Plumbing & Mechanical Engineer

Victaulic acquires Globe Fire Sprinkler

Two leading, century-old companies bring added support to fire protection customers, industry.

July 10, 2019

Effective July 8, 2019, Victaulic has purchased Globe Fire Sprinkler. Combined, these two respected companies will have the resources and capabilities to bring exciting new solutions to the fire protection industry around the world, Victaulic notes.

John Siegenthaler: Picking winners

Are geothermal heat pumps economically sustainable in an unsubsidized market?

John Siegenthaler, P.E.

June 10, 2019

The U.S. geothermal heat pump industry was breaking out the champagne on Feb. 9, 2018. That’s the day President Donald Trump signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, a bill that boosted government spending by hundreds of billions of dollars.

Medical gas: What’s required vs. what’s desired

Anticipating your client’s needs.

Aaron Bock P.E.

May 13, 2019

Minimum requirements for medical gas services and outlets have, for a long time, been confusing to plumbing designers.

Water-to-air geothermal heat pump from Bosch Thermotechnology

April 29, 2019

Christoph Lohr: What does a good one-on-one meeting look like?

Solving retention challenges — Part 3

Christoph Lohr

April 25, 2019

In my last two columns, I discussed the business case for why one-on-one meetings are the single best management tactic to improve retention and results, proving the benefits through numerous sources of data. But what does a good one-on-one look like?

Cracking the Code

Circuit venting problem solved: Methods, connections and more

Lynne Simnick

April 10, 2019

Why aren’t circuit venting methods accepted in every jurisdiction across the U.S.? Circuit venting is not an engineered design system, nor does it need an engineer’s approval.

Solar thermal: Why not utilize what we got?

April 1, 2019

When most people think about solar, they think about photovoltaic panels that generate electricity, but they don’t often think about solar thermal. When considering heating water, solar thermal is incredibly efficient by comparison.

IAPMO seeks Technical Correlating Committee members

March 28, 2019

The deadline to submit an application is May 3.

Christoph Lohr: One-on-one meetings with managers can solve retention challenges — Part 2

Data and examples show the effectiveness of one-on-one meetings

Christoph Lohr

March 25, 2019

Last month, I presented information about challenges companies face to retain and develop their employees.

One-on-one meetings with managers can solve retention challenges — Part 1

Retaining high-knowledge workers is key as baby boomers retire.

Christoph Lohr

February 25, 2019

The U.S. is seeing about 10,000 baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) retire per day. That means every day we lose knowledge from our industry due to retirements. The fact that so much of the construction industry is experience- or knowledge-based work makes this fact especially sobering, but the challenges don’t end there.