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FEATURES

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GETTING TECHNICAL 8 Designer’s Notebook ...................................... Joseph V. Messina, CPD

Value Engineering: What Is It?

10 Forensic Engineering .................................. Mark Passamaneck, PE

Engineering Design and Its Relationship to Product Liability

15 Hydronics for Plumbing Engineers ................... Roy C.E. Ahlgren

The “Overlooked” System

16 Focus on Fire Protection ....................... Stephen Ziga, CPD, SET, CFPS

Choosing the Right Sprinkler for the Right Application

26 The Green Column ................................... Winston Huff, CPD, LEED AP

How to Green a Transit ProgramCover by brian Stafford

Frank V. Sica, aia, and Steven P. battersonThe State university Construction Fund of new York has devoted significant resources to renovating and expanding the science center at the State university of new York College at buffalo. This article explains how the facility’s acid waste system, laboratory vacuum and air systems, and pure water system were upgraded, all without interrupting service during classroom hours.

Case Study: laboratory Retrofitting

Paul R. Halamar and Karl e. yrjanainen, Pe, CPd, leed aPHigh containment typically refers to biosafety level 4 laboratories associated with work involving the most dangerous, lethal, and exotic agents that possess high risk of aerosol transmission, such as the Ebola virus and smallpox. in this article, learn about the special-ized systems that are dedicated to serving such spaces, including breathing air, chemical disinfectant, and biological waste.

High-containment Plumbing design

donald Keith, CPd, mSSEngineers and architects can enhance doctors’ skills and abilities by providing suitable designs for the medical gas and vacuum systems that are a major necessity in any hospital or healthcare facility. This article explains how to determine the required number of outlets, locate source equipment, route the piping, place valves in the appropriate positions, and size the entire system.

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2 Plumbing Systems & Design MAY 2010

Plumbing Systems & Design™ is published by the American Society of Plumbing Engineers, Inc., 2980 S. River Road, Des Plaines, Illinois 60018, 847-296-0002, fax 847-296-2963, [email protected], www.aspe.org. No charge for subscriptions to qualified individuals. Annual rate for subscriptions to nonqualifying individuals outside North America: $175.00 USD. POSTMASTER: Change of address should be sent to Plumbing Systems & Design, 2980 S. River Road, Des Plaines, Illinois 60018. Plumbing Systems & Design is an official publication of the American Society of Plumbing

Engineers. Statements of fact, material, and opinion contained in contributed articles are the responsibility of the authors alone and do not imply an opinion or official position by the officers, staff, or members of the American Society of Plumbing Engineers. ©2010, American Society of Plumbing Engineers. All rights reserved; material may not be reproduced without written permission.

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PubliSHeR/editOR in CHieFStanley M. [email protected]

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teCHniCal editORSKarl Atteberry, PE

Thomas J. breu, PE, CPd, lEEd APEsteban Cabello, PE, CPd, FASPE

dale J. Cagwin, PE, CFEiJohn deleo, CPd

Paul digiovanni, PERichard Ellis, CPd, CETdaniel Fagan, PE, CPd

doug Page, PE, lEEd APJeffrey Ruthstrom, CPd

Mark Tanner, CPdPatrick Whitworth, CPd, FASPE

James Zebrowski, PE, CPdStephen Ziga, CPd, CET

managing editORgretchen Pienta

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eXeCutiVe PubliSHeRdavid R. Jern

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gRaPHiC deSigneRbrian Stafford

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adVeRtiSing SaleS RePReSentatiVenew England, Mid-Atlantic,

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Published byamerican Society of Plumbing engineers

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aSPe board of directors 2008–2010President

Julius A. Ballanco, PE, CPD, FASPEJB Engineering and Code Consulting PC

Munster, IN

Vice President, TechnicalWilliam F. Hughes Jr., CPD, LEED AP

Robinson Green BerettaProvidence, R.I.

Vice President, EducationDiane M. Wingard, CPD

KTD Consulting EngineersAltamonte Springs, FL

Vice President, LegislativeGreg A. Farmer, PE

Michael Brady Inc. EngineeringKnoxville, TN

Vice President, MembershipJeffrey Ingertson, CPD

Titeflex Corp., Gastite DivisionSierra Vista, AZ

Vice President, AffiliateWilliam M. Smith

Jay R. Smith Mfg. Co.Montgomery, AL

SecretaryGregory L. Mahoney, CPD, FASPETLC Engineering for Architecture

Brentwood, TN

TreasurerGregory L. Mahoney, CPD, FASPETLC Engineering for Architecture

Brentwood, TN

Region 1 DirectorR. Paul Silvestre

B.J. Terroni Co. Inc.Bensalem, PA

Region 2 DirectorMitchell J. Clemente, CPDWestlake Reed Leskosky

Cleveland, OH

Region 3 DirectorDavid H. AnelliHeery DesignOrlando, FL

Region 4 DirectorMatthew R. Bell, CPD

Plumbing Systems DesignSantee, CA

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PERSPECTIVES 6 From the Publisher ............................................... Stanley M. Wolfson

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35 The World of Design/Build ................................. Michael E. Smith, CPD

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ASPE REPORT 42 From the Executive’s Desk 43 Society News 44 Nominating Committee 46 Bylaws Update 47 New ASPE Members

CONTINUING EDUCATION 40 Chilled Drinking Water Systems 40 Continuing Education Questions 41 Continuing Education Answer Sheet and Application Form

READER SERVICES 48 Classifieds 48 Advertisers Index

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By STAnlEY M. WolFSonFROMTHEPUBLISHER

Spread the Word About PS&D and Get $10!

Where are all the plumbing engineer readers? From time to time we wonder about this. The difficulty is trying to quantify exactly how many actual plumbing engineers and designers are out there. You would think that the American Society of Plumbing Engineers would have the definitive number, but it doesn’t. Each year, individuals join the Society, and others leave. We do make an effort to learn why someone is leav-ing the Society, and often it’s just a misunderstanding, and everything is put right again. However, on a few occasions it seems impossible to find an individual. Poof! They have disappeared.

Of course, the readership of PS&D is greater than only plumbing engineers, designers, and contractors. We welcome anyone with an interest in plumbing engineering. Yet, as hard as we try (and we do try), we cannot seem to find some of the “mystery” plumbing engineers, designers, and contractors who are supposed to exist “out there.” How many are there? We have heard numbers from 22,000 to 25,000 bandied about so much that we tend to believe them.

Where Am I Going with This? Well, I thought it would be nice to solicit the current subscribers’ help in two areas. First, be sure to remember to update your contact informa-tion if it changes and to resubscribe each year. This is essen-tial for us to continue to find you and for you to continue to receive the magazine.

The second thing is a “publisher’s push.” This is where I ask you to help us keep the subscribers we have, get any previ-ous subscribers who have dropped off back on our subscriber rolls, and, most importantly, help us get new subscribers.

“What’s in it for me?” you may be thinking. We are going to add a line to all subscriber cards and on the online sub-scription form where subscribers can list their sponsor, or the person who got them to subscribe. We will keep track of

the sponsor names, and at the end of every three months, the individual who has sponsored the most new subscribers or got back previous subscribers will be sent a $10 ASPE coupon that can be used when you purchase anything from the ASPE Store or for any ASPE product or service (the Convention, Technical Symposium, webinars, etc.). Every new subscriber will add up. Before you know it, you will have a complimentary registra-tion to the Convention. (Note: ASPE coupons will be dated and must be used within two years of the date.)

tHanK yOu adVeRtiSeRSAll too often, some things are taken for granted. Of course, due to the recent economic debacle that hit every magazine in the United States, no publisher will take any advertiser for granted ever again.

PS&D has always been grateful and regularly stays in touch and thanks every advertiser, no matter how big or how small. Each advertiser is vital to the overall success of this magazine.

Therefore, I thought it was important to take this oppor-tunity to very publicly say a giant THANK YOU to every advertiser, every subscriber, and every reader of PS&D. We very much appreciate each and every one of you. If at any time you feel you have been slighted in any way, please send an e-mail directly to me at [email protected] or to our executive publisher at [email protected]. You will absolutely, positively receive a response.

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By JoSEPH V. MESSinA, CPddESignER’S noTEbooK

Value Engineering: What Is It?What is value engineering (VE)? It is a procedure used to seek the best functional balance between the cost, reliability, and perfor-mance of a product, project, process, or service. It is conducted by a multidisciplinary team composed of experienced and special-ized professionals. The value engineering team should be (but not always) independent of the design team, and its members shall have experience in the particular product, system, or project. Working as an extension of the design team, the VE team analyzes the project from a function/cost standpoint and provides alterna-tive design suggestions that may improve performance, construc-tion, and life-cycle costs. They offer suggestions that may improve construction methods or schedules and that may introduce flex-ibility into the operations or maintenance of the system or project.

A lot of terms have been used over the years to describe this con-cept, including value analysis, value control, value assurance, and value management. All have the same basic objectives: reduce cost (most importantly), increase productivity, and improve quality.

tHe Value engineeRing PROCeSSValue engineering can be introduced at any point in the design, construction, or life-cycle of a project. However, it is best to start the process during the design stage so that changes can be implemented prior to bidding. In this regard, it is important to integrate the VE team into all aspects and phases of the project because they ultimately will be responsible for the finished project and its final total cost.

Value engineering often is performed because a project has exceeded its budget and costs must be reduced. To achieve this, the VE and design teams must consider many variables and alternatives that fall within the owner’s defined scope. In theory, this process should be fairly simple—just control and reduce costs. However, the team first must have an idea about where and how to achieve this.

At least three aspects of costs will be a concern to the overall development, engineering, and construction team: develop-ment costs, engineering and design costs, and construction costs. Within these three areas are other related costs, such as property acquisition, inspections, licenses and permits, build out, and finishing. Along with these are three components to the cost cycle: materials, labor, and administration and operations (typically described as overhead).

The VE team must constantly monitor and evaluate all aspects of the project, including modifications that may affect the quality, life expectancy or life-cycle, maintenance cycles, and reliability of each aspect of the project. While labor is a major component of construction, it often is not part of the value engineering analysis. The main effort of value engineering is directed at the cost and value of items included in the project, the cost of construction elements, the functionality of each element, and the materials and procedures included in the design of the building.

WHat iS Value?This question often arises, and the word “value” means different things to different people. To help, a number of basic questions have been developed as part of the concept of value engineering. These questions relate to the general nature of value engineering and are relevant for all types of engineering, from construction to manufacturing. They are as follows:

1. Are the products, systems, and materials necessary for the functionality of the project, and do they contribute value to the project?

2. Are the costs of the products, systems, or materials in pro-portion to their usefulness within the project?

3. Do the designed or specified products, systems, or materials need all the designated features?

4. Will other available products, systems, or materials accomplish the intended use or purpose and provide better performance?

5. Are the exact products, systems, or materials available for less?6. Will other available products, systems, or materials accom-

plish the intended use and purpose at a lower cost?7. Will other available products, systems, or materials accom-

plish the intended use and purpose with equal performance?8. Can another dependable supplier provide the products, sys-

tems, or materials for less?9. Does the total cost of the products, systems, or materials

include all materials, reasonable labor, and overhead?10. Are the products, systems, or materials the proper ones con-

sidering the quantity available or the quantity that is needed and will be used?

tHe Value engineeRing JOb PlanIn the world of value engineering is a process called VEJP (Value Engineering Job Plan). Because this analysis is in itself an engi-neering project, the job plan is divided into phases, and the number of phases can vary (see Table 1). It all has to do with which book you read or what expert you studied. It doesn’t really matter how many phases you use as long as you are comfortable with them and understand the techniques. (For the purpose of this article, I will use the phases listed by SAVE International.)

Phase one: informationThis phase describes the project and collects the necessary infor-mation by incorporating three questions:

1. What is it?2. What does it do?3. What does it cost? Gathering information is straightforward. The hard part for the

engineer or designer is to make sure that the information col-lected is factual, accurate, and unbiased and does not contain assumptions. The hardest part of the value engineering process is to collect accurate and factual information, yet this is a crucial step since value engineering is only as good and accurate as the qual-ity and accuracy of the data and information collected and used throughout the process.

Phase Two: Analysis and Function AnalysisTo identify the functions of the project, the questions asked during this phase are “What does it do?” and “What is it supposed to do?” The analysis and function phase often is considered the heart of value engineering because in this phase the engineer has a meth-odology to re-establish the original project.

The three rules for function and analysis are:1. The expression of all functions must be accomplished using

two words: one active verb and one descriptive or measur-able noun (see Table 2). Rule 1 is based on the adage that less is more.

2. All functional definitions can be divided into one of two levels of importance: work or appearance (or selling). Work functions are expressed in action verbs and descriptive or measurable nouns that establish a quantitative statement for the item. Rule 2 provides meaning to the descriptive terms of Rule 1.

8 Plumbing Systems & Design MAY 2010 WWW.PSDMAGAZINE.ORGWWW.PSDMAGAZINE.ORG

3. All functional definitions also can be divided into one of two descriptive uses: basic or secondary. The basic function is one that describes the primary purpose for a product, system, or material. The secondary functions are all other functions of the product, system, or material that do not directly accom-plish the primary purpose, but support the primary purpose or are the result of a specific engineering or design approach.

Phase Three: CreativityThis phase evaluates the project with an emphasis on this ques-tion: “What else will do the job?” The creative part of the value engineering process is best summed up by the expression “start with a clean sheet of paper.” The VE team must separate them-selves from all of the previous phases. The team needs to leave the drawings and model behind and find a fresh environment in which to reassemble. The only information that should be permit-ted is the verb-noun functions that describe the single product, system, or material being analyzed.

Phase Four: EvaluationThe evaluation phase is a continuation of the creativity phase. This phase deals with appraisal, judgment, and selection of the qualita-tive and quantitative criteria and ideas developed for each func-tion. Here, the team goes from divergent thinking to convergent thinking. Divergent thinking is problem identification and fact finding, and convergent thinking is a mixture of appraisal, evalua-tion, judgment, selection, development, and implementation.

Phase Five: development and investigationThe development and investigation phase is a continuation of the evaluation phase. Here, the value engineering team brings in other team members such as the manufacturer, contractor, or owner representative to provide additional creativity and energy to the process. All of the previous functional development is reviewed

by this value-added group, which re-establishes advantages and disadvantages, with the initial value engineering team providing input based on their experience.

iS tHeRe Value in Value engineeRing?In the construction industry, the emphasis is constantly on the cost side of the equation, and all too often the quality of the engineering and design is under attack. Once a client asked me, “Where is the value in value engineering?” Too often value engineering cheapens a project to the point where the owner is not getting any value out of the process. Plumbing engineers and designers must work hard to ensure that the project can live without any elements that are taken out of the project.

Personally, I am not a fan of value engineering. I feel that the design team has the responsibility to watch the budget and keep to it. You always should know a project’s budget so you can keep costs in line. That way, you can avoid unnecessary value engineering.

ReFeRenCeS1. Plumbing Engineering Design Handbook Volume 1, Chapter

11: “Basics of Value Engineering.” American Society of Plumb-ing Engineers, 2009.

2. SAVE International: value-eng.org

JOSePH V. meSSina, CPd, is the discipline director of plumbing engineering for CUH2A Inc., Architecture, Engineering, Planning in Atlanta. He has more than 30 years experience specializing in plumbing and fire protection design of instructional, research, and medical facilities. For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail [email protected].

table 1 Value engineering job plan examples—job plan phases by noted practitioners

Miles Fowler King Parker Mudge International

Information Preparation Information Information General Information

Analysis Information Functionanalysis

Function Information Functionanalysis

Creativity Analysis Creativity Creativity Function Creativity

Judgment Creativity Evaluation Judicial Creativity Evaluation

Development Synthesis Development Evaluation Development

Development Presentation Investigation Presentation

Presentation

Follow-up Follow-up

Source: Society of American Value Engineers International

table 2 Function definition verbs and nouns

Desirable Less Desirable

Active verbs Amplify, apply, attract, change, collect, conduct, control, create, emit, enclose, establish, filter, hold, induce, impede, insulate, interrupt,

modulate, prevent, protect, rectify, reduce, repel, shield, support, transmit

Provide

Measurable nouns Contamination, current, density, energy, flow, fluid, force, friction, heat, insulation, light, liquid, load, oxidation, protection, radiation, torque,

voltage, weight

Article, circuit, component, damage, device, part, repair,

table, wire

Passive verbs Create, decrease, establish, improve, increase

non-measurable nouns Appearance, beauty, convenience, costs, exchange, features, style Effect, form, loops, symmetry

Source: ASPE Plumbing Engineering Design Handbook

MAY 2010 Plumbing Systems & Design 9

By MARK PASSAMAnECK, PE

In the last column, I looked at a material (polyacetal) used to fabricate plumbing components as it related to their failure. In this article, I will explore the relationship between the engineer-ing design process and the failure of a plumbing component as it relates to product liability.

In the litigious society in which we live, everyone connected to the life-cycle of a plumbing component should be concerned with its long-term suitability as it exists in any plumbing system. As an engineer or designer of a plumbing component, you should have a desire to go beyond just limiting liability. As described in the codes and most engineering ethics documents, a designer must be concerned with protecting the people and property exposed to his design from seen or unseen damage and hazards.

a little HiStORyWhile the political, social, and legal reasons are beyond the scope of this article, the decade of the 1970s was largely con-sidered the decade of safety awareness. While a few federal acts were aimed at safety in the 1950s, the majority of the safety acts in use today were developed in the late 1960s and first published in the 1970s, including the Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 gave broad powers to the Federal Trade Commission regard-ing product warranties.

Of particular interest to the plumbing community is that the majority of the plumbing components in use today were conceived of and designed well before the 1970s. Many manu-facturers have never evaluated their components or designs in light of the safety acts and standards implemented in the 1970s and after. While the building codes commonly grandfather in outdated technologies, there is no such provision for an old product design that was produced in the modern era. It is also obvious that courts have held that the “product” for which a designer or producer is responsible includes such items as the warranty, instructions, packaging, labels, and warnings (note: not an all-inclusive list).

tHe engineeRing deSign PROCeSSWhile the topic of engineering design in general would take many articles, this discussion on product liability requires an overview of the engineering design process. The design process commonly is called iterative since it is very rare that an idea can go through the steps of concept to finished product without changes. The design process outlined below is considered the standard in all types of industry. While many more steps may be encountered in a complex part or system, the following serves to define the general steps useful in the design iteration. This process also incorporates the cradle-to-grave responsibility of the designer and manufacturer.

1. Define the function of the product within a system or as a stand alone.

• Iftheproductisitselfasystem,defineeachsubsystemandinitiate an independent design iteration until each com-ponent is uniquely defined.

• Iftheproductiswithinasystem,definesystemparam-eters and environments in which the product will operate.

2. Identify prior designs that may assist or preclude (patents) the design process.

3. Identify all laws, codes, or standards that apply to the product or system.

4. Brainstorm possible design concepts. 5. Remove concepts that are not viable due to manufactur-

ability, regulations, cost, hazards, complexity, integration, functionality, or aesthetics.

6. Choose a design concept. 7. Create the design using accepted design practices appli-

cable to the field of interest. These will necessarily include factors of safety, dynamic loads, static loads, wear, com-patibility, environment of use, durability, cost issues, and materials (suitability, durability, strength, degradation, fabrication, identification of failure modes, and predictable failure locations).

8. Evaluate functionality: geometry, motion, size, complexity, and ergonomics.

9. Evaluate safety: operational, human, environmental, and failure analysis.

10. Evaluate energy: requirements, created, kinematic, ther-modynamic, and chemical.

11. Evaluate quality: marketability, longevity, aesthetics, and durability.

12. Evaluate manufacturability: available processes and new processes.

13. Evaluate environmental aspects: materials, fluids, wastes, interactions, phase changes, flammability, and toxicology.

14. Iterate the design. (Redo steps 7 through 13 based on the analysis.)

15. Lay out the design. 16. Obtain manufacturing criteria. 17. Create a prototype and test (optional). 18. Create the product. 19. Test the product. 20. Reiterate through the entire design process based on

testing and analysis. 21. Produce the product. Some changes may occur, but they

should not impact the actual design. 22. Perform quality control, which is used to evaluate the

compliance of the produced product with the design. 23. Deliver the product. Packaging, labeling, instructions,

and warnings are included in this step, but they also must be considered throughout the process.

Engineering Design and Its Relationship to Product Liability

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24. Consumers use the product. The producer must consider the environment of intended use as well as anticipated or probable misuse of the product. These must be addressed appropriately throughout the design process.

25. Dispose of product. The end of use must be considered by the designers. Fail-safe designs should be incorporated, and any hazards associated with disposal and/or failure must be addressed appropriately as well.

SaFety HieRaRCHySteps 7, 8, 9, and 19 are where a defect or hazard (such as that shown in Figure 1) should be detected in most cases. When detected, the question must be answered as to whether the defect or hazard was foreseeable or unreasonably dangerous. If it was, the commonly held approach in the engineering com-munity to solve the problem is known as the safety hierarchy. This process is based on sound engineering principles coupled with economic considerations and human factors. The first reasonable item in the hierarchy must be utilized, and skipping steps is not appropriate.

The steps are as follows:1. Design it out.2. Guard it out.3. Train it out.4. Warn it out.5. Don’t make it.The hierarchy is intended to evaluate if the problem can be

corrected by engineering measures. However, those measures also can be evaluated in and of themselves. For example, were the warnings understandable, sufficiently broad, or used as a substi-tute for design or guarding?

The design process and the safety hierarchy outlined above almost always include other sub-processes and evaluation tech-niques. Severity indices, fault trees, failure mode and effect analy-sis (FMEA), root cause analysis, and design checklists all are tools that if sufficiently designed and used within the design process will aid the designer in his goal to make a safer product.

PROduCt liability tHeORieSWhen product liability theories are evaluated, three general areas are considered.

1. Design defect:• Wastheproductdesignedtodothejobbasedontherea-

sonable expectation of a consumer, without undue risk?• Wasitdesignedfortheenvironmentofintendeduse?• Wasthedesignproperlyengineeredandtested?

2. Manufacturing defect: Despite a sufficient design, was there a flaw in the:• Processing?• Assembly?• Rawmaterials?

3. Warning defect: Did the manufacturer fail to properly advise regarding:• Assembly?• Useandmaintenance?• Hazards?

aVOiding liabilityHopefully, if you have made it this far, you now are asking yourself how you can improve your products to both reduce liability and improve safety. Much of the general information on design is contained herein, but a more in-depth understanding obviously would be beneficial for the designer.

Let’s look at design defects first. It is important to document what sources of information were used or considered in the design process of a component. The specific issues for the plumbing com-ponent designer that account for a large number of design-related defects are related to stress concentrations and material selection. ASPE publishes the Plumbing Engineering Design Handbook, and Volume 4 covers plumbing components and equipment. I have utilized this reference for years to illustrate what a designer “should” have included in a design. While a lot of good informa-tion is available online, if you use it in a design, be sure to properly record and document the source. Materials, machinery, and design handbooks are prevalent and should be sourced for rel-evant design information. One of the various texts on design and product liability (see Figure 2) also should be included. One of the best for a general understanding is Managing Engineering Design by Hales and Gooch.

Manufacturing defects come in two main areas: assembly and cast/mold defects. This is an area that the designer typically cannot control, but can influence. Some issues of quality control and tolerances have to be determined within the design, and others will be left to the assembly workers, a quality control (QC) department, or line design. When it comes to casting and mold defects, those processes should be considered and properly speci-

Figure 1 Void next to paper clip: The rough surface is the fracture of a filter canister

with a large void. The wire is a paper clip for reference. The void is a stress riser and

also reduced the wall thickness.

Figure 2 Design books: Here are some design books that should be used in a

comprehensive design review, or ones like them.


fied in the design. Then a QC program to ensure compliance must be implemented (see Figure 3).

The third area is related to warnings. Step 3 of the safety hier-archy would be evaluated in this step as instructions for instal-lation and maintenance (training). It is the responsibility of the design engineer and producing company to ensure that a product brought to market is reasonably safe and suitable for the envi-ronment of its intended use. A product subject to degradation, corrosion, catastrophic failure, or other risk of damage to people or property should adequately warn of the risk or danger if there was no other reasonable way to eliminate the risk or failure mode. The product instructions might address, but not be limited to, warnings, providing maintenance instructions, and warning of the consequences of failing to heed the instructions.

The design of warnings should follow American National Stan-dards Institute (ANSI) standards regarding the identification and warning against potential safety hazards. In 1979, the ANSI Z53 Committee of Safety Colors was combined with the Z35 Commit-tee on Safety Signs to form the Z535 Committee, which develops the standards that must be used to design warnings, labels, and instructions intended to identify and warn against hazards and prevent accidents. The relevant standards for products are:

• ANSIZ535.4:Product Safety Signs and Labels

• ANSIZ535.6:Product Safety Information in Product Manuals, Instructions, and Other Collateral Materials

For a warning to be effective, there must be a reasonable degree of certainty that the end user will receive and understand the warning (see Figure 4). The use of warnings also must follow the safety hierarchy. Since warnings are the fourth step, available design alternatives must be considered in the design process. Guarding out of a hazard and subsequent training must be under-taken before warnings can reasonably be considered or designed.

Our society, as stated in the various plumbing codes, relies on the engineer, designer, and manufacturer to produce products that are safe and durable. Society also recognizes and accepts some level of risk, provided that they know about it beforehand and that companies must be economically viable to survive. Don’t shirk your responsibility to the public, your profession, yourself, or your com-pany by producing a product based on an insufficient design.

maRK PaSSamaneCK is a mechanical engineer with 15 years of experience in the forensic field. His forensic background includes the investigation of commercial and residential mechanical and plumbing products and systems and associated failures, damages, and injury causation. He is a nationally recognized forensic engineer who has worked on thousands of cases. His extensive plumbing expertise includes fire suppression systems, scald cases, material analysis, appliance failure analysis, and code and standard compliance. Mark is President of Entropy Engineering Corp. in Sheridan, Colorado, and can be reached at [email protected]. To comment on this article, e-mail [email protected].

Figure 4 Label: While the label does instruct, it fails to warn in that it does not provide

the user with the consequences or possible damages. There are also no “alert” words.

Figure 3 Uncrimped ferrule: The ferrule of this supply riser pulled off with ease as

it was not crimped during manufacture. A QC program could have caught this error

rather easily.


60070 CPF PS&D.indd 1 3/8/10 9:57 AM

By RoY C.E. AHlgREnHYdRoniCS for PluMbing EnginEERS

The “Overlooked” SystemLately, I’ve been reviewing many of the old American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (ASHVE) Guides. ASHVE was one of the ancestors of ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers, which annually publishes a volume of the ASHRAE Handbook. The ASHVE Guide, therefore, was sort of an ancestor of the ASHRAE Handbook.

It’s obvious that HVAC systems have evolved a lot since the first ASHVE Guide was pub-lished in 1922. Back then, HVAC engineers were focused on coal-burning, steam-generating boilers and steam-heating systems. As time went on, systems changed. Hot water and warm air systems became more popular. Refrigeration and air-conditioning systems were developed to provide summertime comfort. However, with those more obvious changes, another compo-nent also was developed: the insulation for mechanical systems.

tHe eVOlutiOn OF inSulatiOnEarly editions of the ASHVE Guide took it for granted that hot surfaces had to be insulated to prevent fires. The 1922 Guide contained a draft ordinance designed to be adopted by local communities to prevent chimney fires. It also recognized the importance of reducing heat loss from a system to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of operation. For example, an early boiler test code required the boiler and test piping to be “normally insulated” during the test, but it was left to the engineers and contractors to determine exactly what that meant.

In the early days of central-heating plants, boiler manufacturers supplied un-jacketed boil-ers. Thus, the engineer or the contractor had to decide what insulation to put on the boiler, how much of it to use, and specifically how to do it. Sometimes, that detail was overlooked. Of course, insulation costs money even as it reduces operating costs, so the Guide provided some interesting nomograms to help designers and contractors figure the best trade-off between the amount of insulation and its cost.

As time went on, the Guide began to publish even more information to aid in making these decisions. Early tables gave the properties of various insulating materials, and some of them seem a little strange to me. For example, the 1938 Guide listed “eel grass between strong paper” and “chemically treated hog hair” as insulating materials to be used in the exterior walls of a building. Boiler and pipe insulation included materials that seem a lot more familiar: 85 percent magnesia, various asbestos products, and rock wool. The K value was provided for each type of insulator to help designers calculate piping heat loss.

By the 1940s, boiler manufacturers saw a competitive advantage in supplying boilers with insulated jackets, making installation a lot easier. Of course, somebody still had to decide which pipes to insulate and how to do it. World War II placed restrictions on the use of stra-tegic materials, so there was a lot of interest in finding alternative insulators. The post-war 1947 Guide included a wider variety of building envelope and piping system insulation. In the 1950s, the widespread use of chilled water systems introduced anti-sweat pipe insulation of various kinds. By the early 1970s, asbestos dust had been identified as a carcinogen, so its use was severely restricted, leading to yet another increase in the types of insulation available. By this time, decisions about insulation were no longer as simple as they had been in the past.

HOW inSulatiOn diFFeRS nOWThe current ASHRAE Handbook chapter “Insulation for Mechanical Systems” shows how far we’ve come from those early days. Much of the chapter content looks familiar: there are still sec-tions on economic insulation thickness, tables giving important properties of insulating materi-als, and some cautions about fire safety. However, the authors of early editions of the Guide wouldn’t recognize a lot of the information, such as:

• Theroleplayedbyinsulationinreducingnoisefrompipesandducts• Thepossibilityofchemicalinteractionsbetweenapipeandaninsulator• TheimportantroleplayedbyvaporbarriersandotherprotectivelayersIf you haven’t looked at it lately, you might benefit by reading the ASHRAE Handbook

chapter “Product Specification.” It spells out the importance of recognizing that the insulation is an important system in itself—one that requires some detailed knowledge and planning. It’s not a detail that should be over-looked.

ROy aHlgRen is a consultant to the hydronics industry. He served as chair of the ASHRAE Technical Committee on Hydronic and Steam Systems and was the director of the Bell & Gossett Little Red Schoolhouse. For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail [email protected].


Thanks to new revisions to the ASTM standards, it’s now easier to protect yourself from the uncertainty surrounding imported

cast iron. The revisions call for product inspection reports to be available upon request that contain more specific and detailed cast iron data across a broader range of pipe samples. If importers can’t provide them, ask questions like - Where was it made? And, were the raw materials

screened for radioactive material?

For more questions to ask importers and information on the new ASTM

standards, visit charlottepipe.com/verify.

1.800.438.6091www.charlottepipe.com

Unfortunately, there are no

The only way to confirm your imported pipe meets standards is by asking for

product inspection reports.

60070 CPF PS&D 1.3 Page.indd 1 3/8/10 9:59 AM

By STEPHEn ZigA, CPd, SET, CFPS

Imagine this: You’ve been assigned a new project—a complete interior demolition and renovation of an existing multistory, mixed-use facility. After a quick perusal of the architect’s sche-matic plans, you understand that the building will contain multi-ple office suites, high-finish conference and lobby areas, mechani-cal, electrical, and LAN rooms at each floor, intermittently located library and dense file areas, a mission-critical server room, and a small warehouse and loading dock area.

Upon further discussions with the design team, you learn that most of the office spaces will be provided with suspended tile ceil-ings, some finished areas will have open structure ceilings, and some special “feature ceilings” are planned in the lobby and confer-ence areas. The mission-critical server room will be provided with a preaction sprinkler system. The warehouse area will have high-bay open ceilings, and miscellaneous goods will be stored in racks.

After downloading all the particulars about this building, you begin to mentally construct the requirements for the facility’s sprinkler systems. You break down the building construction type, occupancy classifications, sprinkler density requirements and zoning, and finally the sprinkler schedule.

The first thing you need to know about creating a sprinkler schedule is that a lot of different sprinkler types are available. If you go to any sprinkler manufacturer’s website, you can spend hours looking at the sprinkler options. I recently counted 166 different sprinkler IDs on one manufacturer’s comprehensive sprinkler chart. The 166 didn’t account for the options of color or temperature rating. If that were the case, they probably offer well over 1,000 different sprinklers from which to choose.

WHat SPRinKleR tyPeS aRe aVailable?Referring to NFPA 13 (2007): Standard for the Installation of Sprin-kler Systems, the following sprinkler types are defined according to their design and performance characteristics.

Spray Spray sprinklers may include standard spray, pendent, upright, sidewall, and extended-coverage types. This sprinkler is listed for its capability to provide fire control for a wide range of fire hazards and has maximum coverage areas as specified in NFPA 13.

Quick-response (QR) This spray sprinkler meets the fast response criteria of NFPA 13 and is listed as a quick-response sprinkler for its intended use. QR sprinklers operate and react to fires faster than standard-response sprinklers. This faster response often results in improved sprinkler performance and may be necessary to control fast-growing fires.

Early Suppression Fast Response (ESFR) This is a type of fast-response sprinkler (see Figure 1) that is listed for its capability to provide suppression of specific high-challenge fire hazards. ESFR sprinklers primarily are provided for high-demand storage applications.

Extended Coverage This type of spray sprinkler (see Figure 2) has maximum cover-age areas greater than the standard spray type. You can see these sprinklers in large, open office or retail areas.

large drop This type of specific application-con-trol-mode sprinkler (see Figure 3) is capable of produc-ing characteristic large water droplets and is listed for its capability to provide control of specific high-challenge fire hazards, such as paper storage.

nozzleThis device is used in applications requiring special water dis-charge patterns, directional spray, or other unusual discharge characteristics. Nozzle sprinklers may be used for specific fire con-trol around process equipment or valuable artwork commodities.

open An open sprinkler does not have actuators or heat-responsive ele-ments and typically is used in a deluge system.

Quick Response Extended Coverage This quick-response sprinkler covers extended protection areas and incorporates the QR characteristics described above. These sprinklers commonly are found in large, open office areas.

Residential This type of fast-response sprinkler has been designed specifically for its ability to enhance occupants’ ability to survive and evacuate the room of fire origin and is listed for use in the protection of dwelling units.

Special A special sprinkler, such as an attic sprinkler, has been tested and listed as prescribed in NFPA 13. The example shown in Figure 4 has a winged tip that provides directional control for water flow at a roof peak.

Specific Application Control Mode A type of spray sprinkler, this is listed at a minimum operating pres-sure with a specific number of operating sprinklers for a given protec-tion scheme and typically is used for the protection of storage areas.

aeStHetiC OPtiOnSOnce you have finalized the sprinkler performance needs for your building, your next consideration is of an aesthetic nature. The fol-lowing sprinklers are defined according to their orientation:

• Concealed:Arecessedsprinklerwithcoverplates• Flush:Asprinklerinwhichallorpartofthebody,includingthe

shank thread, is mounted above the lower plane of the ceiling• Pendent:Asprinklerdesignedtobeinstalledinsuchawaythat

the water stream is directed downward against the deflector• Recessed:Asprinklerinwhichallorpartofthebody,other

than the shank thread, is mounted within a recessed housing• Sidewall:Asprinklerwithspecialdeflectorsthataredesigned

to discharge most of the water away from the nearby wall in a pattern resembling one-quarter of a sphere, with a small por-tion of the discharge directed at the wall behind the sprinkler

• Upright:Asprinklerdesignedtobeinstalledinsuchawaythat the water spray is directed upward against the deflector

Choosing the Right Sprinkler for the Right Application

FoCuS on FiRE PRoTECTion

Figure 1 Early suppression fast-response sprinkler

Figure 2 Extended-coverage sprinkler


SPeCial deSign CHaRaCteRiStiCSIn addition to function and installation orientation, you may need to select a sprinkler with additional design characteristics. The following sprinklers are defined according to a special application or environment:

• Corrosion-resistant:Asprinklerfabricatedwithcorrosion-resistant material, or with special coatings or platings, to be used in an atmosphere that would corrode unprotected sprinklers

• Dry (see Figure 5): A sprinkler secured in an extension nipple that has a seal at the inlet end to prevent water from entering the nipple until the sprinkler operates for dry-pipe and preaction systems

• Institutional:Asprinklerspeciallydesignedforresistancetoload-bearing purposes and with components not readily con-verted for use as weapons

• Intermediatelevel/rackstorage:Asprinklerequippedwithintegral shields to protect its operating elements from the discharge of sprinklers installed at higher elevations

• Ornamental/decorative:Asprinklerthathasbeenpaintedorplated by the manufacturer

• Pilotlinedetector:Astandardspraysprinklerorthermostaticfixed-temperature-release device used as a detector to pneu-matically or hydraulically release the main valve, controlling the flow of water into a fire protection system

HOW tO CHOOSeDuring the project design process, you should note the differ-ent sprinkler types that may be required at different locations. Some are based on aesthetic appearance, and others are based on function. Ask your client and the architect if they “envision” sprinklers in their space. Many architects do not like sprinkler heads protruding from ceilings, so you could be scheduling a lot of concealed-type sprinklers.

Temperature characteristics are one of the components identi-fied in a sprinkler schedule. In NFPA 13 Section 6.2.5, Table 6.2.5.1 outlines the temperature classifications. In our case example, the office and common areas would fall under the Ordinary Class (maximum ceiling temperature of 100°F), and the mechanical and electrical areas would fall under the Intermediate Class (maximum ceiling temperature of 150°F). However, the temperature rating also depends on the proximity of heat-producing equipment.

In any hydraulic calculation for a water-based fire protection system, the K-factor formula (Q = k*p^2) is one formula that all fire protection engineers should know and understand. It allows us to calculate the discharge flow from any type of fire sprinkler for which we have a K-factor. K-factors range from 3.8 to 25. Typically, larger K-factors mean larger orifice sizes and larger flow requirements.

Thus, for our mixed-use office building, the first pass at a sprin-kler schedule may look like Table 1.

Several tweaks would happen as the project design continued, and in some cases you might need to specify specific colors in cer-tain areas if the architect has specific wants.

As the design of the storage area developed, the K-factor, orifice size, and temperature likely would change to meet the sprinkler density demands that would be appropriate for the hazard and storage requirements as described in NFPA 13.

Sprinkler schedules are probably the last item on your checklist, but they should be verified with the design team. The last thing you want is for the wrong sprinkler type to end up in the wrong area.

StePHen Ziga, CPd, Set, CFPS, is a principal with hpeGROUP, LLC in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. He is an officer on the ASPE Philadelphia Chapter board of directors. Contact him at [email protected]. For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail [email protected].

table 1 Initial sprinkler schedule for a mixed-use office building

ID type K-factorsprinkler

temperature Rating (°F)

orifice (in.) Areas of Use

A Concealed (QR) 5.6 135–170 1/2 High-finish areas

B Recessed pendent (QR) 5.6 135–170 1/2 Common areas

C Upright/Pendent (QR) 5.6 135–170 1/2 Open-ceiling areas

D Extended coverage (ECQR) 5.6 135–170 1/2 Large, open work areas

E Upright/Pendent (QR) 5.6 175–225 1/2 Mech/elec/LAN rooms

F Dry pendent (QR) 5.6 135–170 1/2 Server room

G Storage or possibly ESFR 11.2 or 14 135–170 3/4 Warehouse

H Dry sidewall (QR) 5.6 135–170 1/2 Loading dock

Figure 3 Large-drop sprinkler Figure 4 Attic sprinkler

Figure 5 Dry sprinkler


InIn the past year, healthcare has been a hot politi-cal topic—how much we pay, what we get for that price, and what insurance provides. However, in the actual practice of healthcare, no matter what you pay, who pays, or what type of insurance you have, a hospital must render accessible and adequate attention to all who enter its doors. Thus, the real concern is whether a hospital is capable of providing the required service. Do the doctors have the necessary skills, equipment, and medical gas and vacuum systems readily available?

Engineers and architects can enhance doctors’ skills and abili-ties by providing suitable designs for the required medical gas systems and services, which are a major necessity in any hospital or healthcare facility. These services are administered to patients by a doctor’s prescription. Hospital medical gases are prescription drugs governed under the guidance of the U.S. Food and Drug Adminis-tration (FDA). However, the FDA does not provide guidance for the design of medical gas systems. This falls under the jurisdiction of

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. The NFPA standards, your experience, and asking doctors the right questions before design are essential to the provision of properly designed medical gas and vacuum systems.

Most medical system sizing information used by design engi-neers and expressed herein is derived from Guidelines for Design and Construction of Healthcare Facilities by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Facility Piping Systems Handbook by Michael

How engineers can help doctors save lives

with properly function- ing medical gas and

vacuum systems

by Donald Keith, CPD, MSS

VITALDESIGN

Figure 1 Zone valve box Source: BeaconMedaes


Frankel, Plumbing Engineering Design Hand-books by the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), and Practical Plumbing Design Guide by James C. Church. Manufac-turers such as Allied Medical and BeaconMe-daes provide cookbook concepts and compila-tions of sizing and system design based on their employees’ experience. These references are based on the following NFPA standards: 50: Standard for Bulk Oxygen Systems at Consumer Sites, 99: Standard for Healthcare Facilities, 99C: Standard on Gas and Vacuum Systems, and 101: Life Safety Code.

A multitude of studies, design guides, and handbooks are available, but you should keep in mind that none of these studies, standards, and guides can be used without the doctors’, nurses’, and/or user groups’ guidance, especially for the specialty requirements of clinics, operating and spe-cial procedure rooms, hospital laboratories, and other specialty departments.

The length limitations of this article pre-clude a full description of all medical gas piping systems, so the systems discussed will be abbreviated and limited to medical air, oxygen, and vacuum.

FACILITY DESIGN LEVELNFPA 99 requires medical gas and vacuum systems for hospitals and healthcare facili-ties to be designed adhering to one of three levels. Hospitals typically fall under Level 1. Levels 2 and 3 govern clinical, dental, and laboratory-type facilities or departments.

Hospitals are to be designed per the Level 1 rating based on the following criteria:

• Level1MedicalPipedGasSystems:These are systems serving occupancies where interruption of the piped medi-cal gas and vacuum system would place the patient in imminent danger of mor-bidity or mortality.

• Level1VacuumSystem:Thisisasystemconsisting of central vacuum-producing equipment with pressure and operating controls, shutoff valves, alarm warn-ing systems, gauges, and a network of piping extended to and terminating with suitable inlets at locations where patient suction could be required.

WhErE To STArTThe starting point in the design of medical gas systems is to determine the medical gas and vacuum outlet requirements, specifically what outlets and how many are required for

table 1 Minimum station outlets for oxygen, vacuum, and medical air systems1

Location oxygen Vacuum Medical Air

Patient rooms (medical and surgical) 1/bed 1/bed —

Examination/treatment (medical, surgical, and postpartum care) 1/room 1/room —

Airborne infection isolation/protective environment rooms 1/bed 1/bed —

Seclusion room (medical, surgical, and postpartum) 1/bed 1/bed —

Intermediate care 2/bed 2/bed 1/bed

Critical care (general) 3/bed 3/bed 1/bed

Airborne infection isolation 3/bed 3/bed 1/bed

Coronary critical care 3/bed 2/bed 1/bed

Pediatric critical care 3/bed 3/bed 1/bed

Newborn intensive care 3/bassinet 3/bassinet 3/bassinet

Newborn nursery (full-term) 1/4 bassinets2 1/4 bassinets2 1/4 bassinets2

Pediatric nursery 1/bassinet 1/bassinet 1/bassinet

Pediatric and adolescent 1/bed 1/bed 1/bed

Psychiatric patient rooms — — —

Seclusion treatment room — — —

General operating room 2/room 3/room —

Cardio, ortho, neurological 2/room 3/room —

Orthopedic surgery 2/room 3/room —

Surgical cysto and endo 1/room 3/room —

Post-anesthesia care unit 1/bed 3/bed 1/bed

Phase II recovery3 1/bed 3/bed —

Anesthesia workroom 1/workstation — 1/workstation

Postpartum bedroom 1/bed 1/bed —

Labor room 1/room 1/room 1/room

Cesarean/delivery room 2/room 3/room 1/room

Infant resuscitation space4 1/bassinet 1/bassinet 1/bassinet

OB recovery room 1/bed 3/bed 1/room

Labor/delivery/recovery (LDR) 1/bed 1/bed —

Labor/delivery/recovery/postpartum (LDRP) 1/bed 1/bed —

Initial emergency management 1/bed 1/bed —

Triage area (definitive emergency care) 1/station 1/station —

Definitive emergency care exam/treatment rooms 1/bed 1/bed 1/bed

Definitive emergency care observation unit 1/bed 1/bed —

Trauma/cardiac room(s) 2/bed 3/bed 1/bed

Orthopedic and cast room 1/room 1/room —

MRI 1/room 1/room 1/room

Cardiac catheterization lab 2/bed 2/bed 2/bed

Autopsy room — 1/workstation —1For any area or room not described, the facility clinical staff shall determine outlet requirements after consultation with the authority having jurisdiction.2Four bassinets may share one outlet that is accessible to each bassinet.3If the Phase II recovery area is a separate area from the PACU, only one vacuum per bed or station shall be required.4When infant resuscitation takes place in rooms such as cesarean section/delivery or LDRP, then the infant resuscitation services must be provided in that room in addition to the minimum services required for the mother.

Source: Guidelines for Design and Construction of Healthcare Facilities


a specific department or room under design. In any department, the lead doctor and/or the user group can provide the number and location of the medical outlets required. Guidelines for Design and Construction of Healthcare Facilities provides a table outlining the minimum station outlets for oxygen, vacuum, and medical air systems in hospitals (see Table 1). This table does not include all possible medical gas and vacuum outlets used in a modern facility. Other medical outlets include nitrous oxide, nitrogen, carbon diox-ide, instrument air, and WAGD (waste anesthesia gas disposal). The BeaconMedaes Medical Gas Design Guide includes these additional medical gas outlet requirements.

ZoNE VALVE BoxESOnce the medical gas outlets have been located, zone valve boxes should be placed as required (see Figure 1). Every outlet in the hos-pital must be controlled by a zone valve box, which can be located per floor, area, or wing of the facility. Critical care units (areas where anesthesia is administered) must have their own individual control valves. Valves must be located outside the critical area and within the path of exit. If a person is standing next to the control valve and is within the same space occupied by the outlet, then the valve is not placed in an acceptable location.

SourCE Medical gas and vacuum outlets are the beginning of the piping system. The zone control valves are intermediate in the system, and the end point is the source of the medical gas and vacuum. Medical air, vacuum, and WAGD systems are the only on-site manufactured mediums. All others are provided by a tank manifold system. At this point, there is a coordination issue between the architect, facility engineer, and design engineer regarding the appropriate location of the source mediums. The desired location of the source mediums completes the piping destinations of the medical gas and vacuum systems. Now the routing of the pipe can begin.

PIPE AND PIPE rouTINGPipe routing is basically a “connect the dot” exercise. Piping starts at the medical gas outlets, runs through the zone control box, and ends at the source point. Piping should be run as straight and true as possible. Special consideration must be given to avoid unneces-sary turns required by duct locations or other obstructions. Keep in mind that all turns in the piping require fittings, and fittings add length to the total piping system. Access fittings also produce higher pressure loss, which must be overcome by the medical gas and vacuum source unit.

The ideal mounting for vacuum piping would include sloping. Slop-ing of vacuum piping away from the patient is desirable to keep the outlet free of moisture. This slope may not always be attainable, but the designer should keep fluid drainage in mind. The designer also should make sure sags in medical gas and vacuum piping are eliminated.

Care should be taken to minimize penetrations of smoke parti-tions because these require fireproof sealing.

VALVES After all piping is run satisfactorily, the medical gas outlet placements are approved, the zone valves are properly placed, and the medical gas and vacuum source equipment locations are set, the designer should evaluate the system for the placement of service valves, source valves, and main line valves (see Figure 2). Service valves shall be placed at the beginning of every system riser adjacent to the main line. This valve is one of the most confusing and draws the most adverse review comments of the system. NFPA 99 does not allow two valves in the same line. Should one valve be operated in adverse posi-tion of the other, a catastrophic condition may occur.

NFPA provides requirements for service valves when used. Ser-vice valves shall be located according to any one of the following:

• Behindalockedaccessdoor• Lockedintheopenpositionaboveaceiling• LockedopeninasecureareaA source valve must be provided at the source of the medical gas

service in the immediate location of the tank or source equipment. Appropriate labeling must be provided.

The main line valve shall be located on the facility side of the source valve inside the building. The valve shall be placed in a secure area accessible only to the facility engineers.

ArEA ALArM Area alarm panels shall be provided to monitor all medical gas, medical and surgical vacuum, and piped WAGD systems supply-ing anesthetizing locations and other vital life support and critical areas. Area alarms shall be placed primarily at the nurses’ station. However, any area that is under surveillance is acceptable.

Alarm panels shall be set to alarm when pressures rises or drops 20 percent from required pressure settings. The sensor for area alarms in vital life support areas shall be located on the patient side of the zone valve box. Sensors in areas for anesthetizing gas delivery shall be installed on either the source or patient side of the individual room zone box assembly. Note: Sensors shall not be placed in a position that would impede their operation, particularly by valve locations.

Figure 2 Valve placement Source: NFPA 99C Figure 3 Medical gas and vacuum outlets Source: BeaconMedaes

VITAL DESIGN


MASTEr ALArMMaster alarms monitor the facility’s medical gas and vacuum source and pressure operation. The facility shall be provided with at least two master alarm panels. Both shall be continuously monitored by on-site personnel. The primary panel shall be placed in the facility’s engineering office. The second panel can be placed in the emergency department, security office, or any continuously monitored area. The second location also can be a centralized computer system or build-ing maintenance system when specific requirements are met.

MEDICAL GAS ouTLETSMedical gas outlets come in a variety of different outlet connections, and here is where the hospital facility engineer is your best guide because he will know what type of outlets the hospital will use or has used. Per NFPA 99, all outlets shall be gas specific, regardless of if the outlet/inlet for medical gas or vacuum is threaded or a non-interchangeable quick coupler. A confusing or questionable point is that in some hospitals, the vacuum and WAGD systems at times are a shared vacuum source. Regardless of the source, the vacuum and WAGD outlets must be non-interchangeable.

In addition to the typical outlet, medical gas and vacuum outlets come in the following styles (see Figure 3):

• Latch• Geometric• Pinindex• DISS(DiameterIndexSafetySystem)An important and specific DISS outlet is a quick-coupling discon-

nect, which is required in all operating rooms. Providing DISS outlets throughout the hospital helps minimize confusion for equipment connections, but doing so is a choice, not a requirement. Again, it is up to the design engineer and the facility engineer to determine what outlets are to be used throughout the hospital. However, if equipment does not match the wall or column connections properly, this can lead to severe consequences. Adapters can be used for non-matching outlets, but they not expedient when quick action is needed. There-fore, discuss and verify with the facility engineer the medical outlet system type requirements prior to design.

CoNSIDErATIoNS For SYSTEM SourCE SIZINGA hospital’s major gas use includes medical air, oxygen, and vacuum outlets. Operating rooms usually include nitrogen, nitrous oxide,

and carbon dioxide. Something not usually known is that medical gases are rarely, if ever, used in patient and examination rooms, but that is not to say that outlets can or should be eliminated in these areas. Exceptions and emergencies always occur. However, the medical gas system usually is oversized in a hospital when the addi-tional loads for these outlets are included.

NFPA requires an additional 25 percent increase in the calculated load for future medical system expansion. The major areas that actually govern the size of the gas systems are as follows:

• Operatingrooms(majorandminorinvasiveprocedures)• Intensivecareunits• Natalintensivecareunits• Pediatricintensivecareunits• Ventilatorsystems(totalunits)• BirthingorlaboranddeliveryroomsWhat about the emergency room? If you’ve ever been in an emer-

gency room, you might have noticed that no one was connected to wall outlets because an emergency room is basically a triage center. It is a clearinghouse for the ultimate destination of a patient. An emergency patient with major wounds may need oxygen during the stabilization process, but ultimately they will be moved to an operat-ing room or the ICU. The six areas listed above define the required gas and vacuum source and pipe size.

SYSTEM SIZINGAt this point in the design, all outlets, valves, alarm panels, master alarms, pipe routing, and fittings should be determined. The only thing left is sizing. As stated previously, there is no single set design procedure for medical system gas sizing, and the various medical gas system companies have their own methods. Some start their design procedure from the source, and others from the outlet. However, the principle of all design procedures is the required pressures at the outlet: source pressure, the medium’s velocity, and the allowable pressure loss per 100 feet of piping length. When calculating the developed pipe lengths, remember to include fitting equivalent lengths of run (see Table 2). If these are left out, the pressure loss calculations will be adversely affected.

The NFPA’s minimum pipe sizes to start the design are as follows:• Pressurizedgaspipingshallnotbesmallerthan½inchinside

diameter (ID) and ⅝ inch outside diameter (OD).

table 2 Allowance for friction loss in fittings as equivalent lengths

Fitting size, inches (mm)

ells, feet (meters) tees, feet (meters)Couplings, feet (meters)

90 45 side Run

½ (13) 0.5 (0.2) 0.3 (0.1) 0.75 (0.2) 0.15 (0.05) 0.15 (0.05)

¾ (19) 1.25 (0.4) 0.75 (0.2) 2 (0.6) 0.4 (0.12) 0.4 (0.12)

1 (25) 1.5 (0.5) 1 (0.3) 2.5 (0.8) 0.45 (0.14) 0.45 (0.14)

1.25 (32) 2 (0.6) 1.2 (0.4) 3 (0.9) 0.6 (0.18) 0.6 (0.18)

1.5 (38) 2.5 (0.8) 1.5 (0.5) 3.5 (1.1) 0.8 (0.24) 0.8 (0.24)

2 (51) 3.5 (1.1) 2 (0.6) 5 (1.5) 1 (0.3) 1 (0.3)

2.5 (64) 4 (1.2) 2.5 (0.8) 6 (1.8) 1.3 (0.4) 1.3 (0.4)

3 (76) 5 (1.5) 3 (0.9) 7.5 (2.3) 1.5 (0.46) 1.5 (0.46)

3.5 (89) 6 (1.8) 3.5 (1.1) 9 (2.7) 1.8 (0.55) 1.8 (0.55)

4 (102) 7 (2.1) 4 (1.2) 10.5 (3.2) 2 (0.61) 2 (0.61)

5 (127) 9 (2.7) 5 (1.5) 13 (4) 2.5 (0.76) 2.5 (0.76)

6 (152) 10 (3) 6 (1.8) 15 (4.6) 3 (0.91) 3 (0.91)

Allowances are for standard copper sweat and braze fittings. For threaded fittings, double the allowances shown.Table after Copper Tube Handbook, Copper Development Association


Figure 4 Example vacuum riser diagram

• Vacuum,highvacuum,andWAGDpipingshallbenosmallerthan¾inch ID and ⅞ inch OD.

• Runoutstoalarmpanelsandconnectingtubesforgaugesandalarmdevicesshall be no smaller than ¼ inch ID and ⅜ inch OD.

Medical Air The medical air source should be provided with oil-less rotary com-pressors, receivers, dryers, filters, and constant-pressure valves to deliver dry, clean, oil-free air at 55 pounds per square inch (psi). A 5-psi maximum pressure drop is allowed throughout the total piping system, providing 50 psi at the outlets.

oxygen Oxygen is delivered from a tank, typically placed on the exterior of the hospital

with a smaller manifold system located in a segregated room inside as a reserve or backup system. Included in this piping system is an emergency connection panel. This panel is placed at the exterior wall of the hospital’s stor-age bottle room or in an area that is vehicle (tanker truck) accessible. Should the main oxygen tank and/or reserve bottles fail, connection to a tanker truck can provide a temporary supply. The pipe size is based on a maximum friction loss rate of 1 psi per 100 feet, with a maximum 5-psi loss throughout the full system. Include in the pipe lengths all equivalent lengths produced by fittings, valves, etc.

Medical VacuumThe medical vacuum source should provide 19 inches of mercury (in. Hg) suction. Piping should be sized to allow no more than a 4-in. Hg loss throughout the entire piping system. The maximum velocity in any system shall not exceed 5,000 feet per minute. The maximum length shall include all equivalent lengths produced by fittings, valves, etc.

ExAMPLE ProJECT Following is an example of a hospital vacuum system (see Figure 4) based on the Beacon-Medaes sizing chart (see Table 3). Other manufacturers also have a sug-

table 3 Medical vacuum (horizontal) pipe sizing

start end Run, ft Flow, scfm

Flow, lpm

Pipe size, in. Loss/100 Loss Running

subtotal

A B 38 1.5 42.5 ¾ 0.031 0.01178 0.01178

B C 18 4.5 127.5 ¾ 0.198 0.03564 0.04742

C D 12 6 170 1 0.091 0.01092 0.05834

D E 18 7.5 212.5 1 0.134 0.02412 0.08246

E F 12 9 255 1 0.182 0.02184 0.1043

F G 18 10.5 297.4 1¼ 0.238 0.04284 0.14714

G 1 7 12 340 1¼ 0.111 0.00777 0.15491

H I 38 1.5 42.5 ¾ 0.031 0.01178 0.01178

I J 12 4.5 127.5 ¾ 0.198 0.02376 0.19045

J K 18 6 170 1 0.091 0.01638 0.20683

K L 12 7.5 212.5 1 0.134 0.01608 0.22291

L M 18 9 255 1 0.182 0.03276 0.20825

M N 12 10.5 297.4 1¼ 0.238 0.02856 0.23681

N O 18 12 340 1¼ 0.111 0.01998 0.22175

O P 12 13.5 382.5 1¼ 0.134 0.01608 0.23783

P 1 4 15 425 1¼ 0.163 0.00652 0.25567

1 END 123 27 765 1.5 0.199 0.24477 0.24477

Source: BeaconMedaes

…continued on page 34

VITAL DESIGN


table 4 Pipe size based on pressure lossAir Flow Pressure Drop for Air in in. Hg per 100 Feet of type L Copper Pipe

Under Vacuum at 19 in. HgV Gauge Vacuum at 68°F temperatureActual cfm Actual lpm scfm68°F and 29.9 in. HgA

¾ inch1 28.32 0.36 0.0212 56.63 0.73 0.0413 84.95 1.09 0.0994 113.27 1.46 0.161 1 inch5 141.58 1.82 0.235 0.0676 169.90 2.19 0.320 0.0917 198.22 2.55 0.417 0.1198 226.53 2.92 0.525 0.1499 254.85 3.28 0.642 0.182 1¼ inch10 283.17 3.65 0.770 0.218 0.08111 311.49 4.01 0.908 0.257 0.09512 339.80 4.38 1.056 0.299 0.11113 368.12 4.74 1.213 0.343 0.12714 396.44 5.11 1.380 0.390 0.144 1½ inch15 424.75 5.47 1.556 0.439 0.163 0.07216 453.07 5.84 1.741 0.491 0.182 0.08017 481.39 6.20 1.935 0.546 0.202 0.08918 509.70 6.57 2.138 0.603 0.223 0.09819 538.02 6.93 2.349 0.662 0.244 0.10720 566.34 7.30 2.570 0.724 0.267 0.11721 594.65 7.66 2.799 0.788 0.291 0.12822 622.97 8.03 3.036 0.855 0.315 0.13823 651.29 8.39 3.282 0.924 0.340 0.15024 679.60 8.76 3.537 0.995 0.367 0.16125 707.92 9.12 3.799 1.068 0.394 0.17326 736.24 9.49 1.144 0.421 0.18527 764.55 9.85 1.222 0.450 0.19728 792.87 10.22 1.302 0.479 0.21029 821.19 10.58 1.385 0.510 0.22430 849.51 10.95 1.470 0.541 0.23731 877.82 11.31 1.557 0.573 0.25132 906.14 11.68 1.646 0.605 0.26533 934.46 12.08 1.737 0.639 0.28034 962.77 12.41 1.831 0.673 0.295 2 inches35 991.09 12.77 1.926 0.708 0.310 0.08336 1019.41 13.14 2.024 0.744 0.326 0.08837 1047.72 13.50 2.124 0.780 0.342 0.09238 1076.04 13.87 2.226 0.818 0.358 0.09639 1104.36 14.23 2.330 0.856 0.375 0.10140 1132.67 14.60 2.436 0.895 0.392 0.10541 1160.99 14.96 2.544 0.934 0.409 0.11042 1189.31 15.33 2.655 0.975 0.427 0.11543 1217.62 15.69 2.767 1.016 0.445 0.11944 1245.94 16.06 2.882 1.058 0.463 0.12445 1274.26 16.42 2.998 1.100 0.481 0.12946 1302.58 16.79 3.117 1.143 0.500 0.13447 1330.89 17.15 3.237 1.188 0.519 0.13948 1359.21 17.52 3.360 1.232 0.539 0.14549 1387.53 17.88 3.485 1.278 0.559 0.15050 1415.84 18.25 3.611 1.324 0.579 0.15555 1557.43 20.07 1.566 0.685 0.183 2½ inches60 1699.01 21.90 1.826 0.798 0.214 0.07665 1840.60 23.72 2.104 0.919 0.246 0.08870 1982.18 25.55 2.398 1.047 0.280 0.10075 2123.76 27.37 2.710 1.182 0.316 0.11380 2265.35 29.20 3.038 1.325 0.316 0.12685 2406.93 31.02 3.383 1.475 0.354 0.14190 2548.52 32.85 3.745 1.632 0.394 0.15595 2690.10 34.67 0.295 0.436 0.171100 2831.68 36.50 0.479 0.187 3 inches110 3114.85 40.15 0.221 0.080120 3398.02 43.80 0.258 0.095130 3681.19 47.45 0.297 0.110140 3964.36 51.01 0.338 0.127150 4247.53 54.75 0.382 0.145160 4530.70 58.40 0.429 0.164170 4813.86 62.05 0.477 0.183180 5097.03 65.70 0.528 0.204190 5380.20 69.35 0.582 0.226 4 inches200 5663.37 73.00 0.637 0.249 0.071210 5946.54 76.65 0.695 0.272 0.077220 6229.71 80.30 0.755 0.297 0.084230 6512.88 83.95 0.817 0.322 0.091240 6796.04 87.60 0.881 0.349 0.098250 7079.21 91.25 0.948 0.376 0.105275 7787.13 100.37 1.123 0.405 0.124


P h i l a d e l p h i a , P A O c t o b e r 3 0 – N o v e m b e r 3 , 2 0 1 0

Revitalize: Networking Professional Interaction Technical Education

Professional Development

Discuss and learn about

the latest legisla-tive issues and

regulatory trends.

W a t c h f o r t h e C o n v e n t i o n & E P E R e g i s t r a t i o n a n d H o u s i n g F o r m C o m i n g J u n e 2 0 1 0 i n Y o u r M a i l a n d i n P S & D M a g a z i n e .

2010 ASPE Convention & Engineered Plumbing Exposition

Network, collaborate, and interact with your colleagues and inter-national plumbing engineer professionals.

ThE 2010 ASPE Logo PIN. Pins will be sent to each

chapter for distribution by the chapter president. Wear yours and help

promote the Convention. Everyone gets a Logo Pin.

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Educational training, professional development, and the latest technical information.

The Engineered Plumbing Exposition — Representatives of more than 300 leading manufacturers will be debuting the newest products and technological advances.

RINGIN THE

FUTUREOF ASPE


P h i l a d e l p h i a , P A O c t o b e r 3 0 – N o v e m b e r 3 , 2 0 1 0

W a t c h f o r t h e C o n v e n t i o n & E P E R e g i s t r a t i o n a n d H o u s i n g F o r m C o m i n g J u n e 2 0 1 0 i n Y o u r M a i l a n d i n P S & D M a g a z i n e .

2010 ASPE Convention & Engineered Plumbing Exposition

NEW LAPToP ComPuTERS. one laptop computer will be given

away every fifteen minutes (four per hour) during the Exposition on monday and Tuesday. (Laptop will be a Toshiba or an equivalent.) To win, you muST be on the Exposi-

tion floor when your name is called.

PLAy ASPE PokER. get one ASPE Poker Card from as many Sponsor and Patron Exhibitors that you visit. you may play the game on both monday and Tuesday. Do NoT SCRATCh oFF ThE SILVER CoATINg! When ready, take your cards to any of the

redemption tables found throughout the exhibit floor. There the staff will register your ID number, and you may choose six of the cards that you have collected (the remainder go back into the recycle box). you may then scratch off the silver coating.

under the coatings are regular playing card pictures. make a poker hand from any five of the six cards and you are a winner! Everyone wins; even “bust” hands will receive a prize. See the ASPE Poker rules and regulations for the value of each

poker hand. There will also be INSTANT winners up to $1,000.

ThE 2010 CommEmoRATIVE CoIN. Each one is numbered. you will receive yours with

your Convention reservation confirmation. Bring it with you to the Convention registration desk to see if

you win. Winning numbers receive an extra ticket to the grand Prize Drawing. Special winning numbers also will

receive an additional $50 immediate registration discount.

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ASPE 2010 CoNVENTIoN AND EPE gRAND PRIzES. Six to eight 65” LCD hD televisions* will be given away during the Exposi-tion—one every couple of hours each day. To win, you muST be on the Exposition floor when your name is called. *A Best Buy gift card will be provided for the value of the television to each winner. (Value of gift card will be $3,000.)

DISCOVER CHALLENGE BUILDMAY 2010 Plumbing Systems & Design 25

By WinSTon HuFF, CPd, lEEd APTHE gREEn ColuMn

Every day, each person who chooses to travel by bus or train contributes to a cleaner environment. In New York City, that translates into approximately 700,000 cars that are not driven on the city’s streets daily. It also means that 400 million fewer pounds of soot, carbon monoxide, hydro-carbons, and other toxic substances are released into the city’s air each year.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) is the largest mass transit network in North America, serving 14.7 million people across downstate New York and southern Connecticut. However, the MTA does more than just decrease environ-mental pollution by transporting mil-lions of people a day. It also is proactively developing and implementing programs to improve the environment.

StRategieS FOR a gReeneR tRanSit PROgRamAlternative-fuel VehiclesIn the last few years, the MTA has been making strides in reducing its carbon footprint by transitioning to various types of compressed natural gas and hybrid vehicles. Currently, the MTA has 1,107 compressed natural gas buses and 875 hybrid diesel-electric buses serving passengers on a daily basis. For its maintenance and dispatch vehicles, the MTA has a total of 484 alternative-fuel vehicles, mostly hybrid gas-electric. Also, more than 90 percent of all new light-duty service vehicles are alterna-tive-fuel vehicles.

Sustainable building SystemsThe MTA has proposed or already implemented numerous sustainable systems for its existing facilities, including high-per-formance roofs (vegetated green roofs, white roofs, and rainwater-retentive blue roofs) and other rainwater capture systems, solar panels, and groundwater thermal exchange systems. The agency also has promoted greener building maintenance operations. For example, the Corona Maintenance Shop (discussed later) includes natural ventilation and lighting, a rainwater capture system, pho-tovoltaic cells, fuel cells, and heat recovery units, as well as uses recycled train wash water.

Recycling WasteThe MTA runs a large number of successful recycling programs through its operating agencies. For instance, in 2007, its Asset Recovery unit removed more than 1,626 tons of nonhazardous industrial waste material such as spent chemicals, contami-nated soil, and sludge from subway track drains. The agency also recycled approximately 143,000 gallons of antifreeze from

its vehicles. At expansion project jobsites, the Capital Construc-tion unit recycles approximately 80 percent of debris.

Water ManagementAccording to current plans, the MTA should be able to reduce its potable water use by 75 percent in the next 10 years. Some of the water management methods include consistent, sys-tem-wide water metering and submetering at MTA facilities, staggering vehicle wash schedules, harvesting rainwater, using water-saving fixtures in public stations, recycling graywater, installing green roofs, and reusing groundwater pumped out of subway tunnels (see Figure 1).

In addition, MTA Bus is designing a bioswale system to manage a significant portion of storm water runoff on site as part of a parking lot improvement project at its JFK depot. The bioswale will remove organics, metals, and particulates from the storm water and will cut the volume delivered to municipal treatment plants, reducing MTA Bus’s impact on the city’s infra-structure and natural waterways.

CaSe Study: COROna maintenanCe SHOPWashing the MTA’s enormous vehicle fleets requires millions of gallons of water weekly. By harvesting rainwater and recycling graywater, the MTA minimizes the use of potable water and the impact on the city’s sewer system.

The Corona Maintenance Shop, a 135,000-square-foot vehicle wash and maintenance facility completed in 2006, was

How to Green a Transit Program

Figure 1 Typical subway drainage & pumping system

drain line

vent grating

vent bay

relief manhole

pump room

sump pit

check valvecity sewer


the first transit facility in North America to obtain LEED certi-fication. Owned by the New York City Transit’s Department of Capital Program Management, the facility services 400 cars of the No. 7 subway line.

The one-story building is 675 feet long and framed with deep steel roof trusses, producing column-free maintenance space amply daylighted from above by many heat/smoke vents with integral insulated glazed skylights. The facility also features recy-cled train wash water, photovoltaic cells, fuel cells that convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and heat to save energy, and heat recovery units.

As a result of its sustainable features, the facility is 36 percent more energy efficient than required by code. Five percent of the facility’s electricity is provided by a 100-kilowatt photovoltaic solar array, and 10 percent of the facility’s electricity is provided by the 200-kilowatt fuel cells.

Among the green features of the Corona Maintenance Shop is a 40,000-gallon rainwater capture system to supply water for washing subway cars. Two subway cars at a time can be han-dled by the 3,000-square-foot car wash. The rooftop rainwater collection system drains into an underground storage tank that supplies water to a subway car washer, and then 80 percent of the wash water is collected as graywater and recycled. Potable water is used only during the final rinse stage. Reused rainwa-ter for the facility is estimated to save 2.455 million gallons of potable water per year.

In addition to being LEED certified, the facility received an Honorable Mention in the 2004 Green Building Design Competi-tion for New York City, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York City Department of Envi-ronmental Protection, for excellence in integrating sustainable design strategies into a railcar maintenance facility. It also received an Honorable Mention, Green Apple Award from the City of New York and the EPA.

ReFeRenCeS1. Greening Mass Transit and Metro Regions: The Final Report of

the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability and the MTA, Metropolitan Transit Authority, State of New York, 2007.

2. NYC Water Conservation Manual: A Guide to Achieving Water Savings in Municipal and Commercial Buildings, New York City Department of Design and Construction.

WinStOn HuFF, CPd, leed aP, is a project manager, plumbing fire protection designer, and sustainable coordinator with Smith Seckman Reid Consulting Engineers in Nashville, Tenn. He is on the U.S. Green Building Council’s Water Efficiency (WE) Technical Advisory Group (TAG). He was the founding editor of Life Support and Biosphere Science and has served as its editor-in-chief. He is president of Science Interactive, an organization promoting biosphere science. For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail [email protected].

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Revit Ad final.pdf 1 12/14/09 9:16 PM


“High containment” typically refers to Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratories associated with work involving the most dangerous, lethal, and exotic agents that possess high risk of aerosol trans-mission, such as the Ebola virus and smallpox. These facilities also include work involving agents that can cause fatal disease in humans where vaccines or other treatments are not available at the present time. For BSL-4 facilities, a number of specialized sys-tems are dedicated to serving the space, including breathing air, chemical disinfectant, and biological waste (biowaste).

To design each of these systems, it is imperative that you have a clear understanding of how the facility will be operated. Will it be an eight-hours-per-day, five-days-per-week operation? Will it be required to operate 24 hours a day for an extended period in case of an outbreak? Either case requires a very carefully designed and con-structed facility, which includes reliability and redundancy to oper-ate without interruption. This also means that equipment may reach normal service intervals and require shutdown for service while the facility continues to operate. Thus, communication with the client’s entire staff, including administrators, researchers, and facility main-tenance, is required during design, so their input on how they will operate the facility (their standard operating procedures, or SOPs) and their safety requirements can be incorporated in the design.

Records must be maintained and be available for inspection by any regulatory agencies (federal, state, or local) that may request them. Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, states that decontamination of all liquid wastes must be docu-mented, the process must be validated physically and biologi-cally, and the biological validation must be performed annually or more often if required by institutional policy.

BREATHING AIRThe first system we will address is the breathing air system. In BSL-4, researchers may be required to wear full-body, positive-pressure suits, which are supplied with breathing air from a central breathing air system (see Figure 1). (Note: Some labora-tories can use Class III biosafety cabinets to contain the agent, so a suit for the researcher may not be necessary.)

by Paul R. Halamar & Karl E. Yrjanainen, PE, CPD, LEED AP

High-containment Plumbing Design



If you are involved with ASPE and have attended Technical Symposium or Convention technical education sessions or if you

are a regular reader of PS&D, you already may have learned some things about high-containment facilities. (See “Plumbing Systems

for High-Containment Facilities” in the May 2009 issue, “Navigating the Maze of Vivarium Plumbing System Design” in the April 2008

issue, and “Animal Research Facility Plumbing System Design” in the November/December 2006 issue.) We have given an overview of

many of the systems and considerations for these facilities, but this article will focus in detail on some of the specialized systems for

high-containment suites. The processes we will cover also can be applied to many engineered systems for other building types,

such as laboratories, process, or manufacturing.

Many specialty systems are needed in BSL-4 laboratories to contain dangerous agents

Figure 1 Central breathing air system Source: HDR CUH2A


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The breathing air for the suits is required to meet or exceed the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) G-7.1: Commodity Specifica-tion for Air standards for Grade D breathing air: oxygen volume within 19.5–23.5 percent, hydrocarbon no more than 5 mil-ligrams per cubic meter of air, carbon monoxide no more than 10 parts per million (ppm), carbon dioxide no more than 1,000 ppm, and no noticeable odor. The suits may require between 6 and 30 cubic feet per minute (cfm) of breathing air at pressures between 4 and 12 pounds per square inch gauge (psig), depend-ing on the specific suit being used. You should design the system for the actual suit to be used, or in lieu of that, we suggest using 20 cfm at 15 psig as an average value for flexibility. The suits usu-ally are provided with individual, small HEPA filters and pressure regulators that are carried at the waist level and are connected to the facility’s breathing air system with a coiled plastic hose and a quick-disconnect coupler.

Within the suite, a number of breathing air quick-disconnect stations with two couplers are installed to allow users to work in pairs. Each coupler has a coiled plastic hose with either a ceiling hanger or a wall hook to keep the hose out of the way for clear access throughout the area. As researchers walk through the high-containment suite, they connect and disconnect their hoses as they move from place to place. The suit holds about a five-minute supply of air, so there is some flexibility for movement around the space. The breathing air piping is usually welded stainless steel, hung from the ceiling or mounted off the wall with sanitary clamp supports. This is because stainless steel can withstand many of the

disinfection methods used and can be easily cleaned on

the exterior and interior if required. Other pipe materials that meet breathing air and clean-ing requirements also

can be used as long as the designer has evaluated the specific requirements for their application.

An example is externally epoxy-coated copper tubing,

which would need to be painted after installation.

Once you have determined the suit design criteria, then you need to under-stand how many people will be in the high-containment suite at the same time. For safety, you need to consider storing enough air in case the compressors fail. There must be enough air to evacuate all the researchers, so the time it takes to evacuate the high-containment suite through the airlock/chemical disinfec-tion shower needs to be determined. For example, say 10 researchers typically work at the same time, but only four people can go through the airlock at once. (The

number of people moving through the airlock/chemical shower can vary based on the size and configuration of the space.) The exact duration of the disinfection shower and rinse varies, but for our example let’s say it lasts approximately seven minutes. Thus, the sizing calculations would be:

• 10people÷4peoplepershower=2.5or3showers• 3showerperiodsx7minutespershower=21minutesto

evacuate• 10peoplex20standardcubicfeetperminute(scfm)ofairper

person x 21 minutes = 4,200 cubic feet of air• 10peoplex20scfmofairperperson=200scfmflowrateThis system will require a flow rate of 200 scfm and a receiver

volume of at least 4,200 cubic feet. For this system, we are sizing for a redundancy of at least N+1, where N equals the required number of equipment to meet the demand. Thus, we would fur-nish two compressors, each sized to deliver the 200 scfm required. We also would supply two air dryer and filtering sets sized for the 200 scfm and two receivers each sized for 4,200 cubic feet.

In some situations where the breathing air load is smaller, the client may ask you to provide additional freestanding, high-pressure breathing air cylinders as a secondary backup. The pressure-reducing station also would be provided in a duplex arrangement for redundancy. All electrically powered equip-ment should be provided with standby power, and all equipment and controls should be arranged to allow for service without interruption of the supply of breathing air while also allowing for maintenance of components.

What Is a BSL-4 Facility?Biosafety Level 4 is required for work with dangerous and exotic agents that pose a high individual risk of life-threatening disease or aerosol transmission or related agents with unknown risk of transmission. Agents with a close or identical antigenic relationship to agents requiring BSL-4 containment must be handled at this level until sufficient data is obtained to either confirm continued work at this level or re-designate the level. Laboratory staff must have specific and thorough training in handling extremely hazardous infectious agents. Laboratory staff must understand the primary and secondary containment functions of standard and special practices, containment equipment, and laboratory design charac-teristics. All laboratory staff and supervisors must be competent in handling agents and procedures requiring BSL-4 containment. Access to the laboratory is controlled by the laboratory supervisor in accordance with institutional policies.

Source: Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, Fifth Edition


CHEMICAL DISINFECTANT SYSTEMThe next system we will address is the chemical disinfectant system, which sup-plies disinfecting chemicals to the decon-tamination showers as well as to outlets supplying dunk tanks at the entry/exit to the suite. Typical disinfectants that are used are sodium hypochlorite (commonly known as bleach) or some type of commer-cially available disinfectant chemical mixed with water. The strength of the disinfectant/water mix varies based on personal prefer-ences and the agents being investigated.

The disinfectant shower (see Figure 2) allows personnel to exit the suite and ensure that nothing is on the surface of the suits that could cause contaminants to escape out to the environment. Small dunk tanks (see Figure 3) filled with disinfectant allow for small objects to be passed into and out of the suite in a similar manner. Large objects are required to pass through a sterilizer or a wipe-down airlock, where objects are sprayed and manually wiped down before entering or exiting the suite.

Figure 3 Dunk tank Source: SmithCarter USA LLC

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Figure 2 Decontamination shower

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The decontamination shower consists of a number of atom-izing spray nozzles, approximately 24, located at each corner of the shower enclosure to ensure total contact over each pressure suit surface. These nozzles are supplied with a disinfectant/water mix, compressed air, or water based on a programmed cycle. A manually operated deluge shower can be activated by the user in case the automated system malfunctions. Breathing air outlets in the shower furnish breathing air during the disinfection cycle. All exposed piping, spray nozzles, and accessories are usually 316L stainless steel, but all materials should be investigated for compatibility with the disinfectants being used.

For the disinfectant system, you also will select equipment for a redundancy of at least N+1, where N equals the required number of equipment to meet the demand. Thus, for our example, we will have two redundant disinfectant chemical storage tanks, two mixing and storage tanks, two metering pumps, and two mixers. There may be two distribution pumps, or the distribution of the disinfectant chemical may be via gravity. The latter is the preferred option if possible, since there must be enough static head to supply the decontamina-tion shower nozzles. For some systems, clean-dry compressed air is required for atomizing the disinfectant mix through the nozzles. This air should be from a separate, dedicated clean-dry compressed air system. No compressed air is used during the water rinse. All electrically powered equipment should be provided with standby power, and all equipment and controls should be arranged to allow for service without interruption of delivery of the disinfectant mix to the showers.

Similar to the breathing air system, you need to understand how many people will be using the decontamination shower at the same time. For safety, you must consider storing enough mixed disinfectant, so in case of power failure, enough disinfectant is available to evacuate all the researchers. Thus, the time it takes to evacuate the high-containment suite through the airlock/chemi-cal disinfection shower needs to be determined.

Back to our example, 10 researchers are using the suite, and only four people can go through the airlock/decontamination shower at a time. The disinfection portion of the shower lasts three min-utes, and the rinse lasts four minutes. Let’s assume that the decontamination spray nozzles within the shower use a total of 1 gallon per minute (gpm) of disinfectant mix and 65 scfm of compressed air. (This information must be coordinated with the exact spray nozzles being used.) The sizing calcula-tions for our example would be:• 10people÷4peoplepershower=2.5or

3 showers• 3showerperiodsx3minutesperdisinfection

portion = 9 minutes for disinfectant spray• 9minutesfordisinfectantsprayx1gpmof

disinfectant = 9 gallons of disinfectant• 9minutesfordisinfectantsprayx65scfmof

compressed air = 585 scfm of compressed air

BIOWASTE SYSTEMThe final system we will address is the biohazardous waste (bio-waste) and vent system (see Figure 4). Since this system is a drain and vent system, the same concepts for normal drainage systems apply. The differences revolve around the need for containment and the pressurization between the containment area and the exterior environment. Also, the system drains to an effluent decontamination system for a secondary or final treatment prior to discharge to a sewer system. Per Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, the treatment system should be within the building. However, some existing facilities may have a central campus treatment system with a dedicated sewer system collecting waste from multiple buildings.

Some of the differences start at the fixtures. For instance, the traps are filled with liquid disinfectant manually after each use. This is to ensure that any untreated waste that gets to the drain will be treated at the source. SOPs usually dictate the treatment of waste prior to each discharge into the waste system. The traps are required to have more than a standard 2-inch trap seal, and the exact depth needs to be coordinated with the HVAC system design to allow for the pressure differential that the HVAC system can exert on the containment suite. In our experience, this can be in the range of 7 to 9 inches or more. If this is not provided, air could pass through the trap either inward or outward, which would break the room’s containment.

In addition, the vent system will have HEPA filters prior to venting to the exterior, and the pressure differential through the filters will be accommodated by the additional trap seal depth. The pressure drop for these could be between 1 and 3 inches of water column.

The biowaste piping for each suite should be routed so that each room can be isolated while still allowing the other suites to operate. The piping should slope at 2 percent to ensure proper drainage and no settling of solids. All cleanouts should be accessible from within the suite to limit the possibility of a breach of containment. For isolating suites, a diaphragm valve

Figure 4 Biowaste system Source: SmithCarter USA LLC


installed in the waste piping or additional cleanouts allowing the insertion of expandable plugs into the piping should be included. For buildings with differing biosafety levels (BSL-3E or BSL-4), each level should be a separate, dedicated system leading to the effluent decontamination system or the site sewer outside the building.

Special attention must be paid to the design of the piping layout and especially the piping material. Either single-wall or double-wall systems may be incorporated, depending on the owner’s requirements, guidelines, and/or local codes. Single-wall, stainless steel butt-welded piping typically is used, as long as it is acces-sible and running through mechanical spaces or dedicated piping areas. It must be able to be inspected for possible leaks.

If the piping is above the ceilings of occupied areas, double-wall piping may be required. When designing double-wall piping systems, we would recommend the layout be a pre-engineered system to accommodate expansion and contraction since dis-charge temperature varies throughout the piping system. Piping material can vary from plastic to stainless steel to carbon steel, and the types of joining methods must be considered as well. As previ-ously mentioned under the chemical disinfection system section, all materials must be investigated for compatibility with the type of waste discharged and disinfectants utilized.

Treatment systems usually are automated batch systems consisting of three collection tanks: one treating waste, one collecting waste, and one on standby. Another option is a

continuous disinfection system, with sizing based on the flow rate of the waste. The method of treatment may vary, such as heating to 240°F, chemical treatment with a disinfectant or a caustic, or even a combination of heat and chemicals. Heating typically is done with steam via direct injection or through a tank jacket. Some newer systems utilize microwave technol-ogy. However, for these facilities, you need to be cautious about using any technologies that have not been used specifi-cally in biowaste applications. They should be investigated thoroughly to ensure that they will function as designed and be reliable. You do not want to be a beta test for a new tech-nology or an inexperienced vendor.

Each type of treatment requires the determination of design flow, holding capacities, duration of cycles, and the impact on the infrastructure of the building utilities and space requirements. Knowledge of the operation of the building is essential to size the system correctly. For determining the daily tank-holding capacity, you need to determine the following:

• Numberofpeopleinthesuite• Numberofshiftsordurationofoperation• Numberofshowers• Anticipatedlaboratorysanitationwasteflowsfromhosesta-

tions and floor and trench drains• Fixturewasteflows(suchaslaboratorysinks,handwash

sinks, lavatories, showers, and toilets)• Anticipatedretentiontimefordisinfection



From this information, the daily flow can be calculated, and from the treatment time the sizing of the tanks can be achieved. The tanks are typically ASME 316L stainless steel design vessels. All electrically powered equipment should be provided with standby power. All equipment and controls should be arranged to allow for service without interruption of the collection and treatment of the waste. (There are a number of other specific design considerations for the effluent decon-tamination equipment to consider, but they are too numerous for this article to address.)

One important aspect of monitoring the effluent decontami-nation system is that it is necessary to record all operational parameters to validate the decontamination of the waste. All systems utilize a microprocessor-based control panel, which typically is interconnected to the building automation system (BAS). The effluent decontamination system can be configured to record any specific parameters and alarms and can output this information to the BAS system. Per the BMBL, decontami-nation of all liquid wastes must be documented, the process must be validated physically and biologically, and the biological validation must be performed annually or more often if required by institutional policy. Records must be maintained and be available for inspection by any regulatory agencies (federal, state, or local) that may request them.

KNOWLEDGE IS CRUCIALWe hope it is clear that understanding of how the facility operates is critical for the design and sizing of systems for high containment. Do not attempt to design systems without a thorough discussion with the owner regarding the limitations of the design of the systems. It may help to conduct a hazardous operations assessment of these systems to review any potential maintenance or safety issues and make sure they are evaluated and addressed during the design.

Paul R. HalamaR is a senior professional associate and senior project engineer with HDR CUH2A Inc. in Princeton, New Jersey. During his more than 30 years of professional engineering experience, he has developed an expertise of plumbing and fire protection systems with project experience in advanced pharmaceutical research, development and process laboratories, vivariums, BSL-3 and BSL-4 high-containment facilities, and higher educational facilities. In addition, he serves as professor of environmental systems at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

KaRl e. yRJanainen, Pe, CPd, leed aP, is a senior professional associate and director of plumbing engineering with HDR CUH2A Inc. in Princeton, New Jersey. He has more than 20 years of experience with laboratory, vivarium, and process facilities ranging from 200 to 1.2 million square feet for various academic, government, and pharmaceutical clients. He is experienced with various specialty process and fire protection systems. In addition, he serves as an adjunct instructor of environmental systems at Drexel University and is the current president of ASPE’s New Jersey Chapter.

gested sizing system. All are based on AIA guidelines, as well as NFPA 99, 99C, 50, and 101.

The vacuum sizing chart assumes a source pressure of 19 in. Hg and an ambient temperature of approximately 68°F. The engineer’s starting point is the most remote outlet.

In Figure 4, the first outlet is served by the segment of pipe marked A – B. Segment A – B supplies 1.5 liters per minute (lpm). Per the chart, you can interpolate the lpm to achieve 42.5 actual lpm at a loss per 100 feet, which equals 0.01178 loss (38 feet x 0.031/100) in this segment of piping. Continue the pipe loss procedure per segment as indicated. Table 4 provides the pipe size based on the pressure loss of each pipe segment. Place each segment and pipe size as arranged in the vacuum sizing chart (Table 5).

Once all segment losses have been tabulated, you must verify that the total does not exceed the maximum allowed 4 psi for vacuum systems (5 psi for other sys-tems). The calculations above indicate a total system pressure loss of 1.15 psi (0.24477 + 0.90394). This tells us that the system is well within the maximum loss limit. In the future, adding additional vacuum load to this piping system will be possible without replacing the piping.

If the total had exceeded the maximum 4-psi allowed system loss, a reevaluation of the entire vacuum system or individual line segment losses would be needed to determine how to lower the pressure losses.

This procedure is similar for medical air, oxygen, and other medical gas piping systems. What makes the sizing different is their assigned value for rooms, beds, or procedures. Each gas and vacuum outlet has an assigned cubic foot per minute (cfm) or liter per minute (lpm) value. Be sure in your design to follow the lpm designation. Standard cubic feet per minute (scfm) is the cfm prior to the source pump. Actual cubic feet per minute (acfm) is the actual cfm after the source pump. Confusing these designa-tions can cause design sizing errors. Remember to always follow any design methods with the guidance of an experienced medical design professional.

dOnald KeitH, CPd, mSS, is a Project Manager, Senior Plumbing and Fire Protection Designer, and a Medical Systems Specialist with AKF Engineers in Arlington, Virginia. For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail [email protected].

…continued from page 22

table 5 Medical vacuum pipe (vertical) main service line sizing

start end Run, ft

Flow, lpm

Actual scfm

Pipe size, in.

Loss/ 100 Loss Running

subtotal

A B 12 765 27 1½ 0.197 0.02364 0.02364

B C 12 1,530 54 2 0.183 0.02196 0.0456

C D 12 2,295 81 2 0.354 0.04248 0.08808

D E 12 3,060 108 2½ 0.210 0.0252 0.11328

E F 12 3,825 135 2½ 0.318 0.03816 0.15144

F G 175 4,590 162 2½ 0.430 0.7525 0.90394

VITAL DESIGNHigh-containment Plumbing Design


By MiCHAEl E. SMiTH, CPd

I recently received a frantic phone call from a long-standing customer. He owns and operates a small hardware store directly across the street from my firm, and in an effort to expand his busi-ness, he recently added catering to his list of offerings. The renting of tents, those big blow-up playgrounds for kids, and wedding paraphernalia has given his business a big boost during these hard economic times. However, it has been so successful that he wanted to put an addition on his building dedicated to the cater-ing business. He purchased some undeveloped land next to his property for the addition and a parking lot to accommodate the extra traffic that his catering business attracted.

We designed the new addition. It included a new warehouse to store the rental equipment, a washdown area for the returned tents, and, of course, the new parking lot.

As a design/build contractor, we typically don’t mess around with site work. Five feet out is the general rule. This customer, however, had been working with us for years, and now I bring you to the reason for his frantic call.

He had just met with the local storm water system reviewer for our community in south central Virginia. This person had informed him that not only was he required to install a storm water retention pond, which was in his budget, but he also was required to filter all of the runoff before it entered the retention pond, which definitely was not in his budget. Storm water filters come in a variety of shapes and sizes, as well as manufacturers, and they are not cheap!

Thus, my client was facing about $45,000 in cost, plus installa-tion. The filtering of storm water runoff was going to add an addi-tional $60,000 to his project. This was a cost for which he definitely was not prepared.

He called me partially out of desperation, asking what could be done. I guess he figured that since I am somewhat of a water guru, I could come up with a solution to his problem. However, this was a new one for me. I always assumed that storm water detention and retention ponds did their jobs, allowing the collected storm water to remain on site and eventually recharge the aquifer as they were intended to do.

aPPaRently, tHe ePa HaS OtHeR ideaSTo research my client’s apparent problem, I called the local authority and was connected with the storm water plan reviewer for our jurisdiction. She told me that yes, indeed, the EPA had established this standard some years ago and that the local authority was just now enforcing it.

Three years ago my company purchased some land in an industrial park here in town to build a 50,000-square-foot fabrication shop. We were required to construct a storm water retention pond, but we were not required to pre-filter the runoff from our new building and park-ing lot. Three years later, all new construction, at least in my jurisdic-tion, must install a system to pre-filter all storm water runoff.

The claims made by the manufacturers of these obviously “green” filtering systems are quite impressive. One company

claims 98 percent removal of fecal chloroform, 98 percent removal of total suspended solids, 90 percent removal of phosphorus, and 98 percent removal of chromium—not to mention other contami-nants such as zinc, lead, nitrogen, and petroleum hydrocarbons.

This is all well and good as far as the environment is concerned, but what about the poor small business owner who is trying to survive these tough economic times?

I still remember the pain in my client’s voice as he related to me the unexpected added cost to his expansion project. “This storm water thing is going to bust my budget!” he cried. “I’m not sure if I can go ahead with my project.” The expansion meant hiring more workers to man the new catering business, but if he was going to be forced to spend the unanticipated dollars on the storm water filtering system…well, maybe he should fall back and punt.

My client’s new project is now officially up in the air. We are trying to figure out ways to adjust his budget to incorporate the new storm water filtering requirement. This will mean sacrificing some of the quality of his expansion to accommodate the added expense of the storm water treatment system.

nOW HeRe’S tHe RubIf the local authorities insist on enforcing these storm water requirements, are they doing so at the risk of stifling small busi-ness growth? While it’s true that we must look constantly toward greening our environment and protecting our fragile ecosystem, can’t we also take a common-sense approach and maybe delay some of these new restrictions, thereby allowing our much belea-guered small businesses some breathing room?

If this American economy is to survive, it will be small busi-nesses that do the heavy lifting. Wall Street received all of the TARP and bailout money. The big banks were declared “to big to fail.” Small businesses didn’t get any of that. They were left to fend for themselves, find a new business model, and, like my company, look for new business by competing in areas and categories unex-plored before this economic crisis forced us to do so.

I have had several conversations with our local storm water management reviewer, and she has indicated a willingness to work with my long-time client. It remains to be seen what kind of resolution, if any, can be reached that will benefit all concerned. Hopefully, my client will find a way to proceed with his expansion. If not, then regulation has won, and any thought of economic recovery will have to wait.

miCHael e. SmitH, CPd, is a plumbing/piping designer/draftsman for Southern Air Inc., a design/build-MEP firm in Lynchburg, Va. His work in the construction trades includes surveying, carpentry, masonry, concrete, and drywall mechanic/finisher/foreman. To comment on this article or for more information, e-mail [email protected].

Small Business Owners: Get Out Your Checkbooks!

THE WoRld of dESign/build


Like many state university systems, the State University Construc-tion Fund of New York (SUCF) is eager to bring its science facilities into the 21st century. At the State University of New York College at Buffalo, commonly known as Buffalo State College (BSC), SUCF has devoted significant resources to renovating and expanding the science center.

BSC’s science center consists of two buildings: Science One, built in 1963, and Science Two, added to the south side of Sci-ence One in 1967. Science One and Science Two are connected at the ground level by common space, and the upper floors are connected by a single corridor link. During an average day, these centrally located buildings host a range of activities, including sci-ence classes, laboratory classes, laboratory research experiments, and community outreach.

For these facilities to remain functional and meet SUCF’s program objectives, all of the building systems, including the plumbing, needed major upgrades. The existing plumbing systems had reached the end of their service life and were inadequate to support additional equipment. The acid waste system was leak-ing in multiple locations, and sections of it needed replacement. Laboratory vacuum and air systems both were inadequate. Nei-ther building was equipped with a laboratory vacuum system (all vacuum was produced by point-of-use systems), and the aging laboratory air system was undersized relative to the expanded building functions, requiring supplemental point-of-use compres-sors. The buildings also lacked a centralized pure water system, which required researchers and scientists to manually transport this resource to labs, where it had a limited shelf life.

However, merely upgrading the existing facilities would not be adequate. The college also needed to build more science teach-ing and research space to accommodate a growing demand for science education. Thus, the decision was made to build a 150,000-square-foot addition adjacent to the four-story complex, renovate the existing Science One building, and demolish Science Two. This plan would provide the college with a 220,000-sf state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary science complex.

The new facility would serve a variety of important functions. It would help Buffalo State College advance its science curriculum, foster the interaction and socialization so essential to today’s increasingly interdisciplinary cutting-edge science research, and enhance the recruitment and retention of students and faculty. The additional building space also would provide the purely prag-matic benefit of allowing the renovation of the existing science facilities to occur without interrupting teaching and research. Because there were no other science buildings on the campus, renovation of any science area required swing space to accom-modate outgoing education program and research. Since no other space was available on campus, and for obvious cost-control mea-sures, the addition would supply that swing space.

The addition will be built in two phases. After building the first phase of the project, the college will relocate certain functions of Science One and Science Two to the addition. All other occupants in Science One will be relocated to Science Two so that Science One can be vacated and completely renovated. After comple-tion of the Science One renovations, the remaining occupants of Science Two will be relocated to the renovated Science One and portions of the Phase One addition. Science Two then will

Case Study Laboratory Retrofitting

Learn how BIM was used to coordinate the renovation of Science Building No. 15, State

University of New York College at Buffalo

by Frank V. Sica, AIA, & Steven P. Batterson


be demolished, allowing the final piece of the new addition to be constructed and all phases of the project to be occupied.

CHALLENGESHousing primarily teaching and research laboratories, the Phase One addition consists of two three-story lab blocks and a three-story-high atrium that joins the addition to the existing Science One building and creates a main public space for the complex. It also provides a sheltered path between dormitories and the academic quad that students can use in inclement weather. The second phase of the addition will provide another lab block, a greenhouse, and a planetarium. The SUCF program included achieving LEED Silver requirements, with the building incorporating a host of sustainable design features to meet or exceed those goals.

As far as plumbing—and every other building system—was con-cerned, a primary challenge to address in the design of the addition was to get it to link well to the existing structure of Science One. Modern laboratory buildings typically have a floor-to-floor height of at least 16 feet, but the floor-to-floor height of Science One and Two was just over 11 feet. Construction of the addition also had the potential to disrupt building services in Science One and Two, including domestic water, laboratory gases, and waste line as well as HVAC and building access. Utilities located in the footprint of the addition would need to be protected, removed, and/or relocated.

The renovation of Science One also posed a number of chal-lenges. The building’s existing system of risers and valves was suboptimal: If one laboratory was being renovated, adjoining laboratories would need to be shut down at the same time. Plumb-ing systems in many locations were located above inaccessible ceilings. The inadequacies of Science One were so extensive that the team decided to completely gut the building and renovate it to bring Science One up to the standards of the new addition.

THE CENTRAL SPINEThe reason modern laboratory buildings have a typical floor-to-floor height of 16 to 18 feet is because a multitude of building systems must be run horizontally through each floor. In addition to plumbing systems, including acid waste, acid vent, storm sewer, laboratory air, laboratory vacuum, natural gas, and pure water, all of the other building systems must navigate these spaces in the same way, including electrical conduits and mechanical systems such as supply air, return air, exhaust air, and supply and return piping for heating water and chilled water.

If the project designers could reduce the floor-to-floor height of the addition, not only would it cut down on the total length of ramping that would be required to transition between the old and new buildings, but it also would make the building cost less overall: less brick, block, steel, concrete, studs, ductwork, conduit, wires, and plumbing. The decision was made to reduce the floor-to-floor height of the addition as much as possible.

To achieve this reduction, the lab planners and designers took an innovative design approach. Traditionally, laboratory buildings are designed with double-loaded corridors, with a hallway down the center and laboratories on either side (see Figure 1). The design con-cept of the addition, however, incorporates a central spine (see Figure 2), an accessible space in which the lab supply systems run vertically rather than horizontally. Labs back up to this central spine, providing ready access to all lab and building system services. Instead of run-ning a corridor down the middle of the building, two single-loaded corridors run along the building’s edges (see Figure 3).

This design has a number of benefits. With classrooms and teaching labs placed along the atrium-side corridor and research labs along the outside corridor, the design effectively segregates public and private areas. The spine centralizes services and makes them highly accessible, allowing future changes with minimal dis-ruptions. Ductwork is smaller, and lab piping is easily accessible.

Figure 3 Design concept with corridors along

building edges

Figure 1 Traditional laboratory building design Figure 2 Design concept of addition with vertical central spine


Ample natural light flows into laboratory spaces through both corridors. The atrium-side corridor increases the atrium’s dynamic atmosphere, encourages interaction among science students and the larger student body, and puts science on display to increase awareness among non-science majors and the public.

USING BIM TO HELP COORDINATE SERVICESThe design process benefited immensely from the use of a build-ing information modeling (BIM) software package (see Figure 4). Plumbing and other building systems were modeled in Revit MEP.

When the project was designed, it was fairly uncommon to use Revit MEP to model building systems for a project of this size and scale. Of the three disciplines—mechanical, electrical, and plumb-ing—encompassed by Revit MEP, plumbing was the most recent, and content and experience were limited. In fact, users were advised to use Revit MEP’s plumbing component only for smaller projects. In spite of this, the project team forged ahead, using Revit MEP to model and integrate all building systems, including cost estimating and specifications.

The team overcame the challenges through a truly inte-grated design approach to the project. BIM greatly streamlined the design process, enabling architects, mechanical, structural, and plumbing engineers, electrical design-ers, cost estimators, and specification writers to see all system components simultaneously during design, clearly demonstrating con-gested areas in the building and helping the team minimize conflicts among the systems while ensuring serviceability.

BIM was crucial in the coordination of the central spine (see Figure 5). During the sche-matic design phase, each trade laid claim to the space their systems would require. As the HVAC engineering developed with specific energy modeling, certain ductwork was resized and needed more space in the spine. To make way, plumbing risers were spaced closer together, and the number of risers was reduced. An addi-tional plumbing chase was added at the stacked gang toilets to allow the HVAC ductwork to take over what had been the plumbing chase.

A similar situation occurred with the electri-cal discipline when the engineers, in collabo-ration with the in-house cost estimating team, found a more cost-effective way to service the major equipment in the building penthouse. A section of the spine was required to run conduits from the main electrical room in the basement up to the HVAC equipment in the penthouse. To accommodate this change in the spine without encroaching on any of the other trades, the storm system was partially redesigned and recalculated.

Coordination in the basement ceiling was particularly important, as space was tight to feed all of the systems to the spine while achieving the required ceiling height (see Figure 6). Cold water, hot water, hot water return, pure water, and steam piping enter or are generated at the base-ment-level mechanical room. Sprinkler mains, storm risers, and waste stacks also needed to be

fitted into the base-ment ceiling. To accom-modate changes in the building’s floor-to-floor height and revi-sions to the central spine to provide more space required by other

trades,

Figure 4 BIM model of the new science building addition

Figure 5 Revit model view of central spine

Figure 6 Revit model view of basement



the use of BIM allowed plumbing to be reworked and coordinated with confidence.

UTILITY RELOCATIONExisting utilities situated in the footprint of the Phase One addition needed to be relocated. These relocations were phased carefully so that Science One and Two could remain fully operational during construction. To allow demolition of existing mechanical spaces, tem-porary domestic water, natural gas, and fire protection services were routed from existing services on campus or from Science Two and into the basement of Science One. After the final buildout of the new addition, the temporary services will be removed, the new services will be installed, and the addition will be connected to Science One.

Phasing also was needed for the relocation of sanitary sewer and storm drainage so that they were not removed too early or recon-nected too late. The existing sanitary and storm systems needed to remain active during the early construction phase to maintain building services. The sewers could not be relocated around the building and had to remain in the construction zone. During con-struction of the new foundation, new services will be piped from the site and connected to the existing building’s services. These new services also will serve the renovated Science One.

RENOVATION OF SCIENCE ONEBecause Science One’s existing system of risers and valves would require shutting down multiple labs on several floors in the event of renovations or repairs, the building will be gutted in Phase Two, and all building systems will be removed and replaced. Science One’s new supply system will give each laboratory and classroom its own set of shutoff valves, which will allow future renovations to occur on a lab-by-lab basis without requiring the shutdown of adjoining laboratories. Installation or renovation of an individual laboratory’s waste system still will require a temporary shutdown of the laboratory on the floor below, but performing these shut-downs during off hours will limit disruptions.

All new systems will be installed in Science One, from the pent-house to the underslab piping in the basement. This will include a new, centralized pure water system located in the basement mechanical room and piped throughout the building in three con-tinuous loops (two in Phase One and one in Phase Two).

ANTICIPATED BENEFITS Science Building No. 15 will be a highly flexible facility to accommodate cutting-edge science for decades to come. Although changes to the completed facility should be years off, reconfigurations may occur much sooner due to the constant possibility of new research methods, funding, and personnel. The new facility will easily accommodate these changes, as well as future changes in equipment and infrastructure.

The three-foot reduction in floor-to-floor height reduced the overall first cost of the addition by more than $800,000. In terms of plumbing, the three-foot reduction, multiplied by three floors and approximately six vertical risers per system, equals a savings of 54 feet of pipe for each plumbing system.

It is anticipated that the plumbing systems, outfitted with water-conserving fixtures, will use around 96,900 gallons of water per year. Only plumbing fixtures listed in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 were used in determining this figure. No graywater or rainwater reuse was attempted for the first phase of the project. The water savings are 50.8 percent below the LEED baseline, which will earn two LEED water-efficiency credits for 20 percent water use reduction and 30 percent water use reduction, plus an extra credit for exemplary performance.

DESIGN TEAM WINS AWARDThe project’s use of BIM integrated design and the entire family of Autodesk Revit-based software was a major factor in Autodesk’s selection of Cannon Design, the firm that designed and engineered the project, for the 2009 BIM Experience Award. This award honors organizations for their innovation, leadership, and excellence in implementing BIM with the help of core BIM products, including one or more of the Autodesk Revit platform products and other Autodesk products that complement the BIM process.

FRanK V. SiCa, aia, is Associate Principal of Cannon Design in Grand Island, New york. For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail [email protected].

SteVen P. batteRSOn is Associate Vice President of Cannon Design in Grand Island, New york. For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail [email protected].

UL ListedScience Laboratory Utility

Controller

P.O. Box 129 / 103 W. CJ Wise Pkwy / Naples, TX 75568866.897.0737

www.ISIMET.com

SAFE SCIENCEProviding a Safer Learning

Environment for the Student and a Safer Workplace for the Instructor

UL ListedScience Laboratory Utility

Controller

P.O. Box 129 / 103 W. CJ Wise Pkwy / Naples, TX 75568866.897.0737

www.ISIMET.com

SAFE SCIENCEProviding a Safer Learning

Environment for the Student and a Safer Workplace for the Instructor



COntinuing eduCatiOn: Chilled drinking Water Systems

About This issue’s ArticleThe May 2010 continuing education article is “Chilled drinking Water Systems,” Chapter 20 from Engineered Plumbing Design II by A. Calvin laws, PE, CPd, and Alfred Steele, PE, CPd.

it is a well-known fact that water that is tepid is not as thirst quenching as water that has been cooled to a tem-perature from 40°F to 50°F. However, even water from a deep well warms up in the piping distribution system and is generally higher than 50°F. because of this, it is desirable to cool the drinking water in offices, factories, restaurants, schools, and theaters. This chapter explains the different systems used to chill drinking water and the fixtures used to dispense the chilled water.

You may locate this article at www.psdmagazine.org. Read the article, complete the following exam, and submit your answer sheet to the ASPE office to potentially receive 0.1 CEu.

PSd

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Continuing Education from Plumbing Systems & Design

CE Questions — “Chilled drinking Water Systems” (PSd 167)1. a ________ is a fixture that delivers water at the same

temperature as tap water.a. drinking water coolerb. drinking fountainc. refrigeratord. none of the above

2. What is the average summer tap water temperature in toledo, Ohio?a. 79°Fb. 84°Fc. 80°Fd. 70°F

3. Which of the following is a type of water cooler?a. explosion proofb. pressure typec. cafeteria typed. all of the above

4. in a water cooler, the ________ is used to exchange heat from the supply water to the wastewater.a. evaporatorb. precoolerc. condenserd. compressor

5. What flow rate from a bubbler produces the best trajectory stream? a. 0.25 gpmb. 0.5 gpmc. 1.2 gpmd. 2.0 gpm

6. What should be the maximum distance from a refrigeration unit to a drinking fountain?a. 5 feetb. 10 feetc. 15 feetd. 20 feet

7. What causes a milky appearance in the chilled water supplied to a fountain?a. entrained airb. dead legsc. poor circulationd. bad refrigerant

8. What safety factor should be used when calculating total cooling load?a. 5 percentb. 10 percentc. 15 percentd. 20 percent

9. For a heavy manufacturing building, how many gallons of chilled drinking water per person per hour are required?a. 0.25b. 0.20c. 20d. none of the above

10. For a hospital, what is the required delivered chilled drinking water temperature?a. 40–45°Fb. 45–50°Fc. 50–55°Fd. 55–60°F

11. the circulating pump should be sized to limit the temperature rise of the circulating water to a maximum of ________.a. 0.5 degreesb. 1.5 degreesc. 5 degreesd. 10 degrees

12. Friction losses in the piping should be kept below ________ of equivalent length of run.a. 1-ft/100 ftb. 10-ft/100 ftc. 100-ft/10 feetd. 100-ft/1 ft

Do you find it difficult to obtain continuing education units (CEUs)? Through this special section in every issue of PS&D, ASPE can help you accumulate the CEUs required for maintaining your Certified in Plumbing Design (CPD) status.

now online!The technical article you must read to complete the exam is located at www.psdmagazine.org. Just click on “Plumbing Systems & Design Continuing Education Article and Exam” at the top of the page. The following exam and application form also may be downloaded from the website. Reading the article and completing the form will allow you to apply to ASPE for CEU credit. If you earn a grade of 90 percent or higher on the test, you will be notified that you have logged 0.1 CEU, which can be applied toward CPD renewal or numerous regulatory-agency CE programs. (Please note that it is your responsi-bility to determine the acceptance policy of a particular agency.) CEU information will be kept on file at the ASPE office for three years.

Note: In determining your answers to the CE questions, use only the material presented in the corresponding continuing education article. Using informa-tion from other materials may result in a wrong answer.


PS&D Continuing Education Answer SheetChilled Drinking Water Systems (PSD 167)

Questions appear on page 40. Circle the answer to each question. Q 1. A B C D Q 2. A B C D Q 3. A B C D Q 4. A B C D Q 5. A B C D Q 6. A B C D Q 7. A B C D Q 8. A B C D Q 9. A B C D Q 10. A B C D Q 11. A B C D Q 12. A B C D

Plumbing Systems & Design Continuing Education Application FormThis form is valid up to one year from date of publication. The PS&D Continuing Education program is approved by ASPE for up to one contact hour (0.1 CEU) of credit per article. Participants who earn a passing score (90 percent) on the CE questions will receive a letter or certification within 30 days of ASPE’s receipt of the application form. (No special certificates will be issued.) Participants who fail and wish to retake the test should resubmit the form along with an additional fee (if required).1. Photocopy this form or download it from www.psdmagazine.org.2. Print or type your name and address. Be sure to place your ASPE membership number in the appropriate space.3. Answer the multiple-choice continuing education (CE) questions based on the corresponding article found on

www.psdmagazine.org and the appraisal questions on this form.4. Submit this form with payment ($35 for nonmembers of ASPE) if required by check or money order made payable to ASPE or credit

card via mail (ASPE Education Credit, 2980 S. River Road, Des Plaines, IL 60018) or fax (847-296-2963).

Please print or type; this information will be used to process your credits.

Name ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Title _________________________________________________ ASPE Membership No. ____________________________________

Organization __________________________________________________________________________________________________

Billing Address ________________________________________________________________________________________________

City _________________________________________ State/Province ________________________ Zip ______________________

Country ______________________________________________ E-mail _________________________________________________

Daytime telephone ____________________________________ Fax ____________________________________________________

PE State _____________________________________________ PE No. _________________________________________________

Appraisal QuestionsChilled Drinking Water Systems (PSD 167)

1. Was the material new information for you? ❏ Yes ❏ No

2. Was the material presented clearly? ❏ Yes ❏ No

3. Was the material adequately covered? ❏ Yes ❏ No

4. Did the content help you achieve the stated objectives? ❏ Yes ❏ No

5. Did the CE questions help you identify specific ways to use ideas presented in the article? ❏ Yes ❏ No

6. How much time did you need to complete the CE offering (i.e., to read the article and answer the post-test questions)?

I am applying for the following continuing education credits:

I certify that I have read the article indicated above.

Signature

Expiration date: Continuing education credit will be givenfor this examination through may 31, 2011.

Applications received after that date will not be processed.

❏ ASPE Member ❏ NonmemberEach examination: $25 Each examination: $35Limited Time: No Cost to ASPE Member

Payment: ❏ Personal Check (payable to ASPE) $❏ Business or government check $❏ DiscoverCard ❏ VISA ❏ MasterCard ❏ AMEX $

If rebilling of a credit card charge is necessary, a $25 processing fee will be charged.ASPE is hereby authorized to charge my CE examination fee to my credit card

Account Number Expiration date

Signature Cardholder’s name (Please print)


Will You be Part of the Solution?

In March, ASPE held its Grassroots Budget Meeting, which all interested members and especially chapter officers could attend. The Society president and trea-surer presented a broad overview of the budget and dis-cussed proposed programs and pricing changes (such as for the Convention) and asked for the membership’s input before the budget went before the whole board for review and adoption at the April board meeting.

One opinion delivered loud and clear by those mem-bers participating was that these are tough economic times—don’t raise dues, don’t raise product and service prices, and especially don’t significantly raise the Con-vention registration fee.

The board also received some e-mails about the budget, the flavor of which was similar to the Grassroots Budget Meeting comments: don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t. That’s a lot of don’ts. When do we get to the do’s?

While there was some good give and take about the budget and some good views were presented by chapter officers, the meeting was all about don’ts. The Grassroots Budget Meeting helps show chapter leaders what must be done to run the Society: how much money it takes, what programs and services are expected to be made available, and where the money to run the Society comes from and how it is expended. What the board hopes to get out of this meeting is some ideas as to what the membership wants in the way of products and services. What can the Society produce that you, the member, will want? What is a reasonable price?

In one e-mail, a member criticized almost all of the proposed new technical books, saying that no one would want them and that the price was too high. Okay, fair enough, but then what? Nothing! The e-mail didn’t offer any ideas about what types of technical books would be useful, what size audience a particular technical book might have, and what the right price might be.

i’ve Heard You. now Say it Again…and Again…and Again, Just to be SureAlmost all chapter and Society board members have the same gripe: It’s okay to complain, but where’s the sub-stance? What’s the bottom line? What do you want?

Everyone seems to have complaints and criticism; however, very little constructive criticism ever is given. For those of you who don’t know, constructive criti-cism is comments and remarks and ideas and discus-sions that produce a positive result. Too many chapter officers have the same problem: Everyone complains about something, but no one offers a solution or volun-teers to help to fix it. Simply finding chapter members

to run for the board of directors or volunteer for a committee to maintain the chapter is oftentimes an impossible task.

leader or Follower?Thankfully, some very dedicated Society members continue to run for chapter boards of directors year after year and continue to help the chapters (and the Society) with their leadership.

As chapter officers quickly find out when they attend the June Region Chapter Presidents Meetings, all chap-ters have the volunteer problem. What happens when these dedicated individuals finally decide that enough is enough? Unless someone else steps forward, the chapter usually disbands or just evaporates, such as what hap-pened in New Mexico and Kentucky.

The essence of a chapter is the peer networking, interrelationships, and leadership. When those go, nothing is left.

The Essence of leadershipThe ASPE biennial Convention is just a few months away, and members should be aware that this is where the business of the Society for the next two years is con-ducted. At the ASPE Business Meeting, you, the member, can exert your influence and control the organization.

This is where the ASPE Bylaws are reviewed, and mod-ifications are proposed and debated. It is also when you, the member, can chose who you want to be the leaders of the Society because at the Business Meeting the can-didates for board of directors officers are put forth. You get some time to meet and question the candidates and talk to your peers about where you want the Society to be going and how it’s going to get there.

Members’ voices are heard at the ASPE Business Meeting through the delegates, or those individuals chosen by the members of a chapter to represent them at the Business Meeting. The total number of members from each chapter determines how many delegates a chapter has at the Business Meeting.

It is helpful if the delegates are chosen before the summer begins because a lot of information is sent out during July and August that provides information for the delegates. Waiting until after the summer to chose a delegate is often typical, but then the individuals, unless they have delegate experience, too often are left wandering on their own without the necessary knowl-edge and information needed to be a great representa-tive for their chapter.

www.aspe.org

STANLEy M. WOLFSON, ASPE ExECUTIVE DIRECTOR

From the Executive’s Desk

www.aspe.orgwww.aspe.org


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Will You be There? Almost any chapter member can be a chapter delegate. This is an unparalleled opportunity to get involved in the Society—to see how it is run and to have a say in who is running it. It is an excel-lent opportunity to stand up, step forward, and build leadership skills. This is a special opportunity to be part of the top tier of pro-fessional plumbing engineers, to meet your peers, and to network with the present and future leaders of the industry.

2010 Convention TeaserIn a few months we will be sending the 2010 ASPE Conven-tion logo lapel pin to chapter presidents for distribution to all

chapter members. Please wear the pin to help advertise the Convention.

In addition, everyone who registers for the Convention will receive with their registration confirmation a 2010 Convention commemorative coin. Each coin will be numbered, and only registered attendees will receive them. When you get to the Con-vention, be sure to show your coin to the registration staff. If your coin has a winning number, you will receive an extra ticket for the grand prize drawings on Monday and Tuesday. For the really lucky few, an immediate $50 Convention fee rebate will be given to you on the spot.

Good luck to all. ✻

Seattle Chapter Charter Meeting institutes ASPE’s 61st Chapter

On March 16, 2010, 50 ASPE members gathered at Ivar’s Salmon House in Seattle to witness the chartering of ASPE’s 61st chapter. ASPE President Julius Ballanco, PE, CPD, FASPE, presided over the chartering ceremony, presenting certificates of appreciation to Seattle Chapter interim board officers Patrick Cooper, CPD, Jason Hewitt, PE, CPD, Duane Lease, PE, Kevin Jones, Frank van der Harst, CPD, Gregory Skaggs, and William Ben-necker, all of whom contributed much time and effort to the formation of the chapter. A formal election for the Seattle Chapter board occurred, with the following results:

• President:PatrickCooper• VicePresident,Technical:JasonHewitt• VicePresident,Legislative:DuaneLease• VicePresident,Membership:KevinJones• Treasurer:FrankvanderHarst• CorrespondingSecretary:GregorySkaggs• AdministrativeSecretary:WilliamBenneckerAfter the new board was sworn in, Patrick

Cooper was presented with an official gavel and an ASPE banner to be displayed at all chapter meetings, and then each board member used a president’s pen to sign the charter. All other ASPE members in attendance also were invited to sign the charter, making them charter members of the Seattle Chapter as well. ✻


nominating Committee Seeks board of directors Candidates

In October, at the 2010 Convention in Philadelphia, ASPE will elect a board of directors for 2010–2012. The Nominating Com-mittee currently is seeking multiple candidates for each of the elected positions: president; vice president, technical; vice president, education; vice president, legislative; vice president, membership; vice president, affiliate; secretary; treasurer; region 1 director; region 2 director; region 3 director; region 4 director; and region 5 director.

The Process and bylawsIn accordance with the ASPE Bylaws: “For all board officers, the Committee shall be responsible for providing a recom-mended slate of officers for presentation to the membership and for election as officers by the delegates. The Nominating Committee shall oversee the preparation and submittal of the material for each individual chosen, shall attest to the accuracy of the information provided, and shall prepare a summary biography for distribution to the membership and the del-egates not later than 60 days prior to the date of the election.”

The Nominating Committee has some latitude as to the slate of officers it may present to the delegates at the biennial ASPE Business Meeting. As there is no continuity provision in the Bylaws, all ASPE board members must run for re-election every two years (with the president limited to two two-year terms). The Nominating Committee can offer one or more rec-ommendations for each board position to the delegates.

The ASPE Bylaws also state: “Nothing in this bylaw shall exclude additional candidates being nominated from the floor or petitioning the committee for inclusion as a candi-date. All nominations from the floor shall require a second and a positive vote to include the candidate of at least 25 delegates; written petitions for inclusion on the official can-didate ballot shall require a minimum of 50 full or associate member signatures.”

The Nominating Committee is not required to include everyone who has submitted a nominations background form. If a candidate wants to ensure placement on the ballot, he or she should include the petition for inclusion with their application.

How to Run for officeThe Bylaws require an individual to be a full member in good standing and have a PE and/or CPD designation. Such indi-viduals can download the nomination background form from the ASPE website (located in the Member Benefits section), fill out the form, and send it to the Nominating Committee.

Members seeking to become a Society officer must build up a level of visibility and credibility with all delegates and region and chapter officers. The nomination forms help the delegates and chapter officers become familiar with those seeking office. During the delegates meeting, all candidates have the opportu-nity to present themselves to the delegates.

The board PositionsThe ASPE Bylaws specify the elected board positions as follows:

• President: It shall be the duty of the president to preside at all Conventions; to call all special meetings of the board of directors, and to serve as chair of the board of direc-tors; to administer the affairs of the Society in conformity with the Bylaws; to appoint all committees not otherwise provided for and to serve as ex-officio member of such committees except the Nominating Committee; and to perform such other duties as their office may require. The president shall submit the proposed budget for the next fiscal year to the board of directors on or before May 1 of the current fiscal year.

• VicePresident,Technical: In the absence of the presi-dent, the vice president, technical shall perform all the duties of the president and when so acting shall have all the powers of, and be subject to all the restrictions of, the president. The vice president, technical shall also be responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the technical activities of the Society.

• VicePresident,Education shall be responsible for educa-tional and professional development programs.

• VicePresident,Legislative shall be responsible for all activities pertaining to codes or ordinances as they pertain to the Society.

• VicePresident,Membership shall be responsible for recruiting new members, approving new member appli-cations, planning all membership activities, and main-taining a file on Society members.

• VicePresident,Affiliate shall be responsible for all activi-ties pertaining to the representation of the affiliate mem-bers and other duties as directed by the president.

• Treasurer shall be the chief financial officer of the Society and shall be responsible for the collection and disburse-ment of all Society monies.

• Secretary shall be responsible for keeping minutes of the Convention and board of directors meetings and all intra-Society correspondence. This officer shall be responsible for notifying each member of the board of directors and/or chapters, by mail, of all meetings or official activities at least seven days prior thereto, setting forth therein the time, place, and program. The secretary shall distribute to each board member copies of the minutes of all board meetings including all reports made to the board within 15 days following each board meeting.

• RegionDirectors shall be responsible for overseeing the activities within their region and other duties as directed by the president.

Some Election notesThere is no limit to how many candidates may run for any position. The voting is by delegates chosen by their chap-

Nominating Committee

By J. JOE SCOTT II, CPD, FASPE, ASPE NOMINATING COMMITTEE CHAIR


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ter members and some others as stated in the Bylaws (e.g., past presidents). For all officers, a majority vote is required to win. When more than two candidates are running, the top two vote-getters will run off against each other. All officers except for the region directors are elected at large, and all delegates have an equal vote.

For the region directors, chapter presidents typically select the candidate at their June Region Presidents Meeting. However, additional individuals may run for the position by sending in a nomination form or by being nominated from the floor. The individual must be located in the proper region, and the voting is by region. Furthermore, each chapter in each region gets one overall vote. Since the bylaws do not provide for a “super” delegate or for that matter a “master” delegate or any other means for a single vote to be tallied by chapter, the Bylaws have been interpreted by the board of directors in accordance to the original intent of the Bylaw: each delegate in the region will be permitted to vote. The votes will be accumulated and tallied by chapter. The candidate receiving the most votes in each chapter will receive the one permitted vote of the chapter. The majority vote of all the chapters in each region will determine a winner. In cases of ties, per region, a runoff election will be held utilizing the same procedure.

What to ExpectASPE members thinking about running for the board of directors often wonder if they need to raise money for a campaign fund and how much time they will need to devote to the position.

Fortunately, the answer to the first question is that it doesn’t require any money at all to run for a Society office. You just need to be a full member in good standing, hold a PE or CPD, and have a strong desire to help ASPE and the plumbing engineering profes-sion grow and prosper.

The answer to the second question is more complicated. One pre-requisite for becoming a candidate for board office is to have both your family’s and your employer’s approval. The amount of work time any one officer spends is often subject to the position. A mini-mum of four board meetings per year typically are held in January, April, July, and October. Depending on the agenda, each meeting runs from Thursday night though Sunday morning. Monthly board conference calls also are held.

Depending on the board position to which you are elected, you will have a committee to oversee (e.g., the vice president, technical oversees the Technical and Research Committee). Finally, there’s the board work that goes along with being a Society officer, such as e-mails back and forth among the board members plus a number of direct board-to-staff telephone calls, as well as volunteer work, which depends on the position’s responsibilities. For example, the vice president, technical is involved in every publication that ASPE produces, and the vice president, membership is responsible for approving every membership application.

If you have questions about the positions or the time involved, please feel free to contact any current board member. Their contact information can be found on ASPE’s website. Many board members indicate that they spend at least one hour a day on Society business. The amount of time varies by the responsibilities of each board posi-tion and the workload the board places upon itself.

Are You Ready to Serve?Sixty days prior to the first Business Meeting day at the ASPE Convention, the Nominating Committee is required to inform the delegates of the candidates and provide a summary biography for each candidate. In practice, the candidates are presented in Plumbing Systems & Design magazine for members to review. Also, a complete package of material from each candidate is provided to the delegates when they pick up their delegate credentials at the Convention registration desk.

To meet the Bylaws requirements, all known board candidates must be published in the September issue of PS&D. Due to pub-lishing deadlines, all candidates that will be presented in accor-dance to the Bylaws must submit their candidate material to the Nominating Committee no later than June 30, 2010.

Very dedicated people have held positions on the Society board of directors over the years. Through their enthusiasm and commit-ment, the Society has continued to prosper. Now it is time to renew current board members or find new individuals who have the best interests of the Society at heart and want to keep the tradition of strong leadership at the forefront of our guidance.

You may reach me at [email protected] with any ques-tions or to submit an application. ✻

Do you know what the

Parmalee head is?

Find out soon in the ASPE Plumbineering

Dictionary.


ASPE bylaws Amendments Are due June 11, 2010

During the Society Business Meeting at the 2010 Convention, the delegates will approve any changes—adding new bylaws or modifying current bylaws—to the ASPE Bylaws.

The ASPE Bylaws are the life and the soul of the Society. They detail the goals and objectives of the Society and spell out policy and procedural details for the conduct of Society busi-ness. The Bylaws are the single most important document that controls all business and actions of the Society.

How to Submit a bylaw ChangeThe Bylaws state, “Every proposed alteration, amend-ment, or addition to the Bylaws must be submitted to the Society’s office in typewritten form at least one hundred twenty (120) days prior to the Convention. The Society’s office shall submit the same to the membership forty-five (45) days prior to the Convention. Any proposed Bylaws change may be amended from the floor for the purpose of clarification or elimination of conflict, if such amend-ment does not violate the spirit or intent of the proposed Bylaws amendment.”

Any member can propose an amendment, and every such proposed amendment must be considered at the ASPE Business Meeting. This year, all proposals and modi-fications must be at the ASPE office no later than June 11. (By the Bylaws, all proposed alterations, amendments, or additions must be submitted to the Society office 120 days prior to the Convention. Thus, the “real” date would be June 30. However, the extra time allows the staff and the Bylaws Committee at least a minimum of time to ensure that the proposals have been submitted properly or can be put into proper form in time.) Bylaw modifications and proposals should be sent by mail to the ASPE office marked “Confidential: Attention Executive Director” or by e-mail to the ASPE executive director at [email protected] or [email protected].

The second critical date is September 15 (45 days prior to the Business Meeting), when all proposals and modifications must be submitted to the membership. To meet this requirement, the proposals and modifications will be published in the Sep-tember issue of PS&D.

How is an Amendment Approved? The Bylaws say, “Anaffirmativevoteofthree-fourths(¾)ofthedelegates present and voting shall be necessary for the adop-tion of an amendment.”

Role of the bylaws CommitteeThe Bylaws Committee consists of a chair and one member from each of the five regions. As stated in the ASPE Policy and Procedures Manual, “The Bylaws Committee shall be

responsible for the review of the Bylaws of the Society, propose changes to the Board, and review amendments proposed by the membership.” This usually occurs after proposed changes are submitted to the Society office.

Therefore, Bylaws Committee members are responsible for reviewing and discussing any changes proposed by the membership and ensuring that the proposed modifications are properly worded and that all modifications are clearly delineated. If questions arise as to the intent of a change, the committee will contact the issuing member. The com-mittee also is charged with continually reviewing the Bylaws and proposing necessary edits and amendments to the board of directors.

The Review ProcessAfter the Bylaws Committee, the board of directors reviews proposals and modifications. While neither the Bylaws Com-mittee nor the board as a group takes an official position on an amendment, the board may offer an additional or modified amendment to be considered by the membership and voted on by the delegates.

Following the review of the board of directors and any actions it may take, all submitted changes are published for the whole membership to review and are distributed to the chapters for additional review and discussion, especially with the selected delegates to the Convention. (Note: When necessary, the Bylaws Committee, ASPE staff, or the board will properly format all submittals prior to consideration to ensure their validity.)

Itisimportanttorememberthatnoproperlysubmittedamendmentmaybediscarded. Oncetheexecutivedirectorhasreceivedaproperlycomposedmodification,inthetimeallotted,itwillbepublishedforallmemberstosee.Thereisnowayforasubmittedamendmenttonotbepublishedtothemembershipunlessitiswithdrawninwritingbytheissuingmember.

The delegates must consider all amendments at the ASPE Business Meeting.

Steps before the Actual VoteAs can be expected, some proposed modifications are unique to an individual’s desires, while others may be selective for a particular chapter or region. Under the light of group inspec-tion, some may be deemed inappropriate, unnecessary, or self-serving—in other words, not in the best interests of the Society as a whole. However, the Bylaws define no mechanism for such a dialogue to take place.

However, the delegates and members have a number of opportunities to discuss the submitted amendments and make comments, garner votes, or sway opinions. The first

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opportunity is the Region Meetings, where members can discuss and direct the voting of the chapter delegates. The Joint Regional Meeting also can be used as a forum for discussion, subject to the required agenda and time.

All delegates to the Convention are required to be at the Business Meeting, as this is the only time the delegates have to officially and openly discuss the proposed amendments. To ensure sufficient time to fully review and understand the amendments, the Business Meeting has specific rules provid-ing for a motion and a second for each amendment under consideration. This will be followed by discussion. Depend-ing on the scope and number of the proposed amendments, the chair may permit the actual vote to be delayed until the delegates have had sufficient time to discuss the proposals among themselves.

With all the delegates fully vested in all the discussions regard-ing the proposed amendments, neither the Bylaws Committee nor the board of directors will make specific recommendations. Rather, each member of this committee and the board may speak freely as may any other delegate during the discussion period.

it’s in Your HandsAll ASPE members are responsible for maintaining and overseeing the Society’s Bylaws. They are yours to change as you see fit. It is up to you to formulate review and discussion at chapter meetings and to attend the Region Meetings and the Convention.

If you will not be in attendance or a delegate to the Conven-tion, you should be sure to carefully review all the proposed changes and tell your chapter delegates what you want them to do on your behalf. Remember, the delegates to the Convention are your representatives.✻

new ASPE Members

Atlanta ChapterJohn Castorina

baltimore ChapterMatthew Ryan Wagner george Arthur Wilburt, PE

boston ChapterRukeme A. Ejofodomi Jacob garner Christopher lezak, PE Michael Thomas Pensack Steven Tierney

british Columbia ChapterRemi Rizzo

Central Florida ChapterMelissa green

Central indiana ChapterJohn S. Heger Chadd Preske

Central new York ChapterMichael A. Eckhardt, gE, PE

Central ohio ChapterCasey Reddy

Central Texas ChapterStillman duane Jordan iii,

gE

Charlotte ChapterTim bruce boyles, PE

Chicago ChapterPanagiotis bakos david John Erickson Marina Horchin gerard Paul Kenny Jingyu lee Eric Petzer, PE

Cleveland Chapterdale brimacombe, PE Theodore E. dreyer, gE Andrew Huelsman, gE

dallas/Ft. Worth ChapterMichael A. Arellano Sophi Feng, PE Katherine Jill Kelly Stephen l. long gary Mitchell david bryan Prewitt Kevin l. Rohde John Sloate Claude Wilkinson, PE

denver ChapterTaylor Critchlow, PE

Eastern Michigan ChapterPamela devi Hartsell

Houston Chapterderek Alan leazar, gE Phillip luke Stephens

Kansas City ChapterJustin M. Killingsworth

Member at large Mike Fiorilli Mohamed Sabry Madany, gE

Miami ChapterAndres gomez Portuguez

Montreal ChapterAlexandre bouchard, gE,

P. Eng

nashville ChapterPaul Mezera

new orleans ChapterChris Andersen brad deaton

new York City Chapterirene Petrovsky Philip J. Smalley, PE

north Florida ChapterThomas Morris, PE

northern California Chapterleonard Savage, gE

omaha ChapterMichael ostdiek

Philadelphia Chaptergeoffrey Fountain Jeremy C. gill brian Thomas umile, gE,

E.i.T.

Pittsburgh ChapterMelissa Walters, gE

Quebec ChapterCeline Marcotte Patrice Riverin, P. Eng

Richmond Chapterbrock Frey

San diego ChapterPatrick Anthony Stremel,

gE, PE

San Francisco ChapterSean Peter Flanagan

Seattle Chapterbryan Murdach Steven g. Sharratt

Washington, d.C., ChapterWilliam James dougherty Joseph niedzielski, CPd

Welcome to all new Society members. When you choose a chapter affiliation, you have twice the advantage. Not only can you be involved at the national level, you also can participate in chapter functions and programs. To all members, old and new, this is your Society. Your involvement enhances the plumbing engineering field as well as ASPE. Suggestions about how to make your Society more beneficial to both fellow members and all involved in the industry are welcome.


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HELP RING IN THE FUTURE OF ASPEPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania | October 30 - November 3, 2010

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201005PSD

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