PEX

Led by Vice President Doug Fulton, this new function will seek growth opportunities through corporate acquisitions and joint ventures, as well as internal product development.

Vice President Doug Fulton, will lead new business venture development, for Uponor North America.

To further enhance Uponor North America’s ability to deliver innovative plumbing and heating solutions to its customers, the company has announced the creation of a new business function. This new business function will be led by Vice President Doug Fulton and called New Venture Development.

Reporting directly to President Bill Gray, Fulton will lead the exploration, incubation and integration of new products into Uponor’s existing business offerings, while also forging external partnerships. The overarching goal is to expand the company’s growth opportunities in ways that align with Uponor’s business strategy and customer insights.

Fulton’s responsibilities will encompass numerous areas related to corporate growth and expansion: Business Development (M&A/Partnerships), Business Incubation, Construction Services (including Building Information Management), Codes & Standards, Government & Industry Affairs, Project/Stage-Gate Management, and Uponor Innovation LLC.

As part of his business-incubation work, Fulton will oversee the company’s recently announced partnership with Reno, Nevada-based Pestan North America (PNA) to market and sell PNA’s proprietary PP-RCT pipe and fittings. (Note: PP-RCT stands for polypropylene, random copolymer, with modified crystallinity and temperature resistance.) Currently preparing for a formal launch of the product offering, Uponor will serve as PNA’s exclusive distributor throughout the United States and Canada.

“With the creation of our New Venture Development function, Uponor is doubling down on innovation,” says Gray. “We are emphasizing more than ever our commitment to providing innovative plumbing, heating and fire safety solutions to our customers.”

“The name New Venture Development reflects the way we see the business world evolving in the month and years ahead,” Gray continues. “While Uponor will continue to aggressively pursue direct product innovation internally, we envision an equal, if not greater, role for acquisitions, strategic partnerships and joint ventures, as we broaden our scope and capabilities.”

Most recently serving as Vice President of Product Marketing at Uponor, Fulton joined the company in 2017 as senior director of Corporate Strategy and Segment Marketing. He holds an M.B.A. from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Toledo.

Before joining Uponor, Fulton worked as Director of Marketing at Andersen Corporation, a national manufacturer of windows and patio doors. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Business Development – Midwest, for the Walt Disney Company. Fulton spent the first part of his career in various marketing leadership roles in the consumer products industry.

Residential plumbing and HVAC installers take note: you can pipe an entire home with the durability, flexibility and cost-effectiveness of PEX — for plumbing, fire sprinkler systems and radiant floor heating.

Here’s how…

PEX plumbing

With more new homes plumbed with PEX than copper and CPVC combined, you’re probably already aware of the benefits of plumbing with PEX. However, you may not know about a newer, smarter way to install a PEX plumbing system that goes in faster, uses less materials, requires fewer connections and minimizes your liability.

This innovative design is called Logic plumbing.

The Logic approach uses the flexibility of PEX pipe to minimize connections and reduce potential leak points while also incorporating multiport tees located near fixture groupings to limit the amount of pipe and connections needed.

What’s a multiport tee, you ask? It’s essentially a bunch of tees all molded together to create one long tee with multiple outlets. This design greatly reduces the number of fittings and connections needed to plumb a home (think: reduced materials cost and labor time).

Here’s an example of how a multiport tee saves installation time and materials: a flow-through multiport tee with six outlets has eight connections (six connections for the ports, a main flow-through inlet and a main flow-through outlet). Six regular tees, on the other hand, have a whopping 18 connections. That’s an increase of more than double the connections — and double the installation time.

Best of all, multiport tees are not considered manifolds, so they can be installed behind walls without the need for an access panel. Double win, there!

For a Logic layout, a main line connects to a multiport tee with distribution lines going out from the multiport to provide water to all fixtures in a single or adjacent grouping. This design uses significantly less pipe than a home-run layout, with just a few more connections. Plus, it requires considerably fewer connections compared to a trunk-and-branch installation.

For example, a 2,300-square-foot, two-story home using a Logic design requires only 637 feet of pipe while a home-run system uses 1,515 feet of pipe. And, while it’s true a Logic installation uses slightly more connections than a home-run layout (59 vs. 48 in the 2,300-square-foot, two-story home example), the amount of pipe savings is significantly more beneficial with the labor and material savings you get with less pipe to install.

A Logic layout also installs much faster compared to a trunk-and-branch system due to the vast reduction in connections. With the two-story home example, a Logic layout uses a mere 16 fittings and 59 connections compared to a whopping 96 fittings and 165 connections for trunk and branch.

PEX multipurpose fire sprinkler systems

If you’re a licensed plumber who wants to add an additional service to your offering, check out PEX multipurpose fire sprinkler systems. These systems combine the fire sprinklers with a home’s cold-water plumbing. It’s genius!

Installation is remarkably easy — the sprinkler is essentially just another fixture to tie into the plumbing line. For most contractors who already install PEX plumbing systems and have the tools, knowledge and, most importantly, the relationships with the home builders, this is a slam dunk.

Depending on the jurisdiction, multipurpose systems typically don’t need check valves or backflow preventers, and because they combine with the potable plumbing, they don’t use antifreeze, so all those added costs are eliminated.

To get started in most jurisdictions, licensed plumbers just need the appropriate training and a quality design that meets the NFPA 13D standard requirements for home fire sprinkler systems.

If you’re interested in learning more, email me at kim.bliss@uponor.com, and I can get you all the information you need to add this profitable new service to your business.

PEX hydronic radiant floor heating

There’s nothing like the comfort of radiant floor heating — ask anyone who has experienced it. And, homeowners will pay nicely for a quality radiant floor heating system, so there is definitely income potential if you can learn to do it right.

That said, with radiant floor heating, there’s a little more to learn. But, like fire sprinkler systems, starting with a proper design is key. If your design is wrong in the beginning, there’s not much you can do to fix the system once it’s installed.

Take advantage of the radiant design services many PEX manufacturers offer to guide you through the process. There are several design factors to know, including floor R-values, heat-loss calculations, pipe sizing, loop lengths, pump sizing, manifold types and more.

Once you learn the basics of radiant design and get a few small jobs under your belt, you have the potential to take your expertise to the next level with bigger, more profitable projects. But again, be sure to get the proper design and training before you tackle a radiant project. It will be well worth it in the long run.

To get a jumpstart on all things radiant, visit the following industry websites at radiantprofessionalsalliance.org, healthyheating.com or heatinghelp.com.

Kim Bliss is the content development manager at Uponor. She can be reached at kim.bliss@uponor.com.

For over half a century, John Guest has provided only the most high-quality and comprehensive plumbing products to the contractor. John Guest ProLock will continue that history of ‘Fitting the Future’ into the new year with their technologically advanced and versatile catalogue. The versatility of the catalogue mirrors the versatility of their customers, who recognize that John Guest ProLock products can be used to repair, install, or upgrade just about any plumbing appliance they might come across in their line of work.

John Guest understands that in addition to technological excellence, it is also in the contractors best interests that their products are easy to use and quick to install. That is why they’ve incorporated alignment arrows on products like their slip connectors, allowing the user to see when the appliance is in proper alignment. Furthermore, John Guest ProLock products feature Twist-to-Lock technology, which allows the user to simply twist the fittings into place. An audible click will signal when the device is properly locked in. In addition to providing high-quality products, it is also important that the fittings allow for quick and efficient installations, allowing the user to maximize their time and make more repairs and installations each day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScX3E6CCKXM

ProLock fittings are made from a variety of materials and can be used to address a number of issues that may emerge over the course of the contractor’s day-to-day assignments. Their products can be used to address bursts, leaks, and connections that may emerge when dealing with gasses or liquids and can be used on PEX, copper, or CPVC. No matter what the issue, rest assured that John Guest has you covered. With over 50 years of experience Fitting the Future, John Guest ProLock is set to continue that record of excellence into 2019 and beyond.

Cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) is manufactured using three different methods of cross-linking. PEX-A is produced by the peroxide (Engel) method. Common brands sold in North America produced under the Engel method would be Uponor, Rehau & MrPEX.

One unique property of PEX-a is its ability to be heated, using a heat gun, and repaired if kinked in the handling process which eliminates the need to cut the tubing and install a coupling. This information is widely known by plumbers having experience with this type PEX but for those not familiar I thought I’d take a couple minutes and put it all in a quick video. The total time it took to make this simple repair was about 5 minutes using the cordless heat gun. I edited the video to speed up the process, using a corded heat gun would also quicken the process. No manufacturer condones the use of a flame (torch) as a heat source.