Installers find design and installation benefits from PEX plumbing system for micro apartments project The Interurban Lofts in Shoreline, Wash., just outside of Seattle, are part of a new housing trend for millennials looking for a hybrid approach to home life. These “apodments,” as they’re called, feature a unique setup of eight studio units per Read more
Uponor
Installers find design and installation benefits from PEX plumbing system for micro apartments project
The Interurban Lofts in Shoreline, Wash., just outside of Seattle, are part of a new housing trend for millennials looking for a hybrid approach to home life. These “apodments,” as they’re called, feature a unique setup of eight studio units per “pod” with a full bathroom in each unit and a shared kitchen. Each unit is partially furnished with a bed, microwave and mini-fridge.
The community atmosphere targets university students, recent graduates, young professionals and even seniors with the purpose of giving individuals more affordable housing and the opportunity to spend money on experiences, not spaces.
When planning the design for the six-story, 22,000-square-foot, 80-unit complex, the developers wanted a plumbing system that was efficient, durable and long-lasting, so they chose to go with PEX. Uponor’s design engineers and the Interurban Lofts project engineers worked in tandem to create an efficient system utilizing the flexible PEX piping along with ProPEX® expansion connections and multiport tees throughout.
The project used more than 10,000 ft. of Uponor AquaPEX® tubing to plumb the entire structure. For a few of the installers, it was their first time working with Uponor PEX. Thankfully, onsite training from the manufacturer gave them a short-lived learning curve.
“Once you’ve tried making a fitting two times, you’ve got it. It just becomes common sense,” said Roman Hudson, foreman at Wolfe Plumbing. “The Milwaukee M18™ FORCELOGIC™ ProPEX expansion tool operates the same as the smaller tool — just pull the trigger and let it go.”
The team appreciated the faster, easier installation with the Uponor PEX system, which included a lighter-weight solution compared to copper and other metallic piping.
“PEX is more forgiving and it’s lighter than copper,” said Hudson. “We used to use CPVC, stainless and copper pipes, but ProPEX fittings, man, it’s quick and fast. Once you started figuring it out, PEX is faster.”
The benefits didn’t stop there. With the design expertise from a manufacturer that’s been in the PEX industry for more than four decades, the project also reaped additional advantages beyond the installation.
“The cool thing about Uponor Design Services is, because it’s their product, they’ll push the engineering to the max,” said Bert Shepardson, commercial plumbing project manager at
Wolfe Plumbing. “That’s what allows us to use smaller pipe sizes and have more favorable installs.”
Uponor North has appointed product-management professional Chad Meyer to the newly created position of senior director, Intelligent Water. Meyer will lead the commercialization of the new Phyn Plus smart water assistant + shutoff, which made its debut in early January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the International Builders’ Show in Orlando. He Read more
Uponor North has appointed product-management professional Chad Meyer to the newly created position of senior director, Intelligent Water. Meyer will lead the commercialization of the new Phyn Plus smart water assistant + shutoff, which made its debut in early January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the International Builders’ Show in Orlando. He reports to Dena Mayne, vice president of Marketing and Customer Experience, Uponor North America.
“Phyn Plus is the first of many anticipated launches into the intelligent water category for us,” says Mayne. “Beyond bringing Phyn Plus successfully to market this spring through our new Uponor Pro Squad, Chad will also create a long-term strategic roadmap focused on partnership, technologies and services that will help define Uponor as a leader in intelligent water solutions for consumers and our industry.”
Apple Valley, Minn. — Uponor Corporation (Uponor) announced that it will invest an additional USD $10 million in Phyn, a joint venture between Uponor and Belkin International, bringing its total investment in the company to USD $25 million. With this second round of funding, Uponor establishes a 50 percent ownership in Phyn, with the other Read more
Apple Valley, Minn. — Uponor Corporation (Uponor) announced that it will invest an additional USD $10 million in Phyn, a joint venture between Uponor and Belkin International, bringing its total investment in the company to USD $25 million. With this second round of funding, Uponor establishes a 50 percent ownership in Phyn, with the other 50% owned by Belkin International.
Phyn will use the funding to further accelerate market penetration and scale the company’s operations as it prepares for commercialization in late spring of its debut product Phyn Plus, smart water assistant + shutoff. As a joint-venture company, Phyn will be consolidated into Uponor’s financial accounts using the equity method.
“Uponor is proud of the innovative work that Phyn is doing, and we see tremendous potential in the solutions that Phyn is bringing to market,” added Jyri Luomakoski, president and CEO, Uponor Corporation. “Our additional investment represents our commitment to the shared vision for the future of intelligent water systems.”
“This funding from Uponor further cements Phyn’s position as the leading solution in the smart water space,” said Ryan Kim, CEO of Phyn. “It comes at a pivotal time for our company and allows us to grow our world-class team further as we continue to dedicate our efforts to solving some of the toughest challenges facing water, so that we not only protect our homes, but also become better stewards of water, our most precious natural resource.”
Phyn Plus is an intelligent water monitor that attaches to the main water line of homes. Through a combination of high-definition pressure sensing and machine learning, Phyn Plus detects leaks and plumbing issues and can automatically shut off the main water supply when needed to prevent costly damage. Phyn Plus will be available for purchase in the U.S., starting late spring, for USD $850 exclusively through the Uponor Pro Squad, a nationwide network of expertly trained plumbers and water specialists.
“Our objective with the joint venture has always been to help progress our business and the plumbing industry into the digital era with better ways to use water more intelligently,” said Bill Gray, president, Uponor North America. “That focus remains the same today, with this additional investment simply underlining both our belief in this partnership and our commitment to being innovation leaders in this space for many years to come.”
With PEX installations in new-home construction surpassing copper and CPVC combined, professionals need a reliable PEX product they can count on that will offer long-lasting performance and durability. Uponor is answering the demand with even more solutions for designers and installers to incorporate the value of a complete PEX plumbing system throughout a home or Read more
With PEX installations in new-home construction surpassing copper and CPVC combined, professionals need a reliable PEX product they can count on that will offer long-lasting performance and durability.
Uponor is answering the demand with even more solutions for designers and installers to incorporate the value of a complete PEX plumbing system throughout a home or multifamily building.
With the ProPEX® water service offering, installers can connect directly to a water meter, eliminating the need for additional fittings and couplings, allowing professionals to provide the reliability, high-performance and efficiency of a complete Uponor AquaPEX® plumbing system from inlet to faucet.
Targeted for single-family homes and multifamily submetering, the offering is available in engineered polymer (EP) straight or angle fittings as well as lead-free (LF) brass straight or angle valves for connecting ¾” and 1″ Uponor AquaPEX® pipe to ⅝”, ¾” and 1″ water meters. Both fittings and valves feature NPSM swivel connections found on all water meters sized ⅝” to 1″.
The offering has tamper-resistant features to meet AWWA C708-2011, Section 4.3.11 requirements. The fittings and valves have holes that allow for wire to be inserted and soft-soldered to prevent dismantling.
The offering also includes mounting brackets to support the water meter system. The mounting brackets, which can be can be secured to the floor, wall or ceiling, hold the meter and piping in place while securing the system around the fittings or valves.
To learn more, visit uponorpro.com.
This Tiny House on wheels may be small, but it is big on features. At a cozy 150 square feet, the home is nothing short of luxurious, with high-tech building systems combined with high-end appliances and furnishings. Designed in collaboration with 30 architects, engineers, and materials specialists, this safe and sustainable home has helped educate Read more
This Tiny House on wheels may be small, but it is big on features. At a cozy 150 square feet, the home is nothing short of luxurious, with high-tech building systems combined with high-end appliances and furnishings. Designed in collaboration with 30 architects, engineers, and materials specialists, this safe and sustainable home has helped educate and inspire over 50,000 people who have toured it since 2015.
The homeowner, Tracey Powell, also happens to be its designer and builder. She and her brother, Trever Powell, wanted to ensure her home was safe, sustainable, durable, functional and technological. When it came to choosing a plumbing system to meet all of her needs, she first did her research, and then called Uponor.
Like many homes in this growing community, Powell’s tiny house is on wheels, and code-compliant for frequent transport. “We were worried that most plumbing connections wouldn’t hold up to vibration and movement during transport,” said Powell. “So thank goodness we found ProPEX® expansion fittings, which are highly leak-resistant and get stronger over time.”
Sustainability was an extremely important aspect of the project, especially when choosing a plumbing system.
“I wanted the quality of my drinking water to be high,” explained Powell. The fact that the ProPEX® expansion fittings don’t need adhesives and glues like other fittings was very important to me. I don’t want chemicals seeping into my water.”
Every inch counts in a tiny home, so Powell was pleased with the flexibility of the ½” Uponor AquaPEX® tubing. The bend-radius made it easy to install quick turns with each change in direction, without having to stop and cut a fitting. Building a tiny house comes with challenges, but Uponor helped tackle these challenges with a little creativity.
“We wanted to prevent the PEX tubing from touching the spray foam insulation, but needed it located as close to the interior conditioned space as possible and in a very narrow wall cavity,” said Powell. “Even though ProPEX resists freezing and condensation, we took extra precautions and used Uponor’s Ecoflex® insulation to protect the PEX tubing—it’s worked out great.”
Because the tiny house includes numerous high-end technologies, there are many plumbing fixtures with metal fittings. Powell was impressed with how easy and seamless it was to connect the ProPEX expansion fittings with the wide-array of metal fittings.
In the future, Powell plans to consult other homeowners in designing their very own tiny houses and wants to help navigate them through best products, practices and processes—and she says an Uponor AquaPEX plumbing system is definitely on her list.
“The Uponor plumbing system is the easiest and most efficient piping for any tiny house,” she said.
Project Highlights:
• 150-square-foot tiny home
• Uponor AquaPEX plumbing system
• Distributor: The Granite Group
• Engineer: RW Sullivan
Project Data:
• ½” Uponor AquaPEX
• ProPEX Fittings
