flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Big ideas in a small space

Sponsored Content Plumbing

Big ideas in a small space

Tiny house with Viega products finished second in a tiny house competition in California.


By Viega | November 10, 2017

The team’s award-winning tiny house entry.

The tiny-house craze is huge – TV shows, blogs, daily articles in the news and websites are dedicated to the trend. Now Viega has a hand in it, too – contributing to a tiny-house competition in California. The team from University of California, Berkeley, utilized different Viega products and finished second in the competition, pulling in some other awards as well.

Viega is a member of the Center for the Built Environment (CBE), a UC Berkeley-sponsored scientific research partner, so the collaboration on the tiny house grew from that relationship. Students from the CBE formed a team to compete in the tiny-house building competition, and Viega came on board as a sponsor of the entry, providing products, loaning tools and giving some advice to what became a very successful venture.

The Berkeley team wanted their tiny house to be completely off the grid, able to produce its own energy and use as little water as possible. With efficiency in mind, the team worked to create a system to recycle as much water as they could for a second use.

Laney Siegner, in her third year of the Energy and Resources group PhD program at Berkeley, was one of the project managers and led the design of the water and wastewater systems.

 

The team used the Viega PureFlow system.

 

“Our concept was to pump the greywater to planter boxes on the back end of the trailer/house and then filter it through the planter boxes, through a UV disinfection light, and then recollect it as filtered greywater,” Siegner said. “Our highly ambitious goal was to get the water back to potable, but we couldn’t quite achieve that. We did a lot of testing on it, and there was still a little turbidity, but we determined it was okay for several uses.”

The team made good use of the Viega PureFlow system, installing PureFlow PEX in red and blue for hot and cold potable water, and also purple for reclaimed water, as well as PureFlow Press Polymer fittings. The PEX in ½" and ¾" was utilized on the project, and the team was also able to use a ManaBloc in the mechanical room. They chose to cover it with clear plastic, so the plumbing is still visible in the completed home.

The PureFlow PEX products played a big role in the whole water system, with lots of tubing used not only for hot and cold water output, but to move the greywater through the recycling system.

The idea impressed the judges of the competition, and Berkeley’s team won the award for water conservation, as well as for overall sustainability.

“Viega’s support was essential and extremely important for the success of our project,” said Caroline Karmann, a PhD candidate at Berkeley who served as architect for the tiny house. “The high quality of Viega’s products has been a key aspect in the functionality of our water systems, which is unusual and complex since we are off-grid. We were profoundly lucky to have this collaboration with Viega.”

Read more about this project here.

Tags

Related Stories

Sponsored | | Oct 13, 2014

Liberty Utilities protects installers with Viega MegaPress

Liberty Utilities of New Hampshire wanted a way to keep its installers safe without compromising the quality of their installations, which is why the utility provider decided to start installing Viega MegaPress. SPONSORED CONTENT

Sponsored | | Sep 13, 2014

Right Way Plumbing finishes first at Max Planck Florida Institute

The Max Planck Florida Institute consists of a three-story, 100,000-sf scientific research facility with 30,000 feet of copper joined with Viega ProPress fittings.

Sponsored | | Jun 22, 2014

JW Marriott Indianapolis redefines city’s skyline

The 34-story JW Marriott is both the largest and tallest hotel in Indianapolis. One of the most prestigious hotels in the city, the JW Marriott has hosted celebrities and NFL teams alike. 

| May 1, 2014

Tight on space for multifamily? Check out this modular kitchen tower

The Clei Ecooking kitchen, recently rolled out at Milan's Salone de Mobile furniture fair, squeezes multiple appliances into a tiny footprint.

| Feb 27, 2014

Transition Fittings from Viega Make Press Connections Between Copper and PEX Systems

Viega offers the only press fitting to transition from copper to PEX tubing, eliminating the need for solder or threaded adapters.

| Jan 8, 2014

United Association, NRDC seek major plumbing code changes

Proposed changes include mandating the insulation of hot water piping in new buildings. 

| Nov 25, 2013

Building Teams need to help owners avoid 'operational stray'

"Operational stray" occurs when a building’s MEP systems don’t work the way they should. Even the most well-designed and constructed building can stray from perfection—and that can cost the owner a ton in unnecessary utility costs. But help is on the way.

| Oct 27, 2013

Uponorpro.com now features LiveChat online technical support for professionals

Free service provides professionals in the PEX plumbing, fire sprinkler, and radiant heating and cooling industries access to Uponor Technical and Design Services online for support.

| Sep 27, 2013

ASHRAE/IES publish first standard focused on commissioning process

ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 202, Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems, identifies the minimum acceptable commissioning process for buildings and systems as described in ASHRAE’s Guideline 0-2005, The Commissioning Process. Standard 202 is ASHRAE’s first standard focused on the commissioning process.

| May 9, 2013

10 high-efficiency plumbing fixtures

From a "no sweat" toilet to a deep-well lavatory, here's a round up of the latest high-efficiency plumbing fixtures.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Plumbing

EPA to revise criteria for WaterSense faucets and faucet accessories

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to revise its criteria for faucets and faucet accessories to earn the WaterSense label. The specification launched in 2007; since then, most faucets now sold in the U.S. meet or exceed the current WaterSense maximum flow rate of 1.5 gallons per minute (gpm). 



halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021