Demand for radiant heating and cooling is on the rise.
A 2021 report from Research and Markets predicted the global hydronic system market would grow by $1.3 billion from 2021 to 2025, progressing at a compound annual growth rate of 7%.

Facilities and grounds managers who operate in colder climates know all too well that snow and ice management can be a significant expense and time-consuming challenge. The obvious and direct costs of plow and snow hauling services as well as the chemical and salt requirements are labor and equipment intensive, and are often only the tip of the literal iceberg.

By now, everyone has heard the message that prefabrication is the answer to greater job-site productivity, installation consistencies and project profitability. However, there’s a new trend beginning to take hold that offers even better results for large commercial projects looking to maximize smart building design with radiant heating and cooling systems.

Over the last few years, I’ve written several columns describing how air-to-water heat pumps can provide heating, cooling and domestic hot water for homes. Many of the systems involve buffer tanks to help stabilize heat transfer from the heat pump to a zoned distribution system.

It doesn’t matter if you’re constructing your single-family dream house or designing and building a large commercial piece of real estate — there are so many decisions that need to be made. The decisions will have important implications as to the cost, sustainability, life and comfort of the people living or working in the facility. It is vital that you choose wisely. 

The age-old question of function versus form has confounded experts in every field for countless decades.

Jeff Sweenor, president and CEO of Sweenor Builders in Wakefield, Rhode Island, looks at it differently. He asks, why not both? Function certainly comes first, but when the dust settles, his projects look as good as they work.

Each year, Plumbing & Mechanical editors receive thousands of product releases from industry manufacturers. The 20 products highlighted here have earned the distinction of being PM’s Top Products of 2021 based on the number of page views on pmmag.com. Congratulations to those products on this year’s list.

The owner of a 107-year-old home sought an advanced hydronic heating solution for a major basement finishing project and to alleviate his existing heating woes on the first and second floors of the residence. The installation of an innovative and highly efficient boiler from Weil-McLain helped make the basement remodel a success and the family’s home comfortably warm throughout.

Though radiant heating may seem like a relatively new innovation, it actually has ties back to ancient Rome. Even famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright used radiant heat in his designs in the 1930s, though the technology didn’t become more commonplace until decades later.