PM Engineer did a quick spot check with a few valve manufacturers to get their take on the commercial/industrial landscape heading into the new year and beyond.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, most of our nearly 100,000 public schools across the country have opened full-time again to ensure a sense of normalcy for both children and their parents.

After taking a year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 AHR Expo will return in-person Jan. 31 — Feb. 2 in Las Vegas. ASHRAE’s Winter Conference — a joint in-person and virtual event — will be held during the same time, from Jan. 29 — Feb. 2, at Caesar’s Palace.

In engineering, “shock” is defined as a phenomenon that happens when matter is subject to extreme rates of force with respect to time. 

Heat pumps move heat from low-temperature sources to higher temperature loads. There are many types of heat pumps, but they all perform this basic thermodynamic mission.

I recently attended a Chicago ASPE Chapter meeting that had a presentation on heat pump water heaters. The presentation was excellent. The information and the way it was presented was extremely beneficial to the plumbing and mechanical engineering community.

Reaching 100 years is quite a milestone for any business, let alone for a family plumbing business. Especially when you consider the average lifespan for a family-owned business is 24 years, according to Cornell University’s SC Johnson School of Business.

The stakes are always high for commercial businesses’ decisions and especially those related to equipment investments. Every penny adds up and, in some industries like restaurants, margins are notoriously unforgiving. 

Even though PEX has a long history in construction applications, its early North American beginnings in residential radiant floor heating systems more than 35 years ago dubbed it a “residential” product for the first decade or so.