Helping contractors save money and enhance productivity

SUMMER 2017

SMART SOLUTIONS

Helping contractors save money and enhance productivity

Craft & Son Find EVAPCO Cooling Towers a Perfect Fit for Gettysburg Hospital

Only EVAPCO, Inc. had cooling towers with a small-enough footprint, yet large-enough capacity, to meet WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital's need for upgraded towers that would lend themselves to future expansion. Manchester, PA-based James Craft & Son Inc. worked closely with EVAPCO to find the perfect solution to a challenging installation.

No Room for Error

Civil War-era physicians and nurses could only have dreamed of the contemporary health care facility that now stands within sight of the Gettysburg National

The mechanical systems in the basement make all the life-saving work of the WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital possible. Working closely with EVAPCO, Craft & Son found the right products to meet the hospital's needs and accommodate a challenging installation.

Military Park. WellSpan

Gettysburg Hospital was first constructed in 1921 and has

since undergone several facility improvements and enhance-

ments to patient care. Today, it is a nationally recognized

acute care community hospital.

According to Joe Lehigh, a 27-year member of the facility's engineering team, the hospital needed "to modernize mechanical systems that would assure reliability of critical patient care functions. High on the list was cooling equipment that had close ties to operation of our clinical and

continued on page 20

JH Kelly Keeps Tabs on Tools with Milwaukee Tool's TICK

JH Kelly recognizes how much time and money it stands to lose when tools are lost or stolen. To avoid delays on the job or, worse, the cost of replacing expensive equipment, they adopted Milwaukee Tool's One-KeyTM system, the first digital platform for tools and equipment. Now, with the addition of Milwaukee Tool's TICKTM equipment tracker, they can manage inventory, recover tools quickly--and even locate lost items.

With One-Key, JH Kelly can track tools in real-time and customize compatible products. Through the One-Key inventory management functionality, a contractor creates a central place to manage all of their tools and equipment across their network of jobs and operators by using a free web and mobile app. By putting the information where it can be easily accessed, JH Kelly keeps a pulse on the location of tools and equipment at all times.

The TICK--a professional-grade BluetoothTM-enabled tracking device, takes One-Key's tracking technology to the next level. Designed to withstand

JH Kelly is using Milwaukee Tool's TICK, paired with the One-Key app, to track the location of tools in real-time, preventing costly delays from trying to track down lost or missing items. The TICK is just over 2" in diameter and can be attached to any product.

the harshest jobsite environments, the TICK is just over

2" in diameter and can be easily attached and hidden from

sight on any product, so JH Kelly can track anything in

their inventory. A more cost-effective solution than RFID

tracking, the TICK pairs with the One-Key app, providing

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8 9

WHAT'S INSIDE

Victaulic Couplings Help Arden Meet Tight Timeline, Save Costs........................ 4

3

Daikin Equipment's Remote Troubleshooting Saves on Service Calls.................. 6

Viega Fittings Help Commonwealth Eliminate Dead Legs...................................... 7

Uponor PEX Pipe Cuts Metropolitan's Installation Time in Half............................. 8

Anvil's Gruvlok System Design Helps Bennell Overcome a Tight Squeeze......... 9

Johnson Controls Products Save John E. Green Installation Time..................... 10

SMART SOLUTIONS

Helping contractors save money and enhance productivity

Smart Solutions showcases new technologies and promotes cost-saving and productivity-enhancing applications available from members of MCAA's Manufacturer/Supplier Council. Smart Solutions is published biannually for contractor members of MCAA and its subsidiaries.

All information in this newsletter was supplied by members of MCAA's Manufacturer/Supplier Council. MCAA is not responsible for any claims made regarding products or services mentioned.

Cynthia Buffington Senior Executive Director

Jan Grillo Director, Membership

Adrienne Breedlove Director of Digital Media

Dana Trevas Consultant

1385 Piccard Drive Rockville, MD 20850-4340 301-869-5800 Fax 301-869-3520 e-mail cbuffington@

Productive Partnerships

MCAA members continue to seek ways to stay competitive. This issue of Smart Solutions demonstrates how our Supplier Partners are helping you resolve demanding technical challenges, increase efficiency, and improve productivity. Read how an exceptional designer from Anvil? International helped Bennell, Inc., figure out how to install multiple systems in a cramped mechanical room. Similarly, engineers at Jay R. Smith Mfg. Co.? rapidly designed new trench drains to keep J.W. McClenahan Co.'s project on track.

Learn why Arden Building Companies chose Victaulic's easy-to-install grooved connections to speed up installation for a major renovation. Or how Commonwealth Plumbing used Viega fittings to accommodate the tight spaces of a historic building.

Also see how contractors are tackling complex jobs. James Craft & Son Inc. found that only EVAPCO, Inc. had cooling towers with a small-enough footprint, yet large-enough capacity, to meet its client's needs. Daikin's commercial rooftop systems, paired with its software solution, met the stringent demands of a museum storage facility. With aerial lifting by Erickson Inc., Hill Mechanical Group placed equipment on a downtown Chicago rooftop in just a few hours. John E. Green Company trusted Johnson Controls products to meet energy efficiency demands and save installation time. P1 Group installed 300' of Aquatherm piping in just 24 hours, minimizing downtime for their client.

Join me in welcoming our newest supplier partners:

? Asahi/America, Inc. ? FabPro1 ? FARO Technologies, Inc. ? Hilti, Inc. ? Jomar Valve ? ManufactOn ? Procore Technologies, Inc. ? Rhumbix, Inc. ? ServiceTrade ? Software Motor

Corporation ? T-Drill Industries, Inc.

Members are always finding new tools and products to beef up productivity, such as Uponor's AquaPEX? crosslinked polyethylene piping, which saved Metropolitan Mechanical Contractors installation time. Josam Company's easy-to-install Pro-Plus trench drain system cut labor and installation time for Miinc Mechanical Contractors. Atomatic Mechanical Services' relies on the quality of Wheatland Tube's domestic pipe to ensure leak-free pipes and save time both onsite and after installation.

On the technology side, to battle "the paper demon," Egan Company installed KEY2ACT's MobileTech solution, slashing billing time and eliminating time-consuming paperwork. Implementing an integrated software solution from Jonas Construction Software helped Flo-Tron Contracting reduce payroll processing time by 50 percent. Anderson, Rowe & Buckley deployed MobiliForms from iBusiness Technologies, cutting labor costs. With Rhumbix, Independent Mechanical Industries, Inc.'s foremen fill out time cards on their phones in minutes, minimizing errors. Milwaukee Tool's digital equipment tracker helps JH Kelly manage inventory and recover tools quickly.

Finally, read about SPX Cooling Technologies' donation of a Marley? NC cooling tower to the Steamfitters UA Local #602 Mechanical Trades School for its apprenticeship program for another example of how our Supplier Partners recognize the needs of the field and work with you to meet them.

Bill Tavenner, Chairman

SPX Donates Cooling Tower to Steamfitters Trades School

Apprentices Get Hands-On Training Using Real-World Equipment

When the Steamfitters UA Local 602 Mechanical Trades School needed equipment to use in its apprenticeship program, SPX Cooling Technologies donated a Marley? NC cooling tower, enabling the school to present students with a real-world environment. Instructors use the complete new cooling system to teach students how to troubleshoot and fix problems with HVAC systems.

Union Beefs Up Training Spaces Steamfitters UA Local 602 Mechanical Trades School recently expanded and renovated its training facilities. The union, which represents journeymen, apprentices, and helpers working in the heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, and process piping industries, sought equipment donations to outfit the school and help with its apprenticeship training mission. The school's training centers in Landover, MD, and Springfield, VA offer a five-year apprenticeship and train a diverse group of over 700

students ranging in age from 19 to 70 years old.

Apprentices are assigned to a union contractor and jobsite, and they generally work 40 hours per week. Classes range from soldering and brazing, health and safety, and drawing and blueprint-reading to basic and advanced refrigeration and electricity.

James Balderson, assistant training director, explained that the nonprofit school has a very small equipment budget, so he has to think creatively to beef up the equipment available for HVAC training. Balderson is the coordinator for the school's HVAC department and trains air conditioning, refrigeration, and boiler technicians.

"Being able to expose our students to real equipment gives us a greater advantage compared to teaching out of a book," said Balderson.

"Classroom time is necessary, but we must reinforce it with hands-on training."

Balderson notes that he and other instructors regularly ask vendors if they know anyone discarding equipment. "If they are going to replace equipment and it's still usable, we'll arrange to come get it. Hands-on knowledge is the most important part of the steamfitter's trade, so the ability to have access to real equipment to solve real-time problems is essential in the industry."

He developed a long equipment wish list, at the top of which was a cooling tower. SPX agreed to donate a factory-assembled single-cell crossflow Marley NC? 8401 cooling tower. Originally constructed as a demonstration cooling tower for trade shows, the tower is typical of what students would see in the field every

continued on page 15

Left The Steamfitters UA Local 602 Mechanical Trades School benefits from equipment donations like those of SPX Cooling Technologies for hands-on training in its apprenticeship program. Middle Students and instructors install the Marley NC cooling tower donated by SPX, which serves as the centerpiece for learning start-up, maintenance, and troubleshooting.

SMART SOLUTIONS

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SUMMER 2017

With Victaulic Couplings, Arden Meets Tight Timeline, Saves $100,000 on Overall Costs

Contracted to design and install the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems for a massive renovation, Arden Building Companies faced a tight timeline, a tight space, and a tight budget--all of which made welding a poor choice for completing the mechanical room. Using Victaulic's easy-to-install grooved connections, Arden joined, hung, and installed pipe quickly and efficiently once it was lowered into the mechanical room. Arden estimated that the speed of installation reduced overall costs by approximately $100,000.

Rhode Island's Largest Construction Project Built in 1912, the two-story, 58,000-square-foot South Street Landing Power Station in Providence, RI, provided electricity to jewelry, textile, and machinery manufacturing firms through the early 20th century. The historic power station, decommissioned in the 1990s, has since been transformed into an impressive seven-story, 265,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art nursing education and administrative office complex, which opened in April 2017. It is now home to the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center and Brown University.

"Their grooved solutions, couplings, and valves enabled us to work quickly and efficiently, exceeding our expectations and saving us money."

--Don Forsythe, Senior Foreman, Arden

team came across--specifically with the top-floor mechanical room. "Not only did Arden have just six weeks to complete the large mechanical room, but the space was tight, making maneuverability and installation difficult, and, since the mechanical room was saved for last, it required each section of pipe be installed in a specific order," he said.

Timeline, Budget Call for Efficient Solutions After closely analyzing the timeline, the budget, and the scope of work ahead of them, the Arden team quickly realized that welding the condenser and chilled-water piping would take too long and had the

potential to drive the project over budget. So, they called Victaulic. Having used Victaulic on previous projects, Arden saw firsthand how Victaulic's innovative piping technologies reduced installation times and increased efficiencies without sacrificing safety or reliability.

According to Puniello, the Arden/ Victaulic partnership led to an "erector set" approach. Arden designed and prefabricated 90 percent of the piping systems at its facility, relying on Victaulic's grooved connections for installation onsite.

The entire mechanical room was delivered to the jobsite, and the

Arden joined the project in 2016 and recognized that the sheer size and scale of the expansion efforts magnified the complexity of the project. In fact, South Street Landing was Rhode Island's largest economic development project in 2016, as determined by the manpower needed, the amount of money invested, and the amount of materials used.

John Puniello, vice president of Arden, recalled the difficulties his

Victaulic delivered the entire mechanical room for the renovated South Street Landing Power Station to the jobsite. Overall, it took Arden less than two months to put the mechanical room together once the pieces were prepped and delivered onsite--an unachievable feat with a welded solution.

SMART SOLUTIONS

4

SUMMER 2017

its ability to accommodate building settlement, seismic movement, and thermally induced expansion or contraction of the piping.

"Victaulic's products were a huge complement to our own prefabrication capabilities," explained Puniello. "With a project of this size and on such a compressed schedule, our partnership provided us the needed resources and solutions to get the job done on time."

By prefabricating 90 percent of its piping and using Victaulic's grooved couplings, Arden was able to install the entire mechanical room for a massive renovation in less than two months.

installation went directly from the truck to the hanger. Arden designed and prefabricated nearly all of the systems in-house, using their 33,000-square-foot facility, located just seven miles from downtown Providence. Once onsite, they used a crane to lift each piece of equipment into the mechanical room through a large hole in the roof.

Overall, it took less than two months to put the entire mechanical room together once the pieces were prepped and delivered onsite--an unachievable feat with a welded solution.

to make the 2 1/2" to 12" connections on the condenser and chilled water lines, along with Series 732 Wye-Type Vic-Strainers?, Series 761 Vic-300 MasterSealTM butterfly valves, the corresponding fittings, and IMI Hydronic Engineering TA balancing valves. Victaulic was used exclusively on the building's fire protection system. An added benefit to Victaulic's grooved solution is

In addition to reducing installation time, Victaulic's solutions played a large factor in the overall savings of the project. Forsythe said using Victaulic grooved products reduced overall costs by approximately $100,000.

"Their grooved solutions, couplings, and valves enabled us to work quickly and efficiently, exceeding our expectations and saving us money," said Forsythe. "The condenser and chilled water systems have been tested and are running nicely."

For more information, visit .

"Given the nature of the project, I knew the condenser and chilled piping job was well-suited for the Victaulic portfolio," said Don Forsythe, Arden's senior foreman. "Their solutions provide ease of installation and time savings, which was just what we needed to complete the job."

Victaulic QuickVicTM Style 107N rigid couplings and QuickVicTM Style 177N flexible couplings were used

Partnering with Victaulic enabled Arden to meet the tight timeline for the transformation of Rhode Island's South Street Landing Power Station--the state's largest economic development project in 2016--and saved Arden an estimated $100,000 in overall costs.

SMART SOLUTIONS

5

SUMMER 2017

Daikin Rooftop Units Paired With Intelligent Equipment Protect Museum's Collections

Remote Troubleshooting Ability Saves on Service Calls

To meet the stringent standards for climate control required to protect its treasured artwork and artifacts in storage, the University of California Berkeley's Regatta Museum installed Daikin Rebel? commercial rooftop systems, paired with the Daikin Intelligent Equipment? solution that provides real-time data. Using the software solution saved time and money during the 6-week startup and commissioning process of a critical control application where rooftop package units are seldom used. "With some fine-tuning, Daikin optimized the control of the Rebel units to meet required tolerances of +/- 2 degrees and +/- 5-percent relative humidity," said Matt Dodds, Daikin application engineer for commercial rooftop units.

For the major renovation of 21,000 square-feet of its warehouse space, the museum specified two 10-ton Daikin Rebel rooftop systems to maintain optimal cooling and tight humidity control. "The variable speed compressors on the Rebel rooftop units have the capability to provide temperature and humidity control at significantly less cost than the installed price of an air-cooled chiller desiccant system with storage tank," said Daikin representative Steve Dobberstein.

Each Rebel rooftop unit is connected to the Daikin Intelligent Equipment solution, which gives the museum real-time data it can use to anticipate and respond to operational needs. Intelligent Equipment is factory-installed, so there is no need to call in a controls-specific contractor during equipment installation. At the Regatta's climate-controlled warehouse, Intelligent Equipment was used to calibrate the rooftop

continued on page 16

At the Regatta's climate-controlled warehouse, the Daikin Intelligent Equipment provides almost 350 diagnostic points on the Rebel rooftop units, allowing technicians to dive deep into unit diagnostics and identify potential problems. During the set-up for the museum, technicians could see and adjust equipment settings remotely, eliminating the need for the facility manager or building owner to make a service call.

SMART SOLUTIONS

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SUMMER 2017

Commonwealth Plumbing Finds Viega Double Drop Elbows Are Perfect Fit for Historic Building

Fittings Eliminate Dead Legs, Preventing Bacteria Growth

While renovating a historic building, Commonwealth Plumbing found that Viega's double drop elbows were the best solution for accommodating new bathroom sinks in a tight space with limited design options. By using pressed fittings, Commonwealth not only saved time on installation but also avoided soldering in an old building with a lot of wood.

Rising to the Challenge The central dining facility at Emerson College in downtown Boston was built around 115 years ago. With a historic structure of that age, the space needed to install completely new plumbing came at a premium. In addition, the renovation included metered faucets on timers, adding a level of complication.

New hot-water plumbing systems were designed for two bathrooms in the dining facility. One bathroom had enough space to install regular tees, but the other bathroom was too small. Viega double drop elbows were selected for the tight space.

"It's a very old building and just has the issues that come with renovations to a very old building. We had to drop individually to each sink as opposed to having the space to run it horizontally down right to the fixture," explained Peter Hannon, vice president of Commonwealth. "Due to space within the wall, we didn't have that luxury. The tight quarters made the double drop elbows the best choice."

An average user will take 30 seconds or less to wash his hands. Most of the time, that means the water will have been sitting in the pipeline for

a while. It will not be freshly heated water until the line is purged. By using Viega's double drop elbow fittings in the bathroom installation, dead legs in the line were eliminated completely.

"Installing the double drop elbows allows us to get the piping much closer to the fixtures to minimize the dead legs," Hannon said. "Having warm water at the faucet is a better experience for the user, so they'll think the best of the facility."

A series design was installed in the other bathroom, the one with more space, which allowed Commonwealth to use more traditional fittings.

Staving Off Stagnation Stagnant water in plumbing lines can lead to the development of Legionella bacteria. These bacteria can cause Legionnaire's disease, which can be fatal. Legionella bacteria are particularly concerning in facilities such as hospitals or nursing homes, where users might have compromised immune systems.

At Emerson College, the main focus was providing hot water to users in spite of the low-flow faucets. In a series design installation, like the sinks in a bathroom, when water is turned on at the end of the line, the water circulates through the whole system, purging the line and providing hot water to the active fixture almost immediately.

"We've done a loop system before similar to this," said Hannon. "This was the first time we'd used these particular fittings, the double drop elbows. We met our installation

Using Viega's double drop elbow fittings allowed Commonwealth Plumbing to accommodate new sinks in the tight space of a historic building in Boston. With the pressed fittings, Commonwealth also saved time and avoided soldering.

goals. Especially where there was a lot of wood in the building, pressing saved us from having to solder."

Time and labor savings, along with quality of connections are important factors in Commonwealth's use of Viega solutions. "We've been using Viega for a number of years and have had very good luck with it," Hannon said. "We recommend and submit it for projects as often as possible as a product to use."

For more information, visit viega.us.

SMART SOLUTIONS

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SUMMER 2017

Metropolitan Mechanical Contractors Cuts Installation Time in Half with Uponor's PEX Pipe

Metropolitan Mechanical Contractors of Eden Prairie, MN, found that using Uponor's AquaPEX? crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) piping for the risers and the unit piping in a new hotel saved crews about two to three days of installation per floor. On a 13-story project with 50 units per floor, that adds up to almost a month of installation time savings.

Bob Wolf, Metropolitan's project manager for the Radisson Blu hotel project, said, "We started out with a three-man crew, which took three days to complete each floor," he says. "Installing copper would have been double that time."

Miles of Piping Required From south of the Twin Cities, you can see the Radisson Blu Hotel at the Mall of America on the horizon. This 570,000-square-foot, 13-story, 506room structure sits on a two-acre site in Bloomington, MN. It is the first

hotel to be connected to the Mall of America--the second largest mall in the world.

The hotel sports more than 1.2 million pounds of structural steel, 24,000 cubic yards of concrete, and 23,000' (nearly 4 1/2 miles) of Uponor PEX pipe for the plumbing system. The PEX pipe was selected for the in-suite potable-water plumbing and the floorto-floor riser piping.

On learning that the project required having the product files in the Trimble Building-Data database, Uponor's Design Services Manager Mike Rivers and .NET Developer Chris Bertsch responded rapidly, getting the product information into the database within two weeks.

Saving Time at Every Step When the product landed at Metropolitan's shop, workers learned how to make 2" ProPEX? expansion

connections to prefabricate the risers. The unique shape memory of Uponor's PEX allows the pipe to be expanded before inserting a higher-flow fitting. As the PEX shrinks back down around the fitting, it creates a solid, strong connection without the need for torches, solder, or open flame.

Chris Dent, Metropolitan assistant project manager, examines the ProPEX expansion fitting connections in the Radisson Blu hotel. Dent and his coworkers found that Uponor's PEX piping shrink-to-fit fittings, the piping's flexibility, and multiport tees made installation faster and easier.

Wolf was on the project from the beginning and found the plumbing installation

"With the experience we've had with the [Uponor] PEX pipe saving us a couple days of install time per floor, I know we're going to be using it more and more in commercial plumbing applications in the future. It just makes sense."

--Bob Wolf, Project Manager, Metropolitan Mechanical Contractors

with PEX to be very efficient. "I started installing PEX in small retail applications several years ago, and I really like how the flexible tubing makes it faster to install because we don't need as many fittings," said Wolf. "The Radisson Blu project has been my first experience using large-dimension PEX in riser applications, and I really like the additional labor savings it provides."

Mark Montgomery, Metropolitan foreman, said the PEX pipe's flexibility is one of his favorite features of the product. "I've been working with PEX pipe in residential structures for about five years now, but this has been my first experience using it in a commercial application," he said. "I like the 2" PEX for the risers. It works really well. And the flexibility of the pipe for in-suite distribution makes it faster and easier to fish through the walls."

Metropolitan prefabricated the risers and installed them during the cast iron installation. Then, the crew hooked up the unit piping for all 50 units on each of the 11 occupied

continued on page 27

SMART SOLUTIONS

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SUMMER 2017

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