Sustainable construction still strong at 2014 Greenbuild
Exhibitors say interest in sustainable construction still strong despite low turnout at trade show.
MEP Engineer Shawn Wilson of Interface Engineering in San Francisco watches Jeff Turner of McElroy Mfg. butt-weld polypropylene pipe during a product demonstration in Aquatherm's booth Oct. 23 at Greenbuild in New Orleans. The tool, McElroy’s Acrobat 160, allows installers to work in tight spaces.
Michael Arny (left), president and director of Sustainable Building Services at Leonardo Academy in Madison, Wis., visits a solar-powered, closed-loop sanitation system on display Oct. 22-23 in Kohler Co.'s booth at Greenbuild in New Orleans. Kohler is partnering with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the California Institute of Technology on the system, which is currently in use in India. Also in the photo are Rob Zimmerman of Kohler Co. (center) and Clement Cid, a graduate student at Caltech.
Exhibitors at the 2014 Greenbuild attributed the frequently light traffic on the show floor Oct. 22-23 to a number of factors: educational workshops being conducted during trade show hours; declining attendance at trade shows in general; and the location of the event in New Orleans. Exhibitors did not, however, equate the turnout to a waning interest in green buildings. They say interest in sustainable construction among industry professionals remains as strong as ever.
Numbers released by the show’s producers state that 17,507 people attended Greenbuild this year. Exhibiting companies numbered 552 with their booths covering 142,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space.
Several exhibitors say attendance should pick up next November when Greenbuild shifts to Washington, D.C. The federal government’s emphasis on green buildings and the number of universities in the area should bring more people to the show.
The number of new products introduced at Greenbuild was limited. Companies that exhibit at Greenbuild do so more for branding purposes and to show their support to the committed green building professionals who attend the show, according to one exhibitor. The plumbing-and-heating manufacturers exhibiting at the show include: Aquatherm, Armstrong Fluid Technology, Kohler Co., Mitsubishi Electric, Navien, Niagara, Owens-Corning, Sloan Valve, TOTO, Uponor and Zurn.
Plumbing products
A portion of Kohler’s booth addressed water safety as much as it did water savings. New to the U.S. market, faucets and shower controls from U.K.-based Rada feature digital thermostatic technology primarily in health-care applications. Kohler acquired Rada in 2001.
“Rada faucets and showers are capable of delivering precise temperature and flow while managing Legionella risk, reducing the risk of scalding and using less water,” says Eoin McQuone, business director at Rada.
Kohler’s booth also featured two of its sustainable systems that are being used in India and France.
In its booth, Sloan displayed its BASYS faucet platform that can be used in health-care applications as well. One of its features is a line purge that automatically activates the faucet after a long period of nonuse to eliminate stagnant water. The company also was soliciting feedback from Greenbuild attendees on a hybrid urinal that uses just 1 gal. a week, or 52 gal. a year, to flush the drain line.
TOTO unveiled its MyGreenPayback app for mobile devices, computers and smartphones. It enables consumers and construction professionals to calculate in real time their financial return on their investment and the planet’s return on the environment when they purchase one of the company’s plumbing products.
“We wanted to make the sustainable purchasing process easier by demonstrating our high-efficiency products’ water and energy savings across their lifecycle in a format that is easy to understand,” President of Operations for the Americas Bill Strangsaid.
Niagara Conservation showed its Hot Start Showerhead, which will be available in January 2015. The showerhead will allow users to turn on the shower at full flow while they wait for the water to heat up. Once the water reaches 95° F, the flow reduces to a trickle, which saves water, energy and money. Users will get visual confirmation when the water is hot and can press the “resume” button on the showerhead to bring the hot water back on at a flow rate of 2.0 gpm.
Heating and cooling products
Used in both plumbing and HVAC applications, Aquatherm’s polypropylene-random piping systems now feature a threadless transition from PP-R pipe to copper-sweated connections, for use particularly in commercial and industrial plumbing applications. Aquatherm collaborated with Sioux Chief Mfg., which makes the copper portion of the stub-outs that come in 1/2-in., 3/4-in., and 1-in. diameters and are 11-in., 11-in., and 18-in. long, respectively.
Armstrong Fluid Technology announced its single-phase motors are available on its IVS102 variable-speed controller and Design Envelope pumps up to 7.5 hp to optimize energy savings in light commercial, residential and industrial applications. The company also showed a Chiller Plant Automation System targeted at optimizing the performance of air-cooled chiller plants. The IPC 9511 streamlines plant operations and can lower operating costs, in part, by incorporating Sensorless pump speed control technology. In addition, the company released an app for iPads and other mobile devices for its ADEPT software for industry professionals to select energy-efficient pumps.
Navien’s Heating Boiler, rated at 95% AFUE, was on display. It is offered in four sizes: NHB-55, NHB-80, NHB-110 and NHB-150, with turn-down-ratios 7:1, 10:1, 11:1 and 15:1, respectively. Also shown was Navien’s NPE-S series of condensing tankless water heaters. They supply maximum inputs from 150,000 to 199,900 Btu/hr. and efficient outputs from 148,500 to 197,900 Btu/hr. Maximum flow rates are from 8.4 to 11.1 gpm. Other features include: 1/2-in. gas pipe capability up to 24 ft.; 2-in. PVC venting up to 60 ft.; dual stainless-steel heat exchangers; field gas convertibility; and capability to cascade up to 16 units without an external control box.
Mitsubishi Electric introduced its Hyper-Heating INVERTER MXZ multizone outdoor unit for residential applications. A single outdoor unit is capable of connecting to up to eight indoor units, providing a solution for whole-home cooling and heating in cold-weather climates. The technology offers improved efficiency, quiet operation and decreased installation time, the company said.
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