HVAC

What lessons did the Bradford White team learn in 2020? In a year dominated by COVID, COVID, COVID, we learned the value of flexibility and communication above all else.

Early in the pandemic we were able to successfully assert that we—as a company, in our factories, our distributors and our contractors—are essential to the health of the country. We can’t do without hot water for sanitation, cooking, cleaning, and bathing in hospitals, nursing homes, military installations, food processing plants and in America’s homes. Our contractor customers are vital and essential providers of heat and hot water. There was much that we didn’t know back then, and supply chains began to shut down. Adding to the confusion, the U.S.-based supply chain was operating under different COVID rules and restrictions than what we saw with non-U.S. suppliers. We worked through the initial uncertainty about how we could best protect our employees and stabilized our factories in Middleville and Niles, Michigan, and Rochester, N.H.

We’re entering a new phase of COVID-19 these days, with an evolving sense of normalization. We’re still currently running our plants to maximize employee safety, and we’re doing so in a market where there is high demand for our products.

Photo Credit: Alan Carlson, Armbrust Plumbing & Heating

We follow state and national requirements for PPE. We run through health protocols daily with a questionnaire and a temperature check for all employees, and we’ve adjusted our scheduling to handle that. We exercise social distancing where possible and employ contact tracing measures when necessary. We clean and sanitize our factories frequently. It’s been gratifying to hear feedback from those business partners who are authorized to come into the factory that we are going above and beyond to keep employees safe compared to what they’ve seen elsewhere. I feel very good about what we’re doing to look out for the health of our employees while striving to meet our customer commitments.

You can’t communicate enough. Constant communication with our customers is crucial. We understand our distributors’ day-to-day demands and frequently communicate with them through our sales team and rep network. All their manufacturers have been affected and in different ways, so distributors have a lot of questions. We share information with contractors through our For the Pro® site, and the contractors we talk with have all been busy.

The same goes for our employees. Communicate and then communicate some more. It’s imperative to share reliable (and factual) information with our employees to avoid confusion. If people can’t get reliable information, they may fill in the blanks and fuel an already overflowing COVID rumor mill. We had about 150 employee communications last year and 80% of them were associated with the pandemic. You have to make sure your employees understand what it takes to be safe both in and out of the workplace. The coronavirus has been particularly difficult because information on the disease and availability of vaccines varies from state to state and even county to county.

Where’s the best guidance coming from? It’s difficult to say what’s the best source, but the CDC appears to have been the most consistent central source for national guidance on what to do for health and safety during the pandemic. Local information can vary by county or parish or municipality. In southwestern Michigan and southeastern Pennsylvania for example, where two of our facilities are located, the guidance varies from county to county, so one county may be on the second phase of shots while another county is barely in phase one. Our Canadian-based team must look to the Canadian government for guidance nationally and then understand what each of the provinces are saying.

How many of these practices will live on beyond the COVID-19 era? As far as products, we’ll continue to see increasing levels of connectivity and remote diagnostics, particularly on the commercial side of things where building management systems are commonplace for monitoring performance. This is not new, but the constraints of COVID have caused an acceleration in the development of more remote capabilities.  Virtual learning will continue, but we believe that “hands-on” training experiences will continue to be preferred. In terms of our general industry dynamics, a lot of us are anxious to reduce our time in the virtual/remote world. For us, this is a relationship industry and we like to see our customers and suppliers face to face. We’re most effective when we can be with a contractor in their own space to understand their challenges. You need to ride shotgun in the truck so you can see what they see and hear what they see and hear. And a virtual trade show is not a substitute for the discoveries you can make seeing and touching new products. For a company like Bradford White that prides itself on its face-to-face customer relationships, this has been painful.

This pandemic has altered almost everything in our lives, including food, water, healthcare supply, healthcare delivery, supply chains, insurance plans and contracts. As we prepare for the next pandemic, the planning must include economic recovery along with the health aspect. We were looking at the bullseye, but we missed many of the rings around it. Now we can see how big of an impact COVID-19 has on all facets of our lives.

When it comes to doing business during a pandemic, you can’t deny the human element. When you talk about somebody’s health and well-being, including any challenges they’re experiencing regarding their financial health and well-being, it becomes emotional. As much as you might want to employ common sense and logic when it comes to work, people have lost loved ones and lost jobs. Plus, the coronavirus has become part of the partisan political landscape when we need to be bipartisan when it comes to taking care of the health of the country.

Carl Pinto, Jr. is senior director of marketing communications for Bradford White.

This Just the Tip comes from Eric Silva, Silva Mechanical, West Broomfield, Mich. What three things does he suggest before starting every job? Oh, and a BONUS tip?

Organizations will work together to emphasize career opportunities in the trades

Reliance Worldwide Corporation (RWC), a leading manufacturer of premium branded push-to-connect plumbing products, valves, secondary pipe supports, firestopping solutions and fluid control technologies, is partnering with Home Builders Institute (HBI), a national leader in career training for the building and construction industry, as the exclusive Trade Sponsor for its 22 plumbing programs across the U.S., primarily serving Job Corps students and justice-involved individuals.

These HBI programs provide students with the skills, experience and placement services they need to have a successful career while helping the trade address labor shortages.

“We are thrilled to engage with HBI and believe this is the beginning of an important, long-lasting partnership,” said Chris Carrier, Marketing Director, Americas at RWC. “HBI’s ability to connect, train and place potential new talent into the trade makes them an ideal partner. Not only do we see this as an opportunity to help our trade, but also an opportunity to help the local communities that these programs are in.”

This partnership was a natural opportunity for RWC to double down on its commitment to promote and further the plumbing trade after its Careers in Construction Month efforts, through its SharkBite® and HoldRite® brands, in October.

“Our diverse product portfolio enables us to produce solutions that are designed to help plumbing contractors work more efficiently in the field,” Carrier continued. “In our conversations with them, we’ve recognized the need to help the trade address its labor challenge.”

HBI’s programs help approximately 10,000 students each year receive real life, hands-on training and find meaningful careers in the trades. HBI also provides them with job placement and transition assistance, and qualified graduates are able to enter advanced training programs to expand their education and experience.

“Home Builders Institute is proud to welcome our new partner, Reliance Worldwide Corporation,” said HBI President and CEO Ed Brady. “Together, we are training the next generation of skilled labor for the building industry. As HBI’s exclusive Trade Sponsor of our plumbing programs, RWC will provide its excellent products to help train our students in 22 locations nationwide. In the process, they will develop customers for life as our graduates enter the industry. I look forward to working with RWC and to seeing how the many resources they bring to the table will help enhance our training programs and ensure the future success of our students.”

To further discuss this partnership during IBSx – the 2021 International Builders Show – please visit RWC or HBI’s exhibits. Learn more about RWC and its family of brands.

Apple Valley, Minn. — Uponor North America (Uponor), a pioneer and leading provider of PEX (crosslinked polyethylene) piping products, launched its new Complete Polymer Solution for commercial-piping applications in the U.S. The innovative platform for this important announcement is a special, 90-minute, virtual event for customers, specifiers, installers, and other buying influencers in the commercial plumbing and mechanical field.

The online unveiling included the official launch of two important initiatives: Uponor’s new PP-RCT mechanical piping system for commercial HVAC projects; and the new Uponor Construction Services, offering enhanced, professional estimation, design, and building information modeling (BIM) services to support the design and installation of plumbing and mechanical piping systems.

“Our new PP-RCT and Construction Services offerings, combined with our traditional PEX piping solutions, deliver a complete polymer solution for a wide range of commercial plumbing and mechanical projects,” says Bill Gray, president of Uponor North America. “From half-inch diameter PEX to 12-inch diameter PP-RCT, our piping solutions meet the performance, durability, and safety needs of the entire commercial structure. In addition to these industry-leading piping products, Uponor Construction Services can provide the systems design and engineering expertise to ensure a project is fully supported from kickoff to post-construction.”

Empire Pass Condos, Park City, Utah, AquaPEX and PP-RCT install 2019, Thermal Engineering, PNA

PP-RCT piping system: Uponor PP-RCT (PolyPropylene, Random copolymer with modified Crystallinity and Temperature resistance) has higher temperature and pressure ratings than PP-R pipe, as well as lower levels of expansion and contraction.

Proven reliable for commercial hydronic heating, chilled-water cooling, and distribution piping for radiant heating and cooling applications — including snow melt, turf conditioning, and permafrost prevention — PP-RCT is 80 percent lighter than steel pipe. That makes it not only easier, but also safer, to install than metallic pipe systems. It also offers higher resistance to corrosion, rust, and scale buildup and quieter operation than metallic piping materials.

In addition, contractors will be able to bid projects with more certainty and confidence, as polymer piping offers stable pricing that doesn’t fluctuate with market changes unlike alternative piping materials.

Uponor initially announced its entry into the North American PP-RCT market in September 2019 through a partnership agreement with Pestan North America. As a result, Uponor is now marketing approximately 270 pipe and fitting products in the U.S. in sizes up to 12 inches in diameter and with plans to expand up to 24 inches. All Uponor PP-RCT pipe and fittings come protected by a 10-year warranty.

“With this new piping system, we are also offering comprehensive training and expert technical support — both online and through our nationwide network of in-person sales professionals — to help contractors learn our PP-RCT system,” says Gray. “This includes making pipe connections with special heat-fusion equipment, via our partnership with McElroy Manufacturing, the leading manufacturer of fusion equipment.”

Gray went on to say that whether their customers select virtual or hands-on training, Uponor’s professional guidance helps installers master best practices for both PP-RCT and PEX, helping to keep their projects on schedule and within budget.

Construction Services: Continuing its 27-year history of offering PEX piping system design for both residential and commercial radiant heating, cooling, and plumbing, residential fire safety, and commercial hydronic piping, Uponor has expanded this offering to become Uponor Construction Services, featuring regionally based designers, as well as a team of BIM experts.

 Using the latest design and estimating tools, the Uponor team of skilled and experienced designers and project managers offers a deep menu of design and construction services at no charge, including:

• Square-foot budget estimations
• Material take-offs
• Piping material cost comparisons
• Design development
• Radiant heating and cooling loop layouts
• Pipe sizing and load recommendations

In addition, Uponor Construction Services provides fee-based, system design services (plansets in PDF, Revit^®, and fabrication models), quoted to meet the particular needs of individual projects, at prices below standard industry system-design rates.

Other fee-based services from the BIM Services team include:

• Record modeling
• Estimating
• As-built modeling
• On-site support
• Project controls
• Modular construction
• Kitting and prefabrication
• BIM content

All of these services integrate directly into the user’s software platform and workflows, providing an integrated partnership with an end goal to deliver a well-designed project that is properly coordinated and fully supported.

“Evolving our Construction Services offering was in response to customer feedback and their growing expectations related to project efficiency, accuracy, quality, and consistency to better meet schedules and budgets,” says Gray. “We saw an opportunity to become a more involved partner from the very start of a project through construction onto completion and beyond. With this project-spanning partnership, we are confident we can help improve customers’ productivity and profitability.”

Since the evolution of Uponor Construction Services and the PP-RCT partnership announcement with Pestan in 2019, Uponor has provided PP-RCT piping systems and design expertise for several commercial projects in the U.S. The largest and most notable of these is a recently completed hybrid snow-melt system, involving both 1,900 feet of Uponor PP-RCT and 36,000 feet of Wirsbo hePEX™ pipe, for a 305-foot pedestrian bridge on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, the largest public university in the state.