Plumbing & Mechanical Top Stories

RSS

Most crucial of all is developing a strong team of mentors who can help nurture aspiring technicians. This is often where the true value of an apprenticeship program is revealed. Most contractors have at least one veteran tradesperson about whom they would say, "I wish I had 10 of them!"

AI is everywhere — powering search engines, chatbots, and digital tools — but few realize its reliance on water. Data centers, the backbone of AI, consume billions of gallons annually to stay cool, often in drought-stricken regions. With usage projected to skyrocket, industry leaders face growing pressure to balance innovation with sustainability.

Not every ride-along ends in a hire, and that’s by design. Last year, a candidate with over 20 years of experience applied. On the phone, he nailed every question with the right answer and knew what to say to capture my attention. His resume looked solid, so I invited him for a ride-along. But when he joined our team, the cracks appeared.

Not every ride-along ends in a hire, and that’s by design. Last year, a candidate with over 20 years of experience applied. On the phone, he nailed every question with the right answer and knew what to say to capture my attention. His resume looked solid, so I invited him for a ride-along. But when he joined our team, the cracks appeared.

Women make up only 2-3% of the plumbing workforce and 8% of plumbing apprentices. In construction trades, they hold 3.9% of roles like plumber or pipefitter, a 32% increase since 2016, totaling over 314,000 tradeswomen, according to the Institute of Women’s Policy Research.

A proactive replacement of the garbage disposal months earlier would have eliminated the risk entirely. A routine inspection could have flagged the weak points before they failed. Educating tenants about proper system use — no paint down the drain, ever — might have stopped the problem at its source.

Designing and managing buildings today means thinking beyond individual systems: it’s about creating integrated environments that are equally efficient, adaptable, and sustainable. Connected buildings are reshaping system integration, but what does that mean for engineers, and how can smart design choices today future-proof buildings for tomorrow?

Millinocket is near utility-scale wind turbine farms where strong winter winds can lead to over-generation of electricity, surpassing local grid demand. While it might seem intuitive to shut down some generation equipment during such times, the process is not as simple as flipping a switch.

In a here-we-go-again move, we must now transition from HFC to A2L mildly flammable refrigerants. The good news is the operating pressures are virtually the same and this time, the refrigerant oil is the same.

The Stuarts Draft plant is capable of producing 3,085 different SKUs and has a 40-million-pound capacity when fully staffed.