Sustainable schools: Achieving efficient and environmentallyfriendly HVAC, plumbing and mechanical systems with grooved piping systems BY TIM MEADOWS
Sustainable school plants require more than just ideal site orientation and energy-saving construction techniques. What actually goes into a building as infrastructure is equally important. Well-planned HVAC, plumbing and other mechanical engineering systems are essential to making a building sustainable during installation and throughout its life cycle. GROOVED MECHANICAL PIPING SYSTEMS ARE ROOTED IN SUSTAINABILITY The sustainability of a system starts with the products themselves. Grooved piping is a method of joining pipe that was invented by Victaulic more than 80 years ago as an alternative to methods such as welding, flanging or threading of pipes. The technology was used during World War I to rapidly deploy essential resources like fuel and water to the Allies. Over the years, grooved piping systems have become widely used on HVAC, plumbing and fire protection applications, including potable water distribution, equipment connections on pumps, water softeners, filters, and drain, waste and vent piping. Using a simple two-bolt coupling design, pipe fitters can make rugged, secure joints quickly and easily using only basic hand tools. With a union at every joint, contractors have maximum field flexibility for on-site decision making. Couplings are sealed with a durable elastomeric gasket designed to withstand years of sustained high compressive and cyclical loads. Over time, versatile grooved piping systems have proven to be the most effective way of piping water systems. Since no welding is required, engineers can specify lighter wall steel pipe that can provide up to 10 per cent more cross-sectional flow than welded pipe. In addition, pipe couplings and fittings are designed to minimize frictional factors, improving throughput and reducing power requirements at the pump head, all direct sustainable benefits. And there’s more: Victaulic products are made of 90 per cent recycled steel using lean, responsible manufacturing processes. Products are painted using a dip coating application which, unlike spray painting, does not atomize the paint to form harmful emissions. Dip coating also eliminates the need for volatile solvents that are used to thin paints in the spray painting process. Additionally, manufacturers like Victaulic that have a sand reclamation program can eliminate as much as 3,640 tons of sand from landfills annually through recycling efforts.
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Ops Talk Fall 2009
SUSTAINABLE JOBSITES Compared to other piping methods, mechanical grooved piping systems also reduce waste, emissions and noise pollution on the jobsite, providing a safer and healthier work environment. Reducing the need for welding, soldering or brazing means better air quality, less particulate matter released into the atmosphere and decreased fire risk. There also is less material waste, reducing site impact. And indoor and outdoor air quality is preserved because there are no fumes to endanger workers or the environment. In 2007 alone, the use of Victaulic grooved mechanical couplings in lieu of welding on HVAC piping systems throughout North America reduced airborne weld emissions by 145 metric tons of particulate matter – the equivalent to eliminating the airborne pollution of one million cars on the road for a month. Moreover, a grooved mechanical pipe joint installed using a wrench does not require the use of electricity during installaGrooved products make for sustainable tion. This reduces the installations by reducing or eliminating draw on burdened power the emissions and waste that weldin resources. Pipes that are and similar methods produce. joined by welding or soldering require significant amounts of electricity, consuming up to 4,000 watts of energy per hour to weld an 8-inch joint. The installation of a grooved mechanical joint is cleaner than soldered joints, reducing on-site job waste. Unlike soldering and brazing methods, grooved mechanical joints do not require flux to seal the joint, which must be flushed and cleaned from the system prior to operation. Additionally, soldered systems often require as much as 35 per cent re-work for failures discovered while pressurizing and testing the completed system, which requires additional resources. Grooved mechanical pipe joints can be visually inspected for proper installation so re-work is minimal, saving energy, resources and time on the job.
