ms8r2017 ‘Source for Plumbing, Hydronics, Fire Protection and PVF AW ArOU tela ele: ONC: Pa menter ty. ty Speak Bree 14ms8r2017 By J. Larry Ralneyee CKD)» ave you ever wanted 10 design a domestic hot Water system that worked — one that provided 105-10 11O-degrve hot water in two seconds ater the faucet was turned on, that does. not use balancing valves and, best for las, is cheaper to build when com- pred to the traditional two pipes (hot and hot water return ‘ystem) installation? Welcome to Jump Routing ‘We named the design “Jump Routing” because itsim- ply jumps from one fixture to the next with right angles, isnot routed down the corridor to match the eold-water standard installation, Instead, itis routed fom one fixture forthe next. The design requires the hot water supply main tobe located a maximum of 10 fet horizontally rom the fixture drop. This provides the two-tothree-second deliv= ery time once a fixture faucet i turned on, “The system starts atthe heaters. Say you have a six- story hospital: you would run the hot and cold mains 10 a vertical riser to supply each floor horizontally. From the se, the cold water would be routed inthe traditional down the corridor tree patter design, The hot water from this point is different: it starts by routing within 10 feet of the closest fisture, then to the next elses fixture, and so fn, We go clockwise to make it simple. ‘Once you complete the cleckwise route and all the fixe tures have a hot water drop, you head for the HWR riser Each drop toa fixture contained a shutoff valve in the horizontal line jst prior to the drop for code compliance ‘The traditional cold water shutofT is still in the Corridor serving one or more fixtures inthe space ‘The hot water piping is stil sized based on the fixture value-you placed on it, and as you drop off to fed the tures, the main size reduces based on fixture units. Once you fave completed the route back to the vertical risers ‘you place your hot water return pump at this location and Prior to connecting tothe verical hot water return riser, ‘The line size her is generally % inch to I inch. The HWR. pump floss is calevated based on maximum of 5,000 BIUMur los across the loop. Example of pump flow: 1,000-Foxt pipe x 30/ 5,000 {6 gpm pump flow: head is minimal, sually 15 fet to 18 feet. Generally we ty not to use a pump smaller than 8 1o 10 gpm: a litle more never hurt anything. All you are trying to do at this point is move the water at 2 fet per second (fps) whem there is no draw from an open fixture ‘The return systems are generally designed and sized at 5 psi loss / 100 foot run with a maximum of 7 fps velocity, IK your floors fatty large, you may want to divide i into to loops of more. Each floor of loop should be designed in a similar fashion, and each zone should contain an HR pump to make this design work satisfactorily. The pump is the key here with several beneficial factors, Firs, we all know Legionella is a concern, am something we all have to deal with if we design any building. especially a health care faily. All you have to dois review the current FT guidelines for hospitals; i is now your responsibility to provide a system that is as free of Legionella as possible. The system I'm describing does just that. [By keeping the water moving, the chlorine has Jess time to dissipate into the capper piping system, We all know heating water in a heater reduces the amount of chlorine that is sent out tothe Fixtures, If ‘We keep it moving, each time a faucet is activated we ave refreshing the chlorine inthe system. "Now think about this: we are moving the hot water at 115 to 120 degrees around the HW system on tach level, We are 15-feet total pipe distance from the fixture, and if your system is designed at 7 FPS 138/Pumbing Engineer shy 2017 28ms8r2017 Hot Water wwe have a 30.gpm pump at the water beaters. In any case, the head should not be more than a 13-10 18foot lass, due to the low flow velocity. One of the biggest benefits is you have eliminated the balancing valves that very Few contractors have a clue hes 10 set, So you say, “Have test and balance guy’ tose i” This gencrally doesn't work either from my exper ence. You give them flows foreach leg, and they ty tosetit accordingly, but the installers did not pipe the system as you designed, 30 now everything fs ques tonahie three weeks hefore the job opens up: andthe HW system is shill not up to pat for state health final inspection. Tris time to get our heads outof the sand and design a system that is specifically installed to accomplish fone given task. Tat is, hot water out ofthe faucet in Jess than three seconds. It also keeps chlorine inthe system to combat the Legionella from growing. ‘max veloiiy, ow long will it take to get hot water to the ‘outlet? Two seconds once the faucet fs opened, the on a brad day, Say you have a riser with one loop on each floor with «a small HWR pump at cach connection to the riser. We ‘would place a cumulative sized HWR pump a the heaters to serve the overall system, Example: IF the upper three floors were 10 gpm each, ROOF HYDRANT * FROST FREE * MEETS ASSE 1057 Typel * NO DRAINING * NO WINTERIZING * NO VENTURI * NO ADDED HARDWARE * NO PROBLEM It'sa. NO DRAINER! rE eNOS nowt FREEZE £2 250 ‘arming Engineer If installed as designed, you have a main flowing hot water at 10 foot horizontally from the fixture drop and a 5-fo0t or 6foot drop to the fixture vertically. Okay the system is designed for 7 fps flowing, 16 feet /7 =2.28 seconds to the oullet, Sounds prety good to me, and 1 don't think an owner would he unhappy with those kinds of results, (On one projet of 240,000 square Feet, we Ind out both systems and conducted a life-cycle cost analysis (CCA). ‘To our surprise the loop design was $124,000 cheaper than the first cost due 10 less piping and not to mention 53 halancing valves in the traditional system, There was ‘one small drawhack: it took 99 years for pay back on the fourth hot water retun pump in the loop system. Energy cost for the Tourth HWR pump was $1,300 sdditional yearly energy cost. At $124,000 inital savings, I ean live ‘with that, “To dae, we have employed four of these systems in the three hospitals with very happy DPOs and staf end-users, have attached afew examples of the design to share with the need of the whole. This system works as designed but does require the contractor's understanding of how to install and why. They cannot locate the hot water main 32 feet from the fixture because the duct guy got there first. ‘The system will not work lke that. The best course is to ‘explain the sysem and the importance of the main outing ft the pre-bid meeting, ‘The installation cannot be deviated From in he fil by subs that have no idea what or why the system i called out to be installed inthis manner. Ihave usd the terminology “fighing Legionella” in my presentations, whieh gener ally gets ther attention. Deviations are noi allowed. The Pip can be loser but not farther away rom the fixture as ‘alle out in the construction documents, Should you have ‘questions, please fel free to reach out to me, @ J. Larry Rains, Je has worked at Smith Seckman Reid Engineers Ine. (SSR) for 40 years. He has an extensive background in hosptalhealth care design. Rains has been NIFC medical gas instructor since 2000. Rains isa cer rifled installer inspector, instructor and braze instructor He has received CPD certification through ASPE. He can be reached at Trains @ sinc com. shy 2097 aa