flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Committed to green-building practices and efficient radiant installations

Sponsored Content Plumbing

Committed to green-building practices and efficient radiant installations

It took five months for three dedicated crew members plus one runner to install 138,000 feet of PEX tubing with the Radiant Rollout Mats.


By Uponor | July 16, 2018
The Delta Electronics (America’s) 170,000-square-foot headquarters

The Delta Electronics (America’s) 170,000-square-foot headquarters is a LEED Platinum, net-zero energy building in Fremont, Calif.

When Delta Electronics (Americas) expanded its headquarters in Fremont, Calif., they leaned on the company’s mission “to provide innovative, clean and energy-efficient solutions for a better tomorrow.” The headquarters is a shining example of creative thinking paired with a desire to protect the environment to develop their 12th green building worldwide.

To help meet the LEED® Platinum and net-zero energy building standards, the company chose to go with a radiant heating and cooling system from Uponor. Originally specified for a conventional radiant tubing installation, the mechanical contractor, ACCO Engineered Systems, suggested changing the specification to Uponor’s Radiant Rollout™ Mats for a faster, more efficient and consistent installation. ACCO had recently completed several large commercial projects using the mats, including the Pier 15 Exploratorium in San Francisco and the SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District) building.

ACCO, in conjunction with Sean Timmons of ALFATECH-Timmons, and Osborne Company, an Uponor rep firm, designed the radiant heating and cooling system using the mats for the 170,000-square-foot campus. The radiant slabs are the primary cooling and heating systems in the campus buildings so it was crucial for the design to ensure comfort as well as the desired energy efficiencies.

Due to their previous experience with the Radiant Rollout Mats, ACCO spent a considerable amount of time up front designing the slab construction, the sequence of the slab construction and how the mats would be fabricated to align with the installation thought process. “We eliminated a lot of potential problems up front – lessons that we learned on other projects,” said Jonathan Bell, ACCO project manager.

 

The headquarters includes a radiant heating and cooling system The headquarters includes a radiant heating and cooling system featuring 138,000 feet of PEX tubing installed via Radiant Rollout™ Mats from Uponor.

 

It took five months for three dedicated crew members plus one runner to install 138,000 feet of PEX tubing with the Radiant Rollout Mats. It would have taken much more time – and labor – to install the tubing using conventional PEX rails or tie-down methods.

The installers needed a bit of onsite training to get up to speed, and the first couple of circuits went in a little slower while Osborne Company helped demonstrate efficiencies and effective ways to speed up the installation. “But it didn’t take long for the crew to have a full understanding of the processes, and they quickly picked up the pace for the rest of the installation,” Bell said.

As with any project, there are challenges to overcome in buildings of this magnitude. “Having to accommodate physical building changes that occurred after we had procured the material was one of the challenges we had to work with,” Bell said. “And construction delays threated to leave the tubing exposed to the sun for longer periods of time than we had anticipated. We had to do some quick thinking to make sure the tubing was protected from possible prolonged sun damage.”

Osborne, the Uponor rep firm, became an instrumental strategic partner in helping overcome and solve these unique challenges, and Bell is pleased with the process, the solutions and how quickly the crew installed the Radiant Rollout Mats.

“For large, open circuits, the installation of the Radiant Rollout Mats is much quicker than laying down regular tubing,” he said. “And the prefabricated and labelled mats allows for more efficient material handling onsite, which is very important in these large installations.”

 

Uponor

800.321.4739

uponorpro.com

Tags

Related Stories

| Oct 4, 2011

GREENBUILD 2011: Large diameter polypropylene-random pipe unveiled

Available in North America for large scale piping applications including high-rise buildings, large chilled water systems, district energy, and water mains. 

| Sep 28, 2011

Bradley sponsors design studio on intelligent buildings for UWM SARUP

 The studio is taught by Gregory D. Thomson, assistant professor and co-director of the Institute for Ecological Design at UWM.

| Sep 12, 2011

Living Buildings: Are AEC Firms up to the Challenge?

Modular Architecture > You’ve done a LEED Gold or two, maybe even a LEED Platinum. But are you and your firm ready to take on the Living Building Challenge? Think twice before you say yes.

| May 25, 2011

TOTO tests universal design at the AIA conference

If you could be 80 years old for 30 minutes—and have to readjust everything you think you know about your own mobility—would you do it?

| May 20, 2011

Hotels taking bath out of the bathroom

Bathtubs are disappearing from many hotels across the country as chains use the freed-up space to install ever more luxurious showers, according to a recent USAToday report. Of course, we reported on this move--and 6 other hospitality trends--back in 2006 in our special report "The Inn Things: Seven Radical New Trends in Hotel Design."

| May 10, 2011

Cascadia Green Building Council report urges net-zero water systems for multifamily and commercial buildings

A new report from the Cascadia Green Building Council offers best management practices for designing safe, efficient, and effective net-zero water systems for the multifamily, commercial, single-family, and neighborhood market segments.

| Feb 10, 2011

Green Plumbing Fixtures Take a Major Leap Forward

Today’s low-flow plumbing fixtures not only conserve water, they also provide convenience and ease of maintenance.

| Feb 10, 2011

Sloan Valve Co. Flushmate

Sloan Valve Co.’s Flushmate IV 1-gallon pressure-assist system uses air pressure to flush. Rather than pulling waste through the trapway, the system, which works with tank-style high-efficiency toilets, pushes the waste through at nearly three times the flow rate of gravity units. Large water surface area also helps the toilets stay clean longer.

| Feb 10, 2011

Delta WaterSense-labeled showerheads

Delta offers nine collections with WaterSense-labeled showerheads, which are equipped with droplet-enlarging technology that increases both water and energy savings. An Arzo Collection showerhead is pictured.

| Feb 10, 2011

Kohler urinals

Kohler offers urinals with three flush options to fit a variety of applications: standard 1-gallon, pint, or waterless.

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