The U.S. is seeing about 10,000 baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) retire per day. That means every day we lose knowledge from our industry due to retirements. The fact that so much of the construction industry is experience- or knowledge-based work makes this fact especially sobering, but the challenges don’t end there.
Recently, I had the opportunity to go on a fishing trip. It was a “deep-sea” excursion from the northern tip of Plum Island in New England. The recommended method of trickery was to put some pieces of squid on a hook, weight the line with a 16-ounce hunk of lead and let it sink to the bottom of the ocean.
Unintended consequences, that close cousin of mislaid plans, can claim some responsibility for a current conundrum: low-flow fixtures paired with existing oversized piping helped create the growing crisis of legionella bacteria.
Charlotte Pipe & Foundry recently discovered a Shanghai, China-based company called Yitai Plastics had registered the Charlotte Pipe name, brand and logo in the country in 2010.
Most plumbing engineers involved in healthcare design who I’ve talked to have said their foremost design concern is waterborne bacterial control in general, and legionella in particular.
Thermal storage is an integral part of most hydronic systems that have renewable energy heat sources. Systems with solar thermal collectors or biomass boilers are prime examples.
Businesses that last share common traits. For example, they have written ownership agreements with key terms; they are structured to prevent conflicts and disputes between co-owners; and they have planned for timely succession to manage next-generation expectations and prevent frustration.
pme traveled to Lebanon, Tennessee to chat with Lochinvar executives, including Director of Marketing Michael Troka, Program Manager-Product Development Robert Wiseman, Product Program Manager Mike Juhnke and Product Coordinator Jonathan Baggett.
Construction, renovation and maintenance of building water systems in complex facilities is inevitable, and each event may pose an infection risk from waterborne pathogens, particularly in healthcare or long-term care settings.