeding ground for viruses and bacteria, going touch-free quickly became a pivotal element for the safety of building occupants.

High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) hydromechanical grease interceptors have become much more popular in the commercial plumbing engineering community. Why has this segment grown so quickly in the last 10 years?

According to a recent study from Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, "School Ventilation: A Vital Tool to Reduce COVID-19 Spread," ventilation improvements in K-12 schools are a cost-effective public health measure.

There’s no doubt the plumbing industry has had a hyper-focus on Legionella and prevention over the past few years. Yet a simple search on Google reveals outbreaks in an Illinois prison, a Hawaiian hotel and in Riverside County, California — all within the past two months.

Heated floor slabs, without floor coverings, have one of the lowest supply water temperature requirements of any radiant panel system. This makes them well-suited for use with renewable energy heat sources such as air-to-water heat pumps, water-to-water geothermal heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar thermal collectors.

Think you know pump systems? Think again. From misidentifying the major culprits of ownership costs to taking the wrong approach in implementing variable speed drives, misconceptions around pumps create missed opportunities for greater efficiency and cost savings.