PEX Pipe Big Factor In Hotel Renovation

Touch-Free Fixtures Tap Into Hygiene

Touch-free innovations offer a number of benefi ts to a facility, including increased cleanliness and hygiene, operational savings, and a level of sophistication to its restrooms.

Kristin Meyers, Moen Commercial

Health-conscious end-users are behind the demand for hands-free products in commercial restrooms. Today’s society is germ obsessed, with industry reports estimating that approximately 30% of people avoid using a public restroom due to their fear of germs and other bacteria that reside on the surfaces of fi xtures they would touch. However, the public is more likely to use restrooms with hands-free fi xtures instead of manual types. The result is that specifi ers and building owners are incorporating an increasing number of touch-free products in new-construction, renovation, and retrofi t projects. In today’s restroom stall, there are two primary touch-free elements that help reduce the spread of germs and bacteria: • Automatic toilet-seat-cover dispensers: Industry studies on toilet seats found that in restaurants, gas stations, and other public places, 97% of toilet seats harbor micrococacceae, which can cause skin reactions. Installing automatic toilet-seat-cover dispensers separate the user from such bacteria.

Sensor-operated faucets are an excellent choice in locker rooms for hygiene as well as eliminating the chance of water being left running.

• Sensor-operated fl ush valves: High-effi ciency fl ush valves increase water savings for commercial properties and can signifi cantly reduce contamination in a restroom. These fl ush valves also promote energy savings with the help of an infrared sensor beam that activates a fl ush cycle only when a user is in range, ensuring optimal performance, effi cient operation, and cost savings.

Visitors are also accustomed to touchfree elements in the sink area of a commercial restroom. When these products are used in combination, visitors can remove as much as 99.9% of germs, according to Richard DiPaolo, an expert in the janitorial/sanitation industry. • Automatic soap dispensers: Dispensers automatically distribute a pre-measured amount of soap for hygienic hand washing, eliminating bacterial colonies left behind on traditional products. They also feature easy-to-use bag refi lls that further reduce contamination. • Sensor-operated faucets: Hands-free electronic faucets are a smart choice to help reduce the

spread of germs in any facility. It’s no surprise that professional groups give these fi xtures good grades. A joint statement issued in April 2011 by the American Society of Healthcare Engineers, Chicago, and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Washington, praised electronic faucets because they “lessen the risk of recontamination of hands after washing.”

Sanitary control isn’t the only benefi t offered by electronic faucets. They also help conserve water and reduce the chance of fl ooding. The plumbing-management team at Vanderbilt Univ. Hospital, Nashville, TN, reported that the use of hands-free electronic faucets for the past seven years has been a great success. They install electronic faucets in public areas, so there’s no worry about visitors turning something on and walking away with it still running. In other words, these fi xtures are a win for everyone. • Automatic paper-towel dispensers and electronic hand dryers: While hands-free faucets play an important role in keeping bacteria off hands

in a commercial restroom, automatic paper dispensers are also an integral component. The Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, recommends the use of paper towels over hand blowdrying devices. Research shows that end-users are more likely to choose paper towels, leading to less cross-contamination. Damp hands are 1,000 times more likely than dry hands to contract and spread germs.

Reliable, touch-free restrooms

There’s no denying the popularity, demand, and need for touch-free products. However, if the products don’t perform properly on demand, it is frustrating for the end-user. Consider the following factors to limit operation issues, ensuring these fi xtures perform reliably from the user’s entrance to exit. • High-quality products: When specifying automatic fi xtures in a commercial restroom, be sure to select high-quality products. Specifi ers should be careful about selecting electronic products from unknown or obscure manufacturers just because prices are lower. Reputable manufacturers provide sensor-operated fi xtures that feature durable, solid brass, chrome-plated construction to withstand constant use. Vandal-resistant features are also a plus, preventing tampering or damage that can render them inoperable. Higher-quality products also include more advanced and reliable electronic components that help limit over-fl ushing and false sensing, two of the most common complaints associated with touch-free restrooms. • Select the right settings: For a touch-free restroom to receive high marks, the facilitymanagement team must be familiar with traffi c and usage patterns. Observe the fl ow of the restroom and see where and why lines are forming. In high-traffi c locations or during peak usage times and seasons, it’s important to adjust the settings on sensor-operated products accordingly. For automatic paper-towel dispensers, greater paper lengths and shorter delays between paper feeds will keep visitors moving through more quickly, whereas shorter lengths and longer delays work well in facilities where time is not as crucial.

In the stall, dual-fl ush valves adjust automatically, using advanced electronics to ensure that every fl ush uses the right amount of water. Dual-fl ush valves rely on the timing of the individual in the stall to determine the strength of the fl ush in commercial water-closet applications, automatically reducing water usage by as much as 37% without sacrifi cing performance. The sensor-operated valves allow the user to be in range for as long as 60 seconds for a reduced 1.0-gallon fl ush. After 60 seconds, a full 1.6-gallon fl ush is activated, potentially saving thousands of gallons of water each year.

Public restrooms of all kinds conserve water with touch-free technology installed.

Keeping things fl owing

Products that feature a mechanical manualoverride button ensure that systems are always operational. If a product lacks such controls, the only way to solve functionality issues is to replace faulty components. If the warranty has lapsed or the manufacturer doesn’t cover replacement parts, keeping products operational can be costly.

Since touch-free products are automated, it’s important to perform regular service and maintenance checks to ensure that batteries are not dead and dispensers are not empty, leaving products unusable until the issue is resolved. If a facility does not have the resources to keep up with battery checks and replacement on a regular basis, selecting products with optional AC power adapters will keep restrooms running smoothly.

Touch-free restroom technology will evolve and advance as available products, features, and equipment continue to improve. Ultimately, touch-free innovations offer a number of benefi ts to a facility, including increased cleanliness and hygiene, operational savings, and a level of sophistication to its restrooms. With the right products in place and appropriate maintenance, touch-free fi xtures and devices will reliably provide these benefi ts for years to come.

Kristin Meyers is marketing and product manager for Moen Commercial, North Olmsted, OH.

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PEX Pipe Big Factor In Hotel Renovation

Using PEX-a piping makes possible plumbing replacement in a historical building without tearing out walls.

Jayson Drake, Uponor North America

Historical buildings restored to their original look and feel can be awe-inspiring on the outside and exquisite within. But getting to that point while meeting all of the codes and regulations applicable to this special type of project can involve numerous challenges for building designers and installers. Nowhere are these complexities more acute than in the modern mechanical systems that must somehow fi t within the confi nes of structures designed and built long ago to accommodate something far simpler and smaller. “There are lots of hoops and hurdles the owner of a historical building must jump through during the renovation process,” said Todd Ringgold of Palmer Mechanical, a Tulsa, OKbased contractor that has made renovations of historical buildings a major part of its business in recent years. High ceilings—“at least as high as the original building, if not higher,” he says—and plaster walls are musts, of course. While the interiors hearken back to an earlier era, all of the amenities must be thoroughly modern and effi cient to attract buyers and tenants. Updates typically include larger bath and kitchen facilities equipped with the latest conveniences.

Proper performance of those amenities demands an equally modern infrastructure, none of which can be conspicuous or take up much space to avoid detracting from the authenticity of the restoration. The updated wiring, ductwork, conduit, and piping for the communications, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing systems usually must fi t into the available air space between the fl oors of these buildings, Ringgold said. “Essentially, we must squeeze a lot of piping into a very small chase.”

The Palmer Mechanical portfolio contains fi ve historical-building renovations in Tulsa over the past decade, including the Philtower Building, the former Tulsa City Hall (converted into a hotel) and—perhaps the most notable of all—the landmark, $40 million Mayo Hotel project. All were design-build projects that allowed Palmer to do its own system-design work to match the infrastructure to the radically altered confi gurations of the buildings after they had been completely gutted.

“In these buildings, the newly enlarged bathrooms and kitchens don’t line up from one fl oor to the next as neatly as they did in the older structures with their simple tub-sink-toilet layouts,” said Ringgold, who has served as Palmer’s project

manager on each of the jobs. “That’s because the new bathrooms usually include large, marble-andtile showers with whirlpool tubs, marble-topped vanities, and bigger closets.”

While carving out additional space for larger, better-appointed bathrooms, Ringgold and his crews still must leave enough room for equally well-appointed kitchens, living areas, and bedrooms. “The piping, wiring, venting, and so forth have to be completely redone,” he explained.

PEX-ability

The design-build process gave Palmer Mechanical another advantage: more decision-making authority over the types of building materials used on the projects. This enabled the company to use a different type of plumbing pipe: crosslinked polyethylene (PEX-a) instead of copper.

PEX-a’s fl exibility and ease of use are major labor-saving, stress-reducing improvements over the rigid copper and plastic systems of the past. Just as the inherent characteristics of copper led to its replacing old-fashioned galvanized steel and cast iron, the signifi cant benefi ts of fl exible PEX-a have made it an ideal solution for meeting

The Mayo Hotel has been a Tulsa, OK landmark since 1925, although it stood empty for 20 years before its restoration.

▲ The spectacular lobby at the Mayo refl ects

its history in authentic style. The PEX-a pipe used for the new plumbing system was installed with minimal damage to the existing structure.

▲ The Parlor Room’s stone fl oor conceals a

network of PEX-a piping that provides radiant heating to the room and the rest of the hotel.

the demands of historical renovation.

Manufactured with the Engel method, which results in a very high degree of molecular crosslinking, PEX-a offers exceptional durability and fl exibility. That fl exibility, combined with the availability of PEX-a in long coils, eliminates many of the fi ttings and connections required in rigid metal- and plastic-plumbing systems. Fewer fi ttings means less material, less installation labor, and fewer potential leak points, all resulting in more effi cient installs at lower costs.

Ringgold happily put these advantages to work in all of the renovation jobs he has managed for Palmer Mechanical in recent years. His own fi rst encounter with PEX-a came eight years ago at the behest of the new owner of a hotel in downtown Tulsa. Re-piping that building’s entire plumbing system with PEX-a, Ringgold estimated his labor costs were half what they would have been had he replaced copper with copper.

“Once we got on the project, we discovered we could re-pipe the building at a faster pace than the rest of the trades could renovate the rooms,” he recalled. “By the end of the project, I was a true believer.”

With their special demands and limited space, the subsequent renovation projects he managed for Palmer only strengthened his conviction. Ringgold had previously done plumbing-service work in many of these projects, so he was familiar with their peculiarities and understood how a full-fl edged gut renovation with a sharp eye on history would only lead to bigger construction hurdles.

The Mayo

The most impressive example is the Mayo, also located in downtown Tulsa. Built in 1925 by brothers Cass A. and John D. Mayo, the original 18-story tower housed 600 guest rooms—each with its own ceiling fan, a major selling point— and served as a gathering place for Tulsa high society and visiting dignitaries and celebrities. (Oilman J. Paul Getty once made the Mayo his full-time home.) In 1980, the venerable hotel achieved recognition on the National Register of Historic Places, even as it struggled to regain its fading, grand-hotel luster.

Following the last of several botched attempts at restoration, the Mayo sat idle for nearly two decades until 2001, when the Snyder family bought it for $250,000. Their vision was to restore its special character and former glory. The fi nal result is now an elegant mix of hospitality and residential spaces, with 102 hotel rooms and 70 apartments ranging from 450 to 1,200 sq. ft. and offering views of the nearby Arkansas River, the BOK Center, and downtown Tulsa.

In its own way, the Mayo’s refurbished infrastructure is as impressive as its restored interiors and exterior. Galvanized-steel mains deliver cold water to each fl oor of the hotel, with the run-outs to the living spaces made of AquaPEX PEX-a pipe furnished by Uponor North America, St. Paul, MN. Each residential space has its own water heater, although hot water for hydronic space heating is delivered by one of the boilers located in a basement mechanical room. This setup entails two piping systems on each fl oor–domestic hot water and space heating–each made of PEX-a and running from each residential unit to one of two nearby mechanical rooms on each level.

“We installed about 70,000 feet of AquaPEX for the plumbing system and another 51,000 feet of Wirsbo hePEX for the hydronic heating and cooling runs,” reported Ringgold, who led a 20- to 25-man crew during an installation process that spanned fi ve months. It is important to note that the Wirsbo hePEX (also manufactured by Uponor North America), features a special oxygen barrier to protect ferrous components in the system from corroding through contact with oxygen in the water.

A lot of pipe

All of this piping—nearly 23 miles worth—had to be stacked or racked with the electrical, fi re-sprinkler, venting, and communications lines in chases concealed inside the 9-foot-high ceilings above the hallways on each fl oor. The dimensions of these overhead chases, Ringgold estimates, were only “three or four feet wide and four or fi ve inches in depth,” hardly big enough for a grown man to crawl through, let alone one charged with making leak-free pipe connections.

“That’s where PEX-a really comes into play for us,” said Ringgold. Installing long, straight runs of PEX-a pipe of as much as 140 feet within these cramped quarters was challenge enough. The saving grace: The PEX-a pipe required no connections since the pipe comes in coils up to 1,000 feet in length. Using straight lengths of copper would have required soldering a pipe joint every 20 feet.

“Shoehorning an installer into those little spaces with a torch would’ve been just asking for trouble. Why mess with fi re in tight spaces, especially one with hard, plasterboard ceilings?” asks Ringgold, who fi gures that using copper would have boosted installation costs by as much as 30%.

PEX-a perks

The special characteristics of PEX-a pipe also deliver other time- and money-saving advantages

in a large and complex renovation project such as the Mayo.

Bend instead of break. Ringgold recalled one especially diffi cult part of the installation in which the layout called for routing plumbing lines through an attic area above the hotel ballroom. This space was “jammed with electrical gear,” so his crews needed to circle the lines around the equipment. With copper, every change in direction necessitates cutting the pipe and soldering two connections. With PEX-a, which has the smallest bend radius of any type of PEX, it’s simply a matter of bending the pipe in the desired direction. In this instance, the ease-of-use advantage had benefi ts beyond speed, given the precarious location of the attic above a set of stairs.

“Instead of trying to sweat copper connections while perched 25 to 30 feet in the air over a stairwell,” Ringgold said, “we were able to maneuver a continuous length of PEX-a pipe through the hangers in much less time and with less hazard and cost.”

Swift, sure connections. In places where pipe joints are unavoidable, making them is relatively easy when installers capitalize on the natural ability of PEX-a to expand and contract, using an ASTM F1960 cold-expansion connection. One of the simplest, strongest, and most reliable connections available, it involves four simple steps: 1. Cut the pipe with a plastic-pipe cutter. 2. Place a PEX-a expansion ring on the end of the pipe. 3. Expand the pipe and the ring with a Milwaukee ProPEX M12 or M18 expansion tool. 4. Insert the larger-diameter fi tting.

The pipe and ring will then immediately and naturally begin contracting back to their original shape, compressing tightly against the primary and secondary fi tting barbs with as much as 7,800 pounds of radial force. There’s no deburring, torches, fl ux, solder, cements, or curing or cooling time.

The resulting permanent connection holds tight in tests of as much as 1,000 pounds of pull force. In addition, since the pipe is expanded before the fi tting is inserted, it’s impossible to dry-fi t the connection, eliminating the possibility of incomplete fi ttings and the resulting blow-off leaks. As Ringgold noted, “The fl exibility of PEX-a gave us not only much more maneuverability for the install, but also far fewer chances for problems post installation.”

Superior heat retention. The Mayo project was Palmer Mechanical’s fi rst experience using PEX-a pipe for heating and cooling lines, and Ringgold was impressed by the fact that his crews did not need to insulate the pipe. Not only does PEX-a resist condensation on coldwater lines better than copper, but it also offers superior heat retention in hot-water supply runs. At the Mayo, the system-temperature levels were

In Brief: The Mayo Hotel

Architect: Built in 1925, the original hotel was designed by George Winkler in the Chicago School vernacular developed by Louis Sullivan. The base of two-story Doric columns supports 14 fl oors with false terracotta balconies, a two-story stone crown, and a dentiled cornice. Glamorous surrounding and advanced features, such as running ice water and ceiling fans in each room made the Mayo a wellknown local hangout for celebrity entertainers such as Bob Hope, Mae West, and Oklahoma native son Will Rogers. Before and After: The Mayo Hotel originally had 600 guest rooms; the redesigned, renovated building includes 102 hotel rooms and 70 luxury loft apartments. Try, Try Again: Six renovation attempts failed before the current owners purchased the property and successfully completed a refurbishment that restored its original look while delivering modern amenities to residents and guests—all while maintaining its place on the National Register of Historic Places. “We did not buy this building planning on doing any of this with it,” said owner Macy Snyder Amatucci, who is director of sales at the Mayo. “That wasn’t the plan. That was a dream, but a very farfetched dream. We never thought it would end where it is today. We’ve come a long way.”

such that no insulation was needed. “That saved a lot of installation time as well,” said Ringgold.

The voice of PEX-perience

Todd Ringgold offers some tips for plumbing and mechanical contractors looking to tackle a large historical renovation:

Familiarize yourself with the relevant

rules and regulations. A smart contractor becomes thoroughly familiar with what local authorities will allow and then plans the project accordingly, down to minute details. On occasion, these rules may seem to border on pure fussiness, but that doesn’t mean a contractor will have much luck arguing his way free of them. “At the Mayo, for example, they told us exactly where we could position cleanouts—and the hallways were defi nitely off limits!” Ringgold recalled. “They also specifi ed the paint color for the windows. Sounds like small stuff, I know, but that’s how seriously they take the issue of historical authenticity. There were no cleanouts in the hallways of the original structure, so there mustn’t be any in the renovated building either.”

Leave yourself some “wiggle room” in

your budgeting for surprises. In fact, a contractor can pretty well count on more than one close encounter with the entirely unexpected. That comes with the territory when doing historical renovations, warns Ringgold. “You don’t know what you’re up against until you start opening up the building. Then it may be too late.”

Ringgold believes that PEX-a is the way to go for plumbing and heating systems. Although he embraced PEX-a quickly after his initial experience in 2005, he knows that some contractors, engineers, and owners remain unconvinced.

Among those working with the tools, the biggest objection he has encountered has been an aesthetic complaint: It’s not as pretty as copper—an objection that Ringgold fi nds bewildering considering the economic arguments for PEX-a, including the comparatively high and rising cost of copper. That cost, in turn, makes copper a prime target for jobsite theft.

Still, some of the trades remain skeptical of plastic in general for reasons beyond appearance. Many of these professionals hesitate because of their long, negative memories of polybutylene (PB) and the problems failed PB systems caused builders and installers around the country in the early 1990s. But the problems of gone-but-notforgotten PB have nothing to do with PEX-a, which was fi rst commercialized in Europe in the 1970s and came to North America in 1984.

Ringgold pointed to the length of the warranty for PEX-a versus copper: In Uponor’s case, that protection extends 25 years on AquaPEX pipe and the ProPEX fi ttings installed by a factorytrained professional. “What copper producer offers that kind of warranty?” he asked. “For me, it provides so much peace of mind.”

The most important assurance of all for Ringgold is the trouble-free performance of the systems. “We have seen no problems and no complaints with the PEX-a systems on any of these historical-renovation projects, including the very fi rst one that served as our learning curve. Their system still runs like a top.”

Jayson Drake is the director of plumbing and fi re safety at Uponor North America, St. Paul, MN.

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Products from the manufacturers on the following two pages can help you with your renovation projects.

EXTERIORS

Carlisle SynTec Systems Carlisle, PA 800.479.6832 www.carlislesyntec.com

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MBCI Houston 877.713.6224 www.mbci.com

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Metallic Building Co. Houston 800.755.7339 www.metallic.com

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Hanover Architectural Products Hanover, PA 800.426.4242 www.hanoverpavers.com

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LIGHTING

Amerlux Fairfield, NJ 973.882.5010 www.amerlux.com

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INTERIORS

Forbo Flooring Systems Hazleton, PA 800.842.7839 www.forboflooringna.com

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WINDOWS & DOORS

Kreiger Specialty Products Pico Rivera, CA 800.251.3396 www.kriegerproducts.com

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Solatube International Inc. Vista, CA 888 .765 .2882 www.solatube.com

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HVAC & PLUMBING

Aquatherm Pipe Lindon, UT 801.805.6657 www.aquatherm.com

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Mars Air Systems Gardena, CA 800.421.1266 www.marsair.com

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Thybar Corp. Addison, IL 800.666.2872 www.thybar.com

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United CoolAir Corp. York , PA 717.8 4 3.4 311 www.unitedcoolair.com

Carlisle HVAC Products Wylie, TX 877.495 .4 822 www.carlislehvac.com