Industry News
8 Par Mech. wins Lochinvar's showcase
Bullitt Center hopes to be the world's
greenest commercial building
By STEVE SPAULDING OF CONTRACTOR'S STAFF
SEATTLE — For Denis Hayes,
president and CEO of the Bul-
litt Foundation, the best way
to advance a cause is by push-
ing the envelope. The Bullitt
center, slated for completion
before the end of the year, is
what he calls, "A bold attempt
to do everything right."
By "everything" he means
every phase of the project,
from design and construction,
operation and maintenance,
right up to its eventual demoli-
tion (projected more than 250
At left, the geothermal field; at right, HDPE geothermal tubes and connectors.
PHCC—National Association lobbies Congress,
builds relationships on Capitol Hill
BY C A N D A C E ROULO OF CONTRACTOR'S STAFF
WASHINGTON — This being
an election year and Plumb-
ing-Heating-Cooling Contrac-
tors — National Association's
130th Anniversary, PHCC
members visited Capitol Hill
April 26 to lobby senators and
representatives on the death
tax, lead paint rule and the
workforce guidelines for the
Federal Weatherization Assis-
tance Program (WAP).
The Legislative Conference
started on Wednesday, April
25, with a briefing of the is-
sues members were lobbying
on and a reception on Capi-
tol Hill. Morton Kondracke,
American ingenuity reflected in 9/11 Memorial
SPECIAL to CONTRACTOR
CQHTRACTOR
years out) is intended to push
the leading edge of perfor-
mance-based design. Features
of the building include net-
zero energy, net-zero water and
onsite sewage and wastewater
treatment.
PAE Consulting was chosen
to design and install the me-
chanical systems for the center
and began work in late 2009.
PAE has offices in both Seattle
and San Francisco employing
more than 60 people. The firm
has made sustainability and
journalist and po-
litical analyst, spoke
to members during
the briefing about
the state of politics
in the country, the
upcoming election
a n d how PHCC
members do make a
Rep. David Schweikert meets with Mark
difference.
"You are t h e i r Giehelhaus, chairman of Govnt. Relations.
constituents," Kon-
dracke told PHCC members. Riso, director of government
"You are outstanding people relations for the PHCC, an-
and job creators — they like to nounced that the 3% With-
see you. You can help them get holding Rule was repealed
re-elected. Don't be shy telling earlier this year. Last year the
them what you want."
energy-efficiency mainstays of
their work, according to Marc
P. Brune, an Associate with PAE
and lead project engineer for
the Bullitt Center.
"Our company president
[and Bullitt Center PM] Paul
Schwer met with their presi-
dent, Denis Hayes and they
both hit it off," Brune ex-
plained. "They share the same
vision."
The 30-million dollar,
50,000-sq. ft. commercial
building is heated and cooled
by radiant flooring,
powered by a closed-
loop geothermal system.
A specialty geothermal
contractor — Geotil-
ity — dug 26,500-ft.
deep wells. One-inch
polyethylene tube goes
down the wells and then
feeds back up into the
Turn to Bullitt, page 42
During the briefing Mark
>- Turn to PHCC, page 42
NEW YORK — Within the
first three and a half months
of opening, the National Sep-
tember 11 Memorial had more
than one million visitors. The
9/11 Memorial is a tribute of
remembrance to the nearly
3,000 people killed in the ter-
ror attacks of September 11,
2001, and February 26, 1993.
At the heart of the memorial
are enormous twin reflecting
> Turn to 9/11, page 7
> vuww.coiitractorinag.coin
HVAC contractor is selected as February winner.
8 GE's data center is first of its kind in Ky.
GE revitalizes existing building for new data center.
8 Metropoiitan industries, Wiio team up
Metropolitan Industries represents Wilo USA's product line.
12 Forum by Karen Meyers
Increased regulatory burden hurts innovation.
14 Giimmers of hope
Market sectors are showing strength.
48 Green products
49 New products
52 Editoriai
PILC — bad acronynn, stellar group to watch.
10 by AI Schwartz
Business realities in the 21 st century.
24 Plumbing by Dave Yates
Flushing too much potable water.
28 HydrOniCS byMarkEatherton
The leak detection job from hell.
30 Technology byWUUam&PattiFeldman
Software for estimating, diagnostics.
32 Law by Mike Callahan
Termination for convenience clauses.
34 Finance bylrvBlackman
How to win at succession planning.
38 Project Management
Documenting jobsite production.
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Technology • Mike Callaban Law • Dave Yates, Plumbing • Matt
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May 2012 3
 Industry News

Technology makes ecosmart house one of a kind

> Continued from page 1 in front was a new idea along with the HVAC systems of the house, among be tested by students of MSU's HVAC
and MSU alumna, about the idea, and Rehau Helix geothermal probe proto- other items. research and instructional facility in
REHAU became sponsor of the project. type. We are excited to be a part of the Besides the geothermal ground the college of Engineering.
Construction of the house began in control system. This has been a real loop heat exchange, ground-air heat Additional information about all the
September 2010, and was completed learning experience." exchange and radiant cooling panels, sustainable systems and products uti-
the spring of 2012 with an open house Other items housed in the mechan- the house also has radiant heating lized in the home is available at: http://
on Friday, April 20. ical room include the Triangle Tube and cooling and snow and ice melting montanaecosmart.com/experience.php.
gas boiler and storage tank and AAON systems, a thermal storage heat sink, To read the entire ecosmart house ar-
Mechanical systems heating and air conditioning equip- a solar thermal system and internet- ticle go to www.Contractormag.com and
Energy 1, based in Bozeman, Mont., ment, operating the geothermal and accessible climate controls — all will click on the article link. Q
was responsible for the overall me-
chanical and renewable energy systems
design and building energy model for
the project, and PJ's Plumbing and
Heating, Belgrade, Mont., served as the
project's plumbing and radiant heat-
ing contractor.
Bill Johansen, director of construc-
tion services at REHAU, came up with
the initial sketch of the mechanical
systems, including redundant systems,
for the project.
"Many of the concepts came from a
lot of the technology being used in Eu-
rope," said Johansen. "Energy 1 took
2O12
the initial sketch and said we can do MechanicalSystemsWEEK
this. It really took a lot of talented peo- The National HVACR, Hydronics & Plumbing Seminar and Product Showcase
ple to work together on this project." SEPTEMBER 19-21, 2012
"From the beginning, any ideas that
Schaumburg Convention Center //Schaumburg, IL
the project team had could be thrown
on the table for an open discussion,"

Get In Your
said Mike Foran, senior project man-
ager at Energy 1.

'This project was a

once in a lifetime
Cotnfort Zone,
project/ ...at Mechanical Systems Week 20121
According to Patrick McMullen,
president of PJ's Plumbing and Heat-
ing, this project was a once in a life-
Learn How to Run Your Business Betteri
time project to be involved with. Mechanical Systems WEEK 2012 is designed to provide everything mechanical systems professionals need to
"We kept adding to the project, manage their businesses more efficiently and effectively. We're assembling the finest faculty from across the
making this a continual learning pro- industry to cover all aspects of operating a successful HVACR/Plumbing contracting firm. Conference sessions
cess," said McMullen. "There is a lot will be ofTered on a variety of categories encompassing the entire mechanical contracting specialty for both
of new and exciting stuff. This is PJ's
residential and commercial projects. Session categories include:
first project using PEX [RAUGEO PEXa
pipe] with a double U-bend drop for
' Business Management ' Service Management
geothermal. We think we will be able
to drill fewer wells with this. It's an ex- ' Sales & Marketing • Technical HVAC & Hydronics
citing time for us." ' Technical Plumbing ' Commercial HVAC & Hydronics
Erik Chidester, master plumber at
PJ's Plumbing and Heating, coordi- Attendees will walk away from these educational dialogues armed with the knowledge and
nated and installed the physical layout information they need to make better decisions, identify new opportunities, take advantage
of the systems in conjunction with PJ's of existing ones... and grow their businesses.
apprentice plumber Tim Rogers.
"The Rehau radiant cooling pan- » Visit mechanicalsystems^ireek.cotn/seminars Sor
els are the first installation in North
complete details on scheduled sessions and speakers.
America," said Chidester. "This is just
one example of how the partners in-
volved, and their ability to bring the
latest technologies on board with
them, provided so many opportuni- Plumbtech
ties for the project. Something like
the Grundfos pumps (housed in the POWERED BY BUSINESS
mechanical room in the basement)
give us flexibilities. The heat sink out

4 • MAY 2012 > www.contractormag.com CONTRACTOR

MISSING
AD
PAGE
MISSING
AD
PAGE
k Industry News

American ingenuity reflected in 9/11 Memorial

>- Confjnued from page 3 with determination and dedication. Unprecedented challenges located in an 8-acre plaza. The me-
;,ools, which are set in the footprints of New York-based contractors 4 J's Plumb- Each of the memorial's reflecting chanical rooms housing the pumps for
the Twin Towers and feature the largest ing & Heating Corp., Fresh Meadow pools is about an acre in size, and con- the waterfalls are located 50 feet below
manmade waterfalls in North America. Mechanical Corp. and KSW Inc. were tains about 560,000 gallons of water. plaza level, directly beneath the pools.
Bronze parapets inscribed with the vic- selected to install the piping for the re- About 52,000 gallons of water ringlets 4 J's Associates LLC, a joint venture
tims' names line the perimeter of the flecting pools, and heating and cooling cascade over the edges of the fountains of 4 J's Plumbing & Heating Corp. and
pools. system. To complete the job on time every minute. Fresh Meadow Mechanical Corp., was
Facing a monumental project, the and resolve space and safety issues on The pools, which sink 30 feet into tasked with the piping installation for
Port Authority of New York and New site, Victaulic grooved mechanical pipe- the footprints of the north and south the memorial. KSW Inc. was respon-
Jersey needed a team of contractors joining systems were specified. towers of the World Trade Center, are sible for the installation of a heating
and cooling system as well as the chiller
plant.
Construction of the reflecting pools
proved to be a project of unprecedented
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS size, and not just for the contractors
See the Latest - involved.
" [The Port Authority] asked if we've
I and the Greatest -- EMERSON.
Climate Technologies
ever done a fountain project this large,
and I said I don't think anyone has
front Leading Suppliers! TRANC
done a fountain project this large," said
Daniel Justus, president of 4 J's Plumb-
The Product Showcase feature of Mechanical Systems WEEK 2012 will display products It's Hard Tb StopATkme' ing. "But it's a doable project for us, just
and services from top names in the industry. See the most innovative equipment and larger pumps and bigger pipe and fit-
technology and meet with representatives from key exhibitors such as: tings."
CUMATEMASTEH The memorial had to be opened in
Ceothermol Heal Pump Systems

' American Standard < Climate Master time for the dedication ceremony to
victims' families on the 10-year anni-
' Emerson Climate Technologies 'Lennox
versary of the attacks. It also had to be
'Rheem ' Trane and others
ready to receive visitors a day later on
Sept. 12, 2011, when it opened to the
The Product Showcase is an ideal opportunity for public.
hands-on interaction with the kinds of products you Despite the years of planning and
design, purchase, install, maintain and operate on pre-construction, the contractors faced
a daily basis. To date, nearly 100 companies have NORDYNE a tight deadline, and completing the
committed to exhibit in September. COMPLETE COMFORT. GENUINE VALUE
project on time was a key initiative for
.SERVICE the Port Authority and the National
I ROUNDTABLE September 11 Memorial & Museum,
^^» For a complete list... the private nonprofit responsible for
Endorsing Partner
visit mechanicalsystems^eek.com/exhibitors/listing.
The pump rooms
A Variety of Registration Options posed a particular
Mechanical Systems WEEK 2012 allows you to design your visit to suit your needs.
Come for one day ... orthe entire week. It's really up to you. You can opt to attend the Full challenge.
Conference...oronly one day of sessions. Ormaybe you're only interested in the Product
Showcase. Whatever option you choose, Mechanical Systems WEEK 2012 is sure to be operating and maintaining the 9/11
one of the most economical events you'll attend this year. Memorial.
"I assured them it wouldn't be a
» Visit mechanicalsystems^veek.com/attendees problem," said Justus.
for complete registration options and costs. With multiple trades working on site
at the same time, space in which to work
was significantly limited. The pump
rooms posed a particular challenge, es-
pecially the south pump room, which
is about half the size of the north.
"The mechanical rooms are shared
space," said KSW CEO Floyd Warkol.
"There were different companies work-
Online Registration Now Open! ing under different contracts for differ-
ent entities all at the same time."
To register, visit MechanicalSystemsWeek.com Confined space issues also made it
challenging. The heating and cooling
system, which is used when necessary
To keep up with all the event news and developments...
Use your to keep the bronze parapets at a favor-
Follow us on Twitter (öimechsysweek (2ihvaccomfortech
j; Smartphone able surface temperature, was installed
ORappto in a 4-foot-tall crawl space below the
MechanicalSystemsWeekxom learn more!
parapets.
To read the entire 9/11 Memorial ar-
For information circle 202
ticle go to www.Contractormag.com and
click on the article link. Q

CONTRACTOR > www.contractormag.coni MAY 2012 • ?

• Michael Geagan has been
hired to serve as the new
Director of Technical Services
for the Radiant Professionals
Alliance. A 36-year veteran
of the plumbing and radiant/
hydronic industries, Geagan
w\\\ represent the RPA's industry
expertise as its public technical
voice. Geagan is the owner/
operator of Illinois-based Tri-Gity
Plumbing.
• Lochinvar LLC has established
an enhanced social media
program to foster increased
interaction with industry
professionals and provide
new platforms for dialogue.
As an extension to the brand's
successful YouTube channel,
which has generated consistent
traffic since its launch in 2011,
Lochinvar now has a presence
on both Facebook and Twitter,
allowing for regular two-way
communication with key
audiences. To connect with
Lochinvar, visit Facebook.com/
LochinvarLLC and Twitter.com/
LochinvarLLC.
• Gommon definitions for terms
found in ASHRAE standards and
other publications can now be
found at a new website from the
Society. The free ASHRAEwiki is
located at www.ashraewiki.org and
contains over 6,000 terms related
to buildings with a particular
focus on mechanical, envelope,
lighting, load calculations, design,
water design/conservation and
energy use and measurement.
The new ASHRAEwiki can create
custom reports of terms and
primary definitions that will aid
in the development of standards
and guidelines.
• Last week, the Genter for
Green Schools at the U.S. Creen
Building Council officially
announced the first ever Green
Apple Day of Service, a global
call to take real action in support
of healthy, sustainable schools.
On Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012,
the Green Apple Day of Service
will engage students, teachers,
parents, business leaders, elected
officials and others in volunteer
activities at schools and campuses
in their communities.
• Simpson Strong-Tie has
announced its sponsorship of
the International Gode Gouncil
Foundation's 2012 Building
Safety M o n t h . The company
is supporting Building Safety
M o n t h as a gold-level sponsor
and is encouraging the industry
to join the "I Support" campaign.
Building Safety M o n t h is a
public awareness campaign
offered each year during May
to help individuals, families and
businesses understand what it
takes to create and maintain safe
and sustainable structures.
8 • MAY 2012
Par Mechanical wins Lochinvar's
February VIP Installation Showcase
BY CANDACE ROULO OF OONTRAOTOR'S STAFF
MONTROSE, COLO. — Par
Mechanical, a full-service
HVAC contractor specializing
in radiant heating, located
here, was selected as the Feb-
ruary winner of Lochinvar's
VIP Installation Showcase
contest. The Par Mechanical
team made up of Mark Per-
par, who installs mechanical
systems, and Pete Cassidy,
who designs mechanical sys-
tems, oversaw all aspects of
the in-floor radiant heating
and snow melt systems of a
8,200-sq.ft. home plus guest
house with 1,000- sq.ft. of
outdoor snow melt space.
Since 1974, Par Mechani-
cal has been serving Telluride
and Gunnison, Colo., focus-
ing on high-end residential
and light commercial proj-
ects.
"We started installing in-
GE's LEED Platinum data center is
first of its kind in Kentucky
BY CANDACE ROULO OF OONTRAOTOR'S STAFF
LOUISVILLE, KY. — GE Appli-
ances & Lighting has a new
data center — the first United
States Green Building Council
LEED-Platinum certified data
center in all of Kentucky — at
its Appliance Park headquar-
ters here. Rather than build-
ing the new data center from
Most Important
productsAechnology to
see at the 2012 AHR Expo
;j
i?
floor heat back in the early
80s with the 3/8-in. poly-
butelyne," said Perpar. "We
did many of the first systems
in our area. And over the
years we have learned what
scratch, GE revitalized an ex-
isting building for the new
data center.
According to GE, the data
center is 34% better in terms
of energy savings than a typi-
cal code-compliant build-
ing when compared to the
ASHRAE 90.1 building code
for energy efficiency.
Two 27,000-gal. thermal storage
tanks help cool the data center
at GE's Appliance Park.
ciieryy Eniuteiiuy-^neíattíti
Green Building/Sustainability
Automation & Controls
Indoor Air Quality
Alternative Energy
,'
0%
1 1
20%
www.Gontractonnag.coin
Metropolitan
Industries
teams up wKh
Wilo USA
ROSEMONT, ILL. — Wilo
USA LLC is pleased to an-
nounce that Metropolitan
Industries Inc. will represent
the Wilo product line in Illi- m
Lochinvar boilers are located
nois. Northwest Indiana, and J
in the main house along with
St. Louis County, Miss.
indirect water heaters and
"Metropolitan Industries is
Grundfos pumps. excited to announce that we
works and what doesn't." have reached a mutual agree-
The homeowner went to ment with Wilo on the rep-
Par Mechanical with the goal resentation and distribution
of improving energy effi- of the Wilo product line,"
ciency and reducing heating said Metropolitan Industries
bills. President John Kochan Jr.
"We actually did some ser- "We believe this partnership
vice work on the owner's pre- will benefit both companies
vious heating system and he moving forward, and foster
>- Turn to Par, page 44 a positive business relation-
ship for years to come."
Mark D'Agostino, presi-
d e n t and CEO of WILO
USA LLC said, "We are very
pleased to welcome Metro-
politan Industries as a part
of the Wilo Family. Their
knowledge of pumps, as well
GE maintained 98.3% of the as the Chicagoland market,
walls, floors and roof of un- makes them a great fit for our
utilized factory space, and the forward thinking approach.
data center's mechanical sys- The team at Metropolitan In-
tems are quite impressive: two dustries is a very smart and
27,000-gal. thermal storage diverse group. Under John
tanks and two 500-ton redun- Kochan Jr.'s leadership, they
dant chillers cool the facilify. have been a model in this
The two redundant chillers by market."
Trane are located on the roof, Metropolitan Industries
supplying 56°F water to the 100,000-sq.-ft. facility is lo-
mechanical systems. cated in Romeoville, 111., and
"Water from the chillers is houses the company's manu-
> Turn to CE, page 44 facturing, engineering, sales,
service department, and in-
ventory.
WILO USA's headquarters
are located in Rosemont, 111.,
with a 60,000- sq.ft. manu- |
facfuring facility located in M
Thomasville, Ga. Q %;
• -"WT^WB
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For information circle 203 Commercial & Residential Solutions
 Management
by AI Schwartz
PLUMBING CONTRACTOR

Business realities in the 21st century

I
y last column dealt with
the woeful lack of quality
trainees and apprentices
in the trades, and pinpointed the lack
of viable educational opportunities
as one of the prime reasons for the
problem. Another is the mindset of
our educators. Administrators and
school boards do not consider the
trades as an acceptable career path. At
best vocational education is used as
a dumping ground for problem stu-
dents or those deemed 'inadequate'
for the college track.
Fifty or so years ago, getting into
the trades was most desired for high
school seniors. Trade craft was re-
spected. Wages were in the upper
echelon of the day. How things have
changed.
Construction wages are still higher
than the average white collar wage
and blue collar benefits are generally
on a par with, or greater than, those
jobs. True, construction work can
sometimes be seasonal, but so can
white collar work. Staying for years
with one firm is no longer common.
The days of long term employment
with a single company are behind us.
With a trade education and a modi-
cum of talent, a craftsman can still
earn a living with his hands if not
with a shop, then for himself.
What's the problem here? The
responses I got from readers pretty
much say the same thing: educa-
tional snobbery. Sometime over the
last half century, the academic mind-
Nothing should be considered taboo
when the problem is so severe.
set decided that a college education is
the gold standard of our educational
system and anything that had to do
with manual labor was considered
beneath contempt. The folks who
establish and decide upon curricula
for our educational systems have,
en masse, turned their collective
backs on an industry that is an inte-
gral part of the national economy.
What academicians don't realize is
that sooner rather than later, there
will not be many people out there
who can construct their ivory tow-
ers, install or service the systems in
their homes. Without quality jour-
neymen and masters, the trades will
fall into a hodgepodge of handymen
and quasi-qualified workers. Quality
workmanship has already fallen to
regrettable levels and isn't likely to
rebound soon without serious efforf
from the industry and educational
establishment.
Adapting to new realities
The problem is serious and getting
worse. Long range planning is a must,
but equally important is a concerted
effort, starting immediately, to get
more people into the trades, get them
educated and out into the workforce.
The conversation that I related in last
month's column about lack of quali-
fied welders is indicative of the prob-
lem now at hand. It exists in all areas
of fhe pipe trades. We need a new
paradigm when discussing the issue.
Speaking of large commercial proj-
ects; how do you man and perform
on a large project when you can't get
enough qualified people? How do
you bid a job of good size? One solu-
tion to the problem is to look into
préfabrication or prefabbing.
Of course it's a bone of contention
with organized labor, because it uses
less skilled labor to prefab than it
does to do the work in the field, and
it takes space to set up the production
facility. However, it's something that
contractors need to look at in order
to be competitive. From the labor per-
spective; what better way to find and
recruit new trade talent than the peo-
ple who do the préfabrication work?
What good does it do anyone if jobs
go begging because legitimate con-
tractors can't be competitive when
bidding? No one wins; not labor, not
the contractor, and not the trade at
large either. The old arguments must
be swept away and a new spirit of co-
operation must take their place if the
> Turn to Business, page 40

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10 • MAY 2012 >- www.contractorma8.coni CONTRACTOR

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 Forum
by Karen Meyers
SPECIAL TO CONTRACTOR
Regulatory burden hurts Innovation
merica's nearly 1 million em-
A ployees in the plumbing, heat-
ing and cooling industry have
been working in the most challeng-
ing economic climate since the Great
Depression. Like contractors, manu-
facturers of water heating and HVAC
equipment have also been navigating
through a tough business environment
— and these companies have also been
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on the front lines of some sweeping
regulation that is impacting every step
in our supply chain.
Keith Bienvenu, president of the
Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contrac-
tors — National Association, pointed
out in the February 2012 issue of
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istration has made a shift to move
its agenda through the regulatory
GO WIRELESS
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process instead of the legislative pro-
cess. The result: lawmakers elected
by voters are, essentially, removed
from the rulemaking process and, in
turn, regulatory bodies such as the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
and the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency (EPA), take a driving role
in developing regulations that im-
pact entire industries. These regula-
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tory agencies aren't tied to standard
lawmaking processes, which means
agenda items can get pushed through
more quickly — sometimes without
properly vetting the consequences
of how the new regulation will im-
pact the day-to-day operations of an
industry.
In January 2012, the DOE had
eight pending rulemakings on its
docket that affected the heating,
cooling and water heating industries.
From Rheem's standpoint — since we
manufacture heating, cooling, and
water heating systems — we've no-
ticed that rulemakings on the DOE's
agenda are really running the gamut.
Topics range from the enforcement
of new regional efficiency standards
for residential furnaces, air condi-
tioners and heat pumps to finaliza-
tion of the proposed R-22 allocation
rule for 2012-2014, which is still un-
der discussion one-quarter into 2012,
to new certification/verification test-
These regulatory
agencies aren't
tied to standard
lawmaking
processes.
ing processes with the EPA's ENERGY
STAR program, and more.
In the past 12 to 15 months, the
number of rulemakings that the DOE
and other regulatory bodies have is-
sued to manufacturers has spiked dra-
matically. The sheer amount of urging,
educating, reasoning, negotiating and
even pleading from trade associations,
manufacturers, distributors and con-
tractors involved with each rulemak-
ing is an enormous and exhaustive
effort. Unfortunately, the constantly
changing nature of today's regula-
tory environment doesn't even give
manufacturers and trade associations
enough time to respond to regulators'
demands, which greatly hinders a col-
laborative rulemaking process.
For example, one issue that does
not take both the contractor and
manufacturers' perspectives into
consideration is the 2015 water heat-
ing-specific changes to the National
Appliance Energy Conservation Act
(NAECA). These changes require gas-
fired and electric storage water heat-
ers larger than 55 gallons to employ
heat pump technology for electric
storage products and condensing
technology for gas storage products.
Rheem knows that heat pump
and condensing technologies are su-
premely efficient measures for wa-
>- Turn to Regulatory, page 40
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For information circle 206


BY ROBERT P. MADER OF CONTRACTOR'S STAFF
can't resist starting with the
good news. The automotive bail-
out worked. Donald Yerks, di-
rector of marketing for Dunbar
Mechanical Inc., Toledo, Ohio,
said he doesn't have enough es-
timating capacity to bid on all
the work that's being tossed his way.
"I could bid more good work if
I had more estimators," Yerks told
CONTRACTOR in mid-April. "I got
two inquiries yesterday and I'm try-
ing to figure out how to get it bid."
Yerks says the industrial market
in northwest Ohio is as strong as
it's been in the last eight years. His
headcount is up by 100 men over last
year. He's working in the automotive,
steel, glass and chemical industries
performing process piping, utility
piping for water and gas, and mate-
rial handling and rigging.
CONTRACTOR'S Top 10 Companies Geographicaf
Northeast
EMCOR Group, Norwalk, Conn. $2,610.00
W.E. Bowers Associates
$432.50
lnc.,Beltsville,Md.
Limbach Facility Services
$296.10
LLC, Pittsburgh
Nooter Construction,
Trevose, Pa.
$256.30
Durr Mechanical, New York $153.00
J.J. White Inc., Philadelphia $147.00
Sauer Inc., Pittsburgh $146.10
McCarl's, Beaver Falls, Pa. $142.00
Par Plumbing Co. Inc.,
$138.96
Lynbrook, N.Y.
John W. Danforth Co.,
$136.05
Tonawanda, N.Y.
14 » MAY 2012
Dunbar is working on a large job
at Pro-Tec in Leipsic, Ohio, a joint
venture between U.S. Steel and Kobe
Steel that's building a continuous
annealing line. The process makes
strong but malleable steel that is used
for stampings for cars and major ap-
pliances. Leipsic, Ohio, is about an
hour south and west of Toledo.
Dunbar is also working for U.S.
Steel at its plant in Lorain, Ohio,
west of Cleveland, and at the Toledo
North Assembly Plant for Chrysler.
Dunbar has found work for GM in
Toledo and at its foundry in Alliance,
Ohio.
The contractor is getting work in
the chemical industry for small firms
in Toledo and at a BASF R&D facility,
for Lubrizol, and for Wacker Chemi-
cal.
"The chemical business is all over
Midwest
Johnson Controls, Building
Efficiency Div., Milwaukee, Wis.
APi Group Inc., New
Brighton, Minn.
Roto-Rooter Services
Co., Cincinnati
John E.Green Co.,
Highland Park, Mich.
The Waldinger Corp.,
Des Moines
BMW Constructors,
Munster, Ind.
Hill Mechanical Group,
Franklin Park, III.
U.S. Engineering,
Kansas City, Mo.
HarrisCos., St. Paul, Minn.
J.F. Ahern Co., Fond du Lac, Wis.
>- M/ww.contractormag.coin
the map," Yerks said. "A little bit of it
is agricultural, a lot of it is household
products, and some goes into the au-
tomotive industry. A lot of it is feed-
stock or a finished consumer prod-
uct. Some are cleaning products such
as dishwashing detergent or laundry
detergent or hand softeners. Some of
it is industrial cleaning agents. One
of the major chemical companies
makes formaldehyde and the glue
that makes particleboard. Another
category is food processing, which
are all making major investments
right now. So much of the food work
is driven by packaging."
Northern Ohio doesn't sound like
the Rust Belt any more.
EMCOR President and CEO An-
thony Guzzi, who has a national per-
spective on the market, notes that,
"Things are generally moving in a
South
$2,305.00 Comfort Systems USA, Houston
$1,238.70 ARS/Rescue Rooter, Memphis
Service Experts Div. of Lennox
$369.70
Industries, Richardson, Texas
$300.00 TDIndustries, Dallas
$300.00 McKenney's Inc., Atlanta
Ivey Mechanical Co. LLC,
$269.00
Kosciusko, Miss.
Titan Contracting & Leasing/
$225.22
The Horn Cos., Owensboro, Ky.
Trinity Mechanical Systems
$210.03
Inc., Charlotte, N.C.
The Brandt Cos. LLC,
$193.00
Carrolton, Texas
Coastal Mechanical Services
$180.13
Group, Melbourne, Fla.
< JH Kelly
more positive direction, but at this
stage in the cycle we should be in a
fairly robust recovery now and we're
not. The last two springs gave us a
glimmer of hope that we had some
legs under us in 2010 and 2011. One
thing I pointed out in my first quar-
ter conference call (EMCOR is pub-
licly traded) was the cost of gas and
the effect of warmer weather on hir-
ing as things got accelerated in the
construction services area. That came
out to be pretty much true in January
and February that were stronger than
people thought they would be be-
cause of the warm weather. In March
we came back to earth because you
can't discount what $4 gas can do
to income. It's a hell of a tax on the
economy in general."
High gas prices are making EMCOR
evaluate if everybody who wants one
really needs an F-150 pickup or an
E-350 van. High oil prices don't af-
fect the rest of the economy other
than the few people in the Northeast
who heat with oil. Conversely, low
natural gas prices are good for heavy
industry.
Some private money returns
"The second thing is that private
money is coming back, mainly in the
industrial and data center markets,"
Guzzi says. "Commercial office build-
ing is still slow other than the World
Trade Center. Healthcare is healthy,
no pun intended, but it's episodic. If
you put it all together, it's generally
up with a saw tooth pattern at 2011
levels, which is still far from 2007 lev-
els, but we see a rebound and pricing
is firm. There are some interesting
projects out there for well-qualified
specialty contractors but you have
to be able to add value and do real
design-assist work. In industrial, you
have to be able offer more than one
West
ACCO Engineered Systems
$1,240.00 $463.00
Inc., Glendale, Calif.
Southland Industries,
$693.40 $435.00
Irvine, Calif.
$590.30 McKinstry Co. LLC, Seattle $400.00
JH Kelly Holdings LLC,
$315.10 $260.00
Longview, Wash.
Harder Mechanical Contractors
$200.00 $190.00
Inc., Portland, Ore.
Critchfield Mechanical
$181.00 $159.30
Inc., San Jose, Calif.
Kinetic Systems Inc.,
$171.10 $146.10
Fremont, Calif.
Apollo Mechanical Contractors,
$150.00 $139.00
Kennewick, Wash.
Elkhorn Construction,
$141.60 $135.00
Evanston, Wy.
$133.44 Therma Corp., San Jose, Calif. $120.70
CONTRACTOR
 ^^^^^^^^^E Revenue numbers were derived from q u e s t i n ^ ^ l^ H M by tbe Giants, SEC filings
CONTRACTOR'S Top 100 \Nho TheyAre^^^^U J
Rank Company \ Revenues Million:; \ % Change Rank Company ; Revenue $ Millions 1 % Change

^M LMCÜR Group $2,610.00 10.10% KH University Mechanical Contractors $115.00 -17.86%

^ ^ 1 Johnson Controls, Building Efficiency Div. $2,305.00 8.40% KS Roth Bros. $114.00 Even

^^M Comfort Systems $1,240.00 11.90% BS Pierce Associates Inc $112.40 7.05%

^^M APi Group Inc $1,238.70 -8.80% HS Murray Co. Mechanical Contractors $110.00 -19.12%

^ 9 ARS/Rescue Rooter $693.40 31.60% HS Joule Industrial Contractors $109.20 10.75%

^^M Service Experts Div. of Lennox Industries $590.30 Even ^ HS VSC Fire & Security $103.12 3.59%

^ ^ H ACCO Engineered Systems Inc. $463.00 -11.80% B• AZCOInc $102.70 41.07%

^^M Southland Industries $435.00 -2.30% H^m Warwick Plumbings Heating Corp. $102.00 NA

^ ^ H W.E. Bowers Associates Inc. $432.50 220.10% H9 A.O.Reed $100.00 23.46%

^ n McKinstryCo.LLC $400.00 S Lee Co. $99.30 -2.65%

^ ^ 1 Roto-Rooter Services Co. $369.70 4.20% KM Corval Group Inc. $95.00 -26.92%

^^M TDIndustries $315.10 -2.80% HM LetsosCo. $95.00 3.58%

^^M John E.Green Co. $300.00 20.00% n9 Bahnson Holdings Inc $94.90 -32.16%

^^M The Waldinger Corp. $300.00 49.25% ES Dynamic Systems Inc. $92.80 NA

^ ^ H Limbach Facility Services LLC $296.10 -1.30% E« Coastal Mechanical Services LLC $89.91 -39.84%

^^M BMW Constructors $269.00 NA E^Ê Herman Goldner Co. Inc. $87.52 1.25%

^ 9 JH Kelly Holdings LLC $260.00 65.30% n^M Fire & Life Safety America Holdings Inc. $86.70 -29.51%

^ ^ 9 Nooter Construction $256.30 -11.56% E^m Hermanson Co. LLP $85.88 -5.41%

^ ^ 9 Hill Mechanical Group $225.22 77.48% E^Ê Hussung Mechanical Corp. $85.00 NA
^ ^ S U.S.Engineering $210.03 21.41% E^Ê Source Refrigeration & HVAC Inc. $84.50 NA

^ ^ 9 McKenney's Inc $200.00 -9.10% E^m Pan-Pacific Plumbing & Mechanical $82.48 NA
^ ^ 9 Harris Cos. $193.00 81.10% E^Ê Harry Grodsky& Co. Inc. $81.43 Even

^ ^ S Harder Mechanical Contractors Inc. $190.00 -23.70% E^m Midstate Mechanical Inc $80.00 NA

^ ^ 9 Ivey Mechanical Co. LLC $181.00 29.29% E^ 1 The State Group $79.20 NA

^ ^ 9 J.F.AhernCo. $180.13 -9.58% E^M Corrigan Co., Mechanical Contractors $78.00 -2.50%

^ ^ 9 Titan Contracting & Leasing/The Horn Cos. $171.10 26.27% E^M Grünau Co. $77.00 -11.49%

^ ^ 9 Sterling Boiler & Mechanical Inc. $170.03 -15.62% EM MLNCo. $75.00 5.63%

^ ^ S Critchfield Mechanical Inc $159.30 -16.52% E^U Dorvin D. Leis Co., Inc. $74.00 -17.81%

^ ^ 9 Durr Mechanical $153.00 NA E^m Shapiro & Duncan Inc. $73.30 -23.01%

^ ^ 9 Mechanical Inc. $152.00 11.70% K^ B W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor Inc. $73.00 NA

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 1 Miirnhu Cn Mprh^inir^l rnntr;)rtnr< Rt Fnninpprc íTii "¡n -32 41% B :f^^^^H

^H Sniithprn Air Inr $72.60 -34.00%
^^^^^^H IVlUIUliy V.U. IVlt:l.lldllll.dl LUIILidi.lUI j 0( Lliyiliccl j V IJ 1 .JU JUUIIICIII rill II)L.
^ ^ 9 Trinity Mechanical Systems Inc. $150.00 NA E^M Interstate Plumbing & Air Conditioning LLC $71.58 Even

^ S J.J. White Inc. $147.00 NA E^M Nashville Machine Co. Inc $70.20 NA
^ ^ 9 Energy Systems Group LLC $146.87 NA KH S3H Inc. $70.00 Even

^ ^ 9 Kinetic Systems Inc $146.10 -38.72% K^ H KSW Mechanical Services $69.28 9.19%

^ ^ ^ 1 Sauer Inc $146.10 5.11% K^M P1 Group Inc. $68.30 -60.52%

^ ^ B McCarl'slnc. $142.00 21.20% E^M Alaka'i Mechanical Corp. $68.00 NA

^ ^ 9 The Brandt Cos. LLC $141.60 -20.30% K^M JCM Associates Inc $68.00 NA
^ ^ 9 Apollo Mechanical Contractors $139.00 -7.33% H^m McKamishlnc $68.00 -6.21%

^ ^ « Par Plumbing Co. Inc $138.96 Even K^m Mechanical Systems & Services Inc. $68.00 Even
h^M CC\ Mprh;)nir:il <A^Qn -74 Ä7%
K j ^ H Jonn w. uanTortn LO. Even ^ K^ ^ H I.LI IVICCHdlMLdl
$135.44 ^ 1 Environmental Air Systems Inc $67.83 -3.10%
^ ^ ^ 1 Hooper Corp. Even K
^ ^ 9 Elkhorn Construction $135.00 12.22% B^U Pacific Rim Mechanical Contractors Inc. $66.87 Even

^ ^ S Coastal Mechanical Services Group $133.44 -10.71% K^ H BeutlerCorp. $66.30 NA

^ ^ 9 MMC Contractors Inc $125.00 -46.47% K^ 1 O'Connor Corp. Inc. $65.00 NA

^ ^ S Direct Energy U.S. Home Services Inc. $124.30 -36.09% K^ 1 Advance Mechanical Systems Inc $62.11 NA
^ ^ S ThermaCorp. $120.70 7.11% K^ 9 Great Lakes Plumbing & Heating Co $62.00 NA
^ ^ f l Worth & Co. Inc $118.00 -15.30% M ^m IMCOR Interstate Mechanical $62.00 NA
^ ^ S J.C. Cannistraro $117.50 -2.90% K^ 9 Martin Petersen Co. Inc. $61.54 NA
50 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 1 $115.50 2.03% Bw l The Hardy Corp. $61.12 NA

trade and that's where our acquisi- structure; building retrofits; green ing issue. A few of the local hospitals T EMCOR
tion focus has been. So we're up, but building; and industrial construction down here are moving forward on
not resoundingly up." and maintenance. Basu, who's about projects that had been delayed, and
At the Mechanical Contractors As- as funny as an economist can be (the we're getting close on an office build-
sociation of America convention in name of his MCAA presentation was ing and we hadn't done an office
mid-March, economist Anirban Basu, The Dog Ate My Home) is also the building in years. Schools are weak,
Sage Policy Group Inc., presented a chief economist for Associated Build- but we have a manufacturing facility
generally optimistic forecast, based ers & Contractors. [Sun Hydraulics, Sarasota, Fla.] that
on most leading indicators trending "I think the worst is behind us," we're getting ready to build that had
up. The best markets for specialty says Daryl Blume, president of BCH waited for two to three years. We had
contractors, Basu says, will be energy Mechanical in Largo, Fla. "There are already built their chiller plant and
and power; energy efficiency; infra- a lot of things that are more of a tim- ice storage system for them."

COHTRAGTQR www.contractormag.com MAY 2012 • 15

 Book of Giants
ciiants
Breakdown
While the K-12 market remains Rank Company Location c^ :c c^

weak, BCH Mechanical has seen work EMCOR Group \ Norwalk, Conn. i $2,610.00 i $756.90 i $261.00 : $574.20 i $182.70 i $104.40 i $0.00 i $208.80 i $208.80 : $0.00
from the University of South Florida, Johnson Controls, I Milwaukee i $2,305.00 : $1,037.25 i $0.00 : $0.00 i $115.25 1 $0.00 i $1,152.50 i $0.00 i $0.00 • $0.00
the University of Tampa, and Eckerd Building Efficiency Div.

College in St. Petersburg. Eckerd is Comfort Systems i Houston i $1,240.00 i $917.60 i $0.00 $198.40 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $49.60 : $12.40 i $0.00 i $62.00
building a fairly large molecular sci- APi Group Inc. I New Brighton, : $1,238.70 i $206.45 : $206.45 i $206.45 : $206.45 1 $0.00 i $206.45 i $206.45 i $0.00 1 $0.00
ence research lab, the University of : Minn.

Tampa is building a new dorm, and ARS/Rescue Rooter : Memphis i $693.40 : $346.70 i $0.00 $346.70 i $0.00 i $0.00 j $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00 i $0.00
work is underway at the University Service Experts Div. of 1 Richardson, i $590.30 1 $590.30 i $0.00 : $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00
of South Florida St. Petersburg cam- Lennox Industries : Texas

pus on a multi-purpose facility that ACCO Engineered i Glendale, Calif i $463.00 i $231.50 i $77.17 i $0.00 : $77.17 i $0.00 i $77.17 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00
SystennsInc.
includes housing and classrooms.
In the Orlando area, BCH is making Southland Industries : Irvine, Caiif i $435.00 i $145.00 1 $145.00 i $145.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 \ $0.00

use of its BIM expertise and design/ W.E. Bovirers Associates Inc, i Beltsville,Md. 1 $432.50 : $216.25 i $216.25 i $0.00 i $0.00 I $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 \ $0.00 i $0.00
assist-design/build delivery systems McKinstryCo.LLC : Seattle i $400.00 i $80.00 i $80.00 i $0.00 \ $80.00 i $0.00 i $80.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $80.00
in its work at the Nemorus Children's Roto-Rooter Services Co. i Cincinnati : $369.70 : $0.00 i $0.00 i $369.70 i $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00 I $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00
Hospital job.
TDIndustries i Dallas i $315.10 i $157.55 : $63.02 i $78.78 : $3.15 i $3.15 i $3.15 i $3.15 i $3.15 i $0.00
After a tough 2011, MMC Corp.
John E. Green Co. i Highland i $300.00 i $90.00 1 $90.00 i $75.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00 i $45.00 i $0.00
parent company of MMC Contrac- i Park, Mich.
tors is seeing volumes return to the
The Waldinger Corp. : Des Moines i $300.00 i $100.00 $100.00 : $0.00 ; $100.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 I $0.00
higher levels experienced in 2010,
says Bill McDermott, CEO of MMC Limbach faciiity i Pittsburgh i $296.10 : $75.00 i $75.00 i $40.00 i $76.00 1 $0.00 i $30.00 1 $0.00 : $0.00 i $0.00
Services LLC
Corp. MMC Corp., which has a nearly
BMW Constructors i Munster, Ind. i $269.00 $0.00 $161.40 i $53.80 i $13.45 i $0.00 : $13.45 i $13.45 i $13.45 ; $0.00
a nationwide footprint, has offices in
JH Kelly Holdings LLC : Longview, i $260.00 i $0.00 $96.20 i $26.00 i $0.00 1 $0.00 i $0.00 $0.00 i $10.40 I
Las Vegas, Omaha, Kansas City, Mo., j Wash.
$127.40

and Parsippany, N.J. Omaha and Kan-

Nooter Construction i Trevose, Pa. $256.30 $0.00 $205.04 i $25.60 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 I $25.60
sas City have remained steady during
f Hiil Mechanical Group
the recession, McDermott says, and : Franklin : $225.22 • $74.32 $47.30 i $13.51 i $78.83 i $2.25 i $2.25 $6.76 i $0.00 i $0.00
1 i Park, III.
the firm is seeing some pick-up in the
• U.S.Engineering 1 Kansas • $210.03 $23.10 $111.32 i $50.41 i $21.00 i $2.10 ' $0.00 $0.00 i $2.10 i $0.00
Las Vegas and New Jersey markets. In i City, Mo.
addition to those areas, MMC has had McKenney'slnc. : Atlanta $200.00 $40.00 $40.00 i $40.00 i $40.00 i $0.00 $40.00 $0.00 ' $0.00 i $0.00
success garnering large healthcare
Harris Cos. i St. Paul, Minn. $193.00 $31.29 $57.90 i $35.50 i $35.50 i $0.00 $13.51 $0.00 $9.65 : $9.65
projects in Southern mid-size mar-
Harder Mechanical I Portland, Ore. $190.00 $0.00 $76.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00
kets, such as the University Medical Contractors inc.
$76.00 $0.00 $0.00 1 $38.00

Center in El Paso, Texas, St. Francis

Ivey Mechanical Co. LLC : Kosciusko, Miss. $181.00 $63.35 $36.20 : $45.25 i $27.15 i $0.00 $4.53 $4.53 $0.00 i $0.00
Hospital in Tulsa, Okla., and Method-
ist Hospital in Olive Branch, Miss. 25 25 J.F. Ahern Co. I Fond du $180.13 $27.02 $19.81 1 $9.01 i $12.61 i $0.00 $1.80 $61.24 $28.82 1 $19.81
I LacWis.

26 50 Titan Contracting & i Owensboro, Ky. $171.10 $0.00 $101.64 i $0.00 i $11.29 i $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 i $56.46
Higher skill sets required Leasing/The Horn Cos.
"We do a lot of work in the health- S Sterling BoiierS : Evansviile, Ind. $170.03 $0.00 $113.92 : $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 i $56.11
care, pharmaceutical and university Mechanical Inc.

research lab, data center, and indus- Critchfield Mechanical Inc. i San Jose, Calif $159.30 $79.65 $39.83 i $39.83 i $0.00 i $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00
trial sectors," McDermott says. "And Durr Mechanical i New York $153.00 $18.15 $52.70 : $1.60 i $0.00
i $0.00 $0.00 $0.43 $27.12 ; $53.00
we're seeing these sectors remain
Mechanicai inc. i Freeport, III. $152.00 $76.00 $10.64 i $27.36 i $33.44 i $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $4.56 i $0.00
steady. Interestingly, these mar-
Murphy Co. Mechanical i St. Louis $151.50 $53.03 $75.75 i $7.58
kets have very large projects where Contractors & Eng
I $7.58 i $7.58 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00

the skill set and job history of the

Trinity Mechanical : Charlotte, N.C. $150.00 $90.00 $0.00 : $0.00 i $0.00 i $60.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00
contractor become incredibly impor- Systems Inc.
tant in the selection process. We've
J.J. White Inc. i Philadelphia $147.00 $24.50 $24.50 i $24.50 i $24.50 i $0.00 $24.50 $0.00 $0.00 i $24.50
been able to differentiate ourselves
Energy Systems Group LLC I Newhurgh, Ind. $146.87 $49.96 $49.96 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 $49.96 $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00
on a number of factors, including
national expertise, work force his- Kinetic Systems Inc. i Fremont, Calif $146.10 $36.53 ! $36.53 i $0.00 i $36.53 i $0.00 $36.53 $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00

tory, financial strength and bonding 36 45 Sauer inc. : Pittsburgh $146.10 $18.26 i $18.26 i $18.26 : $18.26 i $18.26 $18.26 $0.00 $18.26 i $18.26
capacity, past job performance on 37 59 McCarl's I Beaver Falls, Pa. $142.00 $0.00 i $99.40 i $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00 $4.26 $4.26 $29.82 ; $4.26

38 29 The Brandt Cos. LLC i Carrolton, Texas $141.60 i $28.32 : $28.32 i $28.32 i $28.32 ; $0.00 $28.32 $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00

39 36 Apollo Mechanicai : Kennewick, : $139.00 i $46.33 : $46.33 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 $46.33 $0.00 • $0.00 .• $0.00
Contractors i Wash. i

40 46 Par Plumbing Co. inc. i lj(nbrook,NX i $138.96 i $0.00 i $46.32 1 $46.32 i $0.00 i $0.00 $0.00 i $46.32 $0.00 : $0.00

"1 48 John W. Danforth Co. i Tonawanda, i $136.05 $27.21 i $27.21 i $27.21 i $27.21 i $0.00 $0.00 i $27.21 $0.00 i $27.21

Hooper Corp. i Madison, Wis. 1 $135.44 i $23.70 i $23.70 i $0.00 $23.70 i $0.00 I $23.70 i $0.00 : $0.00 i $40.63

Elkhorn Construction i Evanston,Wy. i $135.00 \ $0.00 i $94.50 : $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00 $0.00 I $40.50

Coastal Mechanical i Melbourne, Fia. ; $133.44 i $45.37 i $24.02 i $16.01 : $5.34 i $2.67 1 $5.34 1 $0.00 : $22.69
Services Group $17.35

MMC Contractors Inc. i Overland i $125.00 1 $37.50 1 $37.50 i $37.50 I i $1.25 : $1.25 i $1.25 i $0.00 i $0.00
: Park, Kan. ! $12.50

46 27 Direct Energy U.S. : Miamisburg, ; $124.30 i $62.15 i $0.00 i $62.15 i i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00
Home Services Inc. i Ohio i $0.00

47 '563: Therma Corp. : San Jose, Calif, i $120.70 i $30.18 i $30.18 i $30.17 i $30.17 I $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00

48 44 Worths Co. Inc i Pipersviile, Pa. i $118.00 i $29.50 i $29.50 i $29.50 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $29.50 i $0.00

J.C. Cannistraro ; Watertown, \ $117.50 : $39.17 i $0.00 i $39.17 : $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00 i $39.17 i $0.00 i $0.00
; Mass. :

JohnJ. Kirlin i Rockville, Md. i $115.50 i $28.88 I $28.88 i $28.87 I $28.87 $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00

16 • MAY 2012 www.GontraGtormag.coin CONTMCrOR

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MISSING
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Book of Giants
üiants
I ^akdown
large projects, and our values-based Rank Company
system of operating. " University Mechanical i Mulkiteo, : $115.00 i $0.00 i $46.00 i $40.25 i $0.00 : $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 : $11.50 i $17.25
Contractors i Wash. :
MMC also has projects where the
owner is the Federal Government. Roth Bros. : Youngstown, : $114.00 \ $91.20 I $0.00 I $0.00 I $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 \ $22.80
Ohio I
One example is the Martin Army
Pierce Associates inc. i Alexandria, Va. ; $112.40 $28.10 i $28.10 : $28.10 i $28.10 : $0.00 : $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00
Community Replacement Center at
Ft. Benning, Ga. The owner is the Murray Co. Mechanicai ; Rancho \ $110.00 i $36.67 i $36.67 i $36.67 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00
Contractors j Domingo, Caiif. :
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The
facility is a 775,000-sq.ft. hospital. Joule Industrial j Edison, N.J. ; $109.20 1 $0.00 i $109.20 : $0.00 : $0.00 : $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00
Contractors i
Murphy Co. Mechanical Contrac- VSC Fire & Security i Ashland, Va. i $103.12 $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $103.12 : $0.00 $0.00
tors & Engineers, St. Louis, is expect-
AZCOInc. ; Appieton, WIs. : $102.70 i $0.00 : $31.84 : $0.00 ; $5.14 i $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 : $0.00 i $65.73
ing healthy increases in business,
says President Patrick J. Murphy Jr. Warwick Plumbing i Neviport : $102.00 i $34.00 i $34.00 i $34.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00 : $0.00 : $0.00
& Heating Corp. I NevKS, Va. I
"I ran some revenue numbers to
A.O.Reed : San Diego i $100.00 i $25.00 ; $25.00 : $25.00 1 $25.00 $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00 1 $0.00 i $0.00
give you a feel for what we're see-
ing," Murphy says. "The numbers Lee Co. ; Franklin, Tenn. ! $99.30 i $39.72 i $9.93 i $29.79 i $9.93 $4.97 $4.97 ; $0.00 i $0.00 '. $0.00

you have for us (shown in the Top Corval Group Inc. I St. Paui, Minn. : $95.00 $9.50 i $23.75 i $9.50 i $5.75 $9.50 $0.00 $0.00 i $23.00 $23.00

100 Giants table) is fiscal 2011 and Letsos Co. i Houston $95.00 $31.67 i $0.00 : $31.67 : $0.00 $31.67 $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00 $0.00
fiscal '12 will be 25% higher on the BahnsonHoidmgslnc. ; Winston $94.90 $47.45 i $23.73 i $23.73 : $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
revenue side and fiscal '13 will be Salem, N.C.
10% higher than that, the prepon- Dynamic Systems inc. ! Austin, Texas $92.80 $23.20 i $23.20 : $23.20 $23.20 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
derance of our work has been grow- Coastal Mechanical • Meibourne, Fla. $89.91 $22.48 i $22.48 i $22.48 $22.48 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
ing in medium-sized projects rang- Services LLC •
ing from a couple hundred thousand Herman Goidner Co. Inc. Philadelphia $87.52 $0.00 : $29.17 • $29.17 $0.00 $0.00 $29.17 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
dollars to $3 million. The biggest Fire & Life Safety $86.70 $0.00
Richmond, Va. $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $86.70 $0.00 $0.00
segments are institutional, especially America Hoidings Inc.
healthcare and higher education at HermansonCo. LLP Kent, Wash., $85.88 $17.18 $17.18 $17.18 $17.18 $0.00 $17.18 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
the university level. Food and bever-
Hussung Mechanical Corp. Louisville, Ky. $85.00 $46.75 $4.25 $28.90 $0.00 $0.00 $3.40 $0.00 $1.70 $0.00
age has been strong and in Denver
Source Refrigeration Anaheim, Calif. $84.50 $42.25 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $42.25 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
we've seen some opportunities in the & HVAC inc.
solar arena. There's some manufac-
Pan-Pacific Plumbing Irvine, Caiif. $82.48 $0.00 $41.24 $41.24 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
turing and data center work. I have & Mechanical
to address the commercial market — Harry GrodskySi Co. inc. Springfield, $81.43 $20.36 $20.36 $20.35 $20.35 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
the new construction market is down Mass.
significantly but the retrofit market Midstate Mechanicai inc. Phoenix $80.00 $44.00 $24.00 $12.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
feels like it's up 50%-100% from
The State Group Mississauga, $79.20 $18.48 $18.48 $18.48 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $23.76
where it had been in the past. There's Ontario
a lot of energy retrofit work because Corrigan Co., Mechanical St. Louis $78.00 $0.00 $66.30 $0.00 $11.70 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
there have been incentives from util- Contractors
ity companies and there had been Grünau Co. Oak Creek, Wis. $77.00 $23.10 $9.24 $11.55 $7.70 $1.54 $2.31 $2.31 $1.54 $0.00
incentives from the government to MLN Co. Houston $75.00 $52.50 $0.00 $18.75 $3.75 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
do energy work. The preponderance
DorvinD. LeisCo., inc. Kahuiui, Hawaii $74.00 $11.10 $17.02 $32.56 $2.22 $2.96 $0.74 $0.74 $0.00 $0.00
of that has been on the HVAC side of
the business." Shapiro & Duncan Inc. Rockvilie,Md. $73.30 $36.65 $0.00 $36.65 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

W.W.Gay Mechanicai Jacksonville, $73.00 $14.60 $14.60 $14.60 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $14.60 $0.00 $14.60
Murphy Co. is looking for qualified Contractor Inc. Fia.
candidates to fill open positions in St. Southern Air Inc. Lynchburg, Va. $72.60 $14.52 $14.52 $14.52 $14.52 $0.00 $14.52 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Louis and Denver. The contractor is
Interstate Piumhing& Las Vegas $71.58 $35.79 $0.00 $35.79 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
seeking a project manager with expe- Air Conditioning LLC
rience in healthcare, engineers with Nashville Machine Co. inc. Nashville $70.20 $18.25 $5.62 $12.64 $8.42 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $25.27
experience in energy, and a project
S3Hlnc. Las Vegas $70.00 $35.00 $0.00 $35.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
manager with the ability to travel on
KSW Mechanical Services Long Island $69.28 $69.28 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
both the HVAC side as well as heavy City, N.Y.
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

industrial side of the market.

PI Group inc. Lenexa, Kan. $68.30 $9.76 $9.76 $9.76 $9.76 $9.76 $9.76 $0.00 $0.00 $9.76
And in one other optimistic lead-
Alaka'i Mechanicai Corp. Honolulu $68.00 $22.67 $0.00 $22.67 $22.67 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

JCM Associates inc. Upper $68.00 $34.00 $0.00 $34.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Marlboro, Md.

McKamishinc. Pittsburgh $68.00 $13.60 $9.52 $10.88 $17.00 $6.80 i $6.80 $6.80 $0.00 $10.20

Mechanicai Systems Charlotte, N.C. $68.00 $22.67 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 i $22.67 $22.67 $0.00 $0.00
& Services Inc.

CCI Mechanicai Salt Lake City $63.90 $25.56 $12.78 $15.98 $0.00 : $0.00 $6.39 $0.00 $0.00 $3.20

Environmental Air Greensboro, $67.83 $22.61 $0.00 $22.61 $22.61 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Systems inc N.C.

Pacific Rim Mechanical San Diego I $66.87 : $16.72 $16.72 $0.00 $16.72 I $0.00 i $16.72 i $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Contractors Inc.

BeutierCorp. McCleilan, Calif. $66.30 $66.30 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00 : $0.00

O'Connor Corp. inc. Canton, Mass. $65.00 i $0.00 $26.00 $0.00 $0.00 i $0.00 $26.00 $0.00 i $0.00 i $13.00

Advance Mechanical . Arlington i $62.11 i $10.35 $10.35 $10.35 i $0.00 i $10.35 i $10.35 i $0.00 1 $10.35 : $0.00
Systems Inc. i Heights, ill.

Great Lakes Piumhing Chicago i $62.00 i $20.67 ; $0.00 $20.67 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $20.67 i $0.00 'i $0.00
& Heating Co

iMCOR Interstate i Phoenix i $62.00 i $18.60 i $9.30 i $18.60 i $15.50 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00
Mechanicai

Martin Petersen Co. Inc. i Kenosha, Wis. i $61.54 i $12.31 i $12.31 i $12.31 I $12.31 i $0.00 i $12.31 i $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

The Hardy Corp. : Birmingham, i $61.12 \ $20.37 i $20.37 $20.37 : $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 i $0.00 \ $0.00 : $0.00
i i Ala.

COKTRACTOR > www.GontraGtornia8.coin MAY 2012 ^ 21

 Book of Giants

ing indicator. Murphy says consult- M Murphy Co. ^ MidstateitM

ing engineers and architects are get-
ting really busy. CONTRACTOR'S Top 10 Companies by Type of Work^
"So far our first quarter was well
ahead of last year," says Mike Mur- Fire Protection Plumbing
phy, general manager of Joule Indus-
Rank tompanl . ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ • H 1 Rank Kompany a ^ ^ H H
trial Contractors, Edison, N.J.
|l™CORGroup Norwalk, Conn. $208.80 M H EMCOR Gmup Norwalk, Conn. $574.20
Joule is doing lot of ethanol plant
retrofit work in the Midwest, coal ^^M APi Group Inc. New Brighton, Minn. ^ ^ ^ 1 Roto-Rooter Services Co. Cincinnati
mine work in West Virginia, the Mid- ^ ^ 1 VSC Fire & Security Ashland, Va. $103.12 ^ ^ H ARS/Rescue Rooter Memphis $346.70
west and Colorado, utility work on ^^M Fire & Life Safety America Richmond, Va. $86.70 l^^l APi Group Inc. New Brighton, Minn. $206.45
the east coast, and a "fair amount" of ^^M Holdings Inc.
food industry work that didn't seem ^ ^ H J.F. Ahern Co. Fond du Lac, Wis. $61.24 ^ ^ H Comfort Systems Houston $198.40
to take as bad a turn as other indus-
^^M Par Plumbing Co. Inc. Lynbfook, N.Y. $46.32 ^ ^ ^ P Southland Industries Irvine, Calif $145.00
tries because people always have to
eat. Murphy's beef with the Obama ^ ^ 1 J.C. Cannistraro Watertown, Mass. $39.17 ^ ^ 9 TDIndustries Dallas $78.78
Administration is that the push for ^ H John W. Danforth Co. Tonawanda, N.Y. $27.21 ^ ^ S John E. Green Co. Highland Park, Mich. $75.00
alternative and clean energy is "put- ^^M Mechanical Systems & Services Inc. Charlotte, N.C. $22.67 ^ ^ 2 Direct Energy U.S. Home Services Inc. Miamisburg, Ohio $62.15
ting handcuffs" on his coalmining
Q l Great Lakes Plumbings Heating Co. Chicago $20.67 ^ ^ 9 BMW Constructors Munster, Ind. $53.80
customers.

Branching out HVAC Sheet Metal

In Phoenix, Midstate Mechanical 1'' Rank Company I^^HI^^^H
is getting university, healthcare. Fed- ^^M Johnson Controls, Building Milwaukee $1,037.25 ^ ^ ^ H APi Group Inc. New Brighton, $206.45
^^U Efficiency Div. Minn.
^^Ê Comfort Systems Houston $917.60 ^ m EMCOR Group Norwalk, Conn. $182.70
These markets ^ H EMCOR Group Norwalk, Conn. $756.90 ^ ^ H Johnson Controls, Building Milwaukee $115.25
have very large H^H Efficiency Div.
^ ^ 1 Service Experts Div. of Richardson,Texas $590.30 ^ ^ n The Waldinger Corp. Des Moines $100.00
projects where ^^U Lennox Industries
the skill set and ^ f l ARS/Rescue Rooter Memphis $346.70 j ^ n McKinstry Co. LLC Seattle $80.00
job history of ^^Ê ACCO Engineered Systems Inc. Glendale, Calif $231.50 ^ ^ ^ 1 Hill Mechanical Group Franklin Park, III. $78.83
the contractor ^^M W.E. Bowers Associates Inc. Beltsville, Md. $216.25 ^ ^ H ACCO Engineered Systems Inc. Glendale, Calif $77.17

become incredibly ^^Ê APi Group Inc. New Brighton, Minn. $206.45 ^ ^ S Limbach Facility Services LLC Pittsburgh $76.00

important in the ^ J TDIndustries Dallas $157.55 ^ ^ H McKenney's Inc. Atlanta $40.00

selection process/ ^ 2 Southland industries Irvine, Calif $145.00 ^ ^ ^ H Kinetic Systems Inc. Fremont, Calif $36.53

Piping Water
eral, and casino work, say CEO Dave
Jones and Marketing Manager Lisa
n
| H EMCOR Group Norwalk, Conn.
$ Millions
$261.00
Rank Company
^ ^ 1 EMCOR Group
' Location
Norwalk, Conn.
$ Millions 1
$208.80
McFate. Midstate has stayed busy by
[^H W.E. Bowers Associates Inc. Beltsville, Md. $216.25 ^ ^ S John E.Green Co. Highland Park, Mich. $45.00
starting up a controls unit and a per-
formance-contracting unit. 1 ^ 1 APi Group Inc. New Brighton, Minn. $206.45 ^^M McCarl's Beaver Falls, Pa. $29.82
"We had to branch out and create ^ » Nooter Construction Trevose, Pa. $205.04 ^ ^ 1 Worth & Co. Inc Pipersville, Pa. $29.50
other markets for ourselves," Jones ^ 9 BMW Constructors Munster, Ind. $161.40 ^^Ê J.F.AhernCo. Fond du Lac, Wis. $28.82
says. "We have a performance con-
^ S Southland Industries Irvine, Calif $145.00 ^ ^ ^ 1 Durr Mechanical New York $27.12
tracting company, so we are out there
offering energy savings to school dis- ^ ^ B Sterling Boiler & Mechanical Inc. Evansville, Ind. $113.92 ^ ^ H Corval Group Inc. St. Paul, Minn. $23.00
tricts and other public entities, and ^ S U.S.Engineering Kansas City, Mo. $111.32 ^ ^ 9 Sauer Inc. Pittsburgh $18.26
we have a controls company doing ^ 9 Joule Industrial Contractors Edison, N.J. $109.20 ^ ^ 9 BMW Constructors Munster, Ind. $13.45
the same things, looking to sell con-
trol products for energy savings to ^ S Titan Contracting & Owensboro, Ky. $101.64 ^ ^ H University Mechanical Contractors Mulkiteo,Wash. $11.50
customers." ^ H Leasing/The Horn Cos.
Midstate has pursued alternative
delivery methods for direct custom- How They Get Work
ers, such as job order contracts with What They Do (dollars m millions)
Design/Build 18.95% Bid/Spec 44.71%
municipalities, including the City Negotiated 32.29% Other 4.05%
of Phoenix and the State of Arizona, HVAC
prequalifying Midstate for mechani-
cal and plumbing repair and retrofit Markets Served Piping
work that doesn't go out to bid. • New construction 57.45%
• Remodeling/renovation 10.62% Plumbing
Basu recommends that specialty
Equipment retrofit 16.51%
contractors adopt the Integrated Proj- • Service/maintenance 15.42% Controls
ect Delivery model; BIM; multi-trade
préfabrication and modularization; Sheet metal
lean project delivery or management Public vs. Private
methods; and strategic approaches Private 67.25% • Public 32.75% Fire protection
to material purchasing and buying,
among other measures. Where They Do It Water/Wastewater
Contractors who can do things like Residential 4.27% Refrigeration
that will be smiling when 2014 rolls Commercial 34.23%
around. Q Industrial 30.69%
Other
Institutional 30.81%
Ivey Mechanical

22 • MAY 2012 > www.contractonnag.coin CONTRACTOR

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 Plumbing
by Dave Yates
PLUMBING CONTRACTOR
Flushing too much potable water
I o one drinks from the toilet
— at least no one I've ever
met! The only times I recall
witnessing slurping from a toilet-
bowl has been by man's best friend
— a dog. The single largest use of po-
table water in our homes is the toilet
and it makes perfect sense to focus
on water conservation first where we
waste it the most. If your customers
are willing to interact with human
waste, you could install a compost-
ing toilet, but not everyone goes for
these. However, we have had a num-
ber of customers who utilize com-
posting toilets with zero problems.
If an average family of four re-
placed their 3.5-gpf. toilet(s) with
1.28-gpf. toilet(s), they would con-
serve, on average 21,134 gallons of
potable quality-drinking water. Most
folks are afraid of high-efficiency toi-
lets due to memories of, or having
heard about, the nightmarish first-
generation of 1.6-gpf. toilets: an ex-
pensive and painful nightmare that
caused plumbers to yearn for 3.5-gpf.
toilets. Manufacturers eventually cor-
rected the defects and 1.6-gpf. toilets
Earn your Green Plumber certification with
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Release Date: March 2012
turned out to be reliable with excel- strooms to the septic system: another
theory put forth is that commercial
lent flushing performance. properties will have more frequentgrand experiment for DLC! Two years
Like any other plumber who suf- have passed without a single clog.
clogs due to a lack of other water uses,
fered through the 1.6-gpf. night- like showering and clothes washing. Over the past decade, use of our
mare, I was reluctant to embrace An opportunity arose to installsewer-line video inspection equip-
high-efficiency 1.28-gpf. toilets. Our ment has also revealed, I think, why
WaterSense UHET toilets, .5-gpf. uri-
home's 4-in. cast iron sewer line, DLC is not the drain-clogging issue
nals and .5-GPM lavatory faucets at
with a house-trap, runs a bit more I feared in the past. Human waste
York County's Nixon Park, www.york-
than 300' before it joins into the coun typarks. org/parkpages/Nixon .htm, decomposes quite rapidly in warm
sanitary sewer main in the street. where more than 10,000 visitors and moist sewer lines and waste-products
If the house-trap or drain line carryschool children visit each year. The left behind are easily transported by
subsequent flushes and secondary
uses. While solid wastes and toilet
With my fears of HET & UHET gone, it paper aren't carried all the way to the
street, not even with 3.5-gpf. toilets,
was time to concentrate on how to sell the decomposing and softened prod-
these more expensive products. ucts are pushed and/or carried along
with each subsequent flow. The only
clogging issues we have seen occur
(DLC) was going to be an issue, it Park Service was installing a mural of when there is a belly or defect in the
seemed like a perfect experiment. York County's extensive watershed sewer line.
I replaced our 3.5-gpf. toilets with to illustrate where our drinking wa- With my fears of HET & UHET
high-efficiency 1.28-gpf. models, ter comes from and right smack in gone, it was time to concentrate on
using Gerber, Toto and Vortens. the mural's lower right corner (easily how to sell these more expensive
Then I waited for the DLC issue viewed by children), a resettable wa- products. In the past, we have used
to rear its ugly head and a need to ter-meter was to be installed so that ECV to promote the sale of high ef-
clean the sewer line. After several school groups could see how much ficiency HVAC appliances and now
years' time, I'm still waiting. water they used during visits. It's we can use Water Conservation Value
Reading about the DLC issue, the more than 75 feet from the public re- > Turn to Flushing, page 40
GreenP/ü/Dibers® is an innovative training and accreditation program
that assists plumbers, inspectors and other building officials in
understanding their roles in the environment and public health.
GreenPlumbers works with the plumbing industry, building officials,
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The training consists of a five-part accreditation in environmental and
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TRAINING
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For infornnation circle 211 Patterson-Kel ley
 Hydronics
by Mark Eatherton
HYDRONIC HEATING CONTRACTOR
The leak detection job from hell
received a call frotn a friend of
mine who is in the energy con-
• servation field. He had gotten
involved with a local condominium
homeowners association who was
interested in conserving energy in
their condo complex. My friend is
very well versed on huilding science
as it pertains to energy conserva-
tion, but when it comes to boilers, he
knows when to back out of the boiler
room door and call me for advice. He
said he heard things going on inside
of this boiler room that just didn't
sound right and thought I should be
called in to take a look. We scheduled
a meeting with himself, the president
and vice president of the home own-
ers association on site.
The very first question that was
asked of me was whether or not I
had the ability to find a leak. I an-
swered positively, telling them that
if there was a leak to be found, that
I could find it. They then took me to
the farthest apartment away from the
physical plants location, in a remote
building. This was an early district
heating system. The boiler was in one
The Evolution of Radiant Wall Heating
Baby's Birthday Party
26 • MAY 2012
building, and had underground cop- floor level. This was done in an effort
being maintained at 180°F, and the
per water lines that went to two other to keep the water from accumulat-
water trickling out of the PVC con-
buildings. This group of buildings ing in the bottom of the electrical
duit was only 70°E Nothing like hav-
was originally built in the 1970s and panel which was about 48-in. above
ing an interesting curve thrown into
served as an apartment complex for thefloor.This was a new one... In my
the mix. My thoughts at this point
many years before being purchased 36 years of chasing leaks, I have never
were that this leak was actually occur-
and converted to condominiums, seen water trickling out of an electri-
ring a long ways away, and allowing
and sold to individuals. cal conduit. I should point out to my
the water to cool off to room temper-
As we entered the end unit, which newer readers that I have written nu-
ature before it became evident, or it
is 200 feet away from the boiler/heat merous articles on leak detection.
was being caused by a potable water
source, I noticed a trickle of water run- As I have previously pointed out,
(cold) leak.
ning across the floor to a floor drain in doing leak detection, one has to
I have seen situations whereby a
that serviced the exterior garden level follow the obvious signs before re-
plastic drain stack was in constant
porch. As we rounded the corner to sorting to technology in an effort to
contact with a Vi-in. copper water
line, and the regular expansion/con-
traction of the ABS plastic pipe was
This heating system had recently enough to abrade a hole through the
copper water line. I had all kinds of
received a circulator replacement things going through my head at this
because the original pump had failed, point, but I knew that having water
running out of a live electrical con-
probably due to excess makeup water. duit was not a good thing to have to
deal with.
go into the bedroom, much to my fine tune the area in which to ap- Back to sleuthing ... If the first
surprise, I saw that the water was ply these technologies. In this case, level of detection (water on the
running out of a 1-in. piece of CPVC the most obvious sign was the water floor) doesn't lead you to the leak,
conduit that was providing the main trickling across the floor. However, then a person has to go to the next
power to this unit's electrical panel. there was one slight looming prob- obvious sign, that being elevated un-
The fitting had been broken off at the lem. The boiler heating system was > Turn to Leak, page 40
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 Technology
Software for estimating, diagnostics
T hree industry-specific esti-
mating programs — FastPIPE
for mechanical contractors,
FastDUCT for HVAC contractors
and FastWRAP for mechanical insu-
lation contractors (www.fastest-inc.
com) — give commercial contractors
the ability to perform takeoffs from
digital plans directly on the com-
puter screen using the on-screen
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30 • MAY 2012
by William a Patti Feldman
COMPUTER AUTHORITIES
digitizer. The on-screen digitizer
supports a wide variety of digital
plan formats. Each of the programs
has a comprehensive database of
material and labor for all the pip-
ing, ductwork and insulation items
an estimator might need. Many of
the take-offs are point-and-click,
saving a lot of time in the prepara-
tion of estimates.
www.wilo-usa.com
For information circie 215
www.contraGtormag.coin
The programs support building a
custom library of specs, eliminating
the need to build them each time
from scratch. When creating a new
job, a user can choose to begin with
a pre-defined template, which auto-
matically loads in a set of specs and
job items upon creating a new bid.
The user can make minor job-spe-
cific changes using the Spec Editor.
Pumpen Intelligenz.
Data for FastPIPE includes piping,
fittings, valves, flanges and hangers
from major manufacturers, includ-
ing Tyler, Nibco, Gruvlok, Viega,
Anvil Intl., Weldbend and Swagelok.
Monthly pricing updates are pro-
vided. Industry-standard MCAA and
PHCC labor rates are also available
as a catalog option. FastPIPE also in-
cludes hundreds of pre-made HVAC
and plumbing assemblies. The as-
semblies can be modified.
To takeoff an item, the user se-
lects the size and appropriate pipe,
valve, fitting, flange, hanger or
specialty item. After clicking on
the on-screen plan or entering the
quantity, the item is automatically
added to the takeoff list in the lower
right-hand corner of the screen.
FastPIPE supports the download
of labor and material takeoff to a
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for the
final bid summary. The standard
The programs
support building a
custom library
of specs.
spreadsheet includes equipment,
fixtures, labor rates, rentals, taxes
and other job related costs. The
spreadsheet is also customizable.
FastDUCT has the capability to
calculate takeoffs of rectangular,
round and oval ductwork and sheet
metal and HVAC equipment. The
database includes data for rectan-
gular, round, and oval duct and fit-
tings, accessories, hangers, and spe-
cialties from manufacturers, with
up-to-date pricing and industry-
standard SMACNA labor rates for
each of the items.
FastDUCT ships pre-loaded with
specs, customizable for each duct
system within a job. The specs allow
for sheet metal, duct liner, joints,
stiffeners, tie-rods, duct accessories
and hangers to be automatically
generated as you takeoff duct and
fittings.
To takeoff an item, the user selects
the size and appropriate duct, fitting,
hanger or specialty item. After drag-
ging or marking the length of duct or
item on the digital plan, or entering
the quantity, the item is automati-
cally added to the takeoff list. Users
can easily toggle between rectangu-
lar, round and oval menus.
FastDUCT calculates pounds of
metal, square feet, material costs,
shop and field labor hours in with a
single click of the recalculate button
> Turn to Software, page 46
GOimucroR
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For information circle 216

 On Law
bv Mike Gallahaii
CONSTRUCTION AnORNEY

Termination for convenience clauses

T
here was a time when sign-
ing a construction contract
meant the contractor had the
right to complete the job and get
paid the full price. But, over time,
the idea that an owner could termi-
nate a contract for reasons having
nothing to do with the contractor's
performance became more and more
popular. This is the concept of Ter-
mination for Convenience (T for C)
clause. By inserting this clause into a
written contract, an owner avoided
being sued for breach of contract if
he changed his mind and wanted
to pull the plug on a project even
without any fault on the part of the
contractor.
This concept first appeared in con-
nection with federal government
projects. The theory used by courts
was that the public interest was not
served by requiring the government
to either build something it no lon-
ger needed or pay damages for not
doing so, if in fact there was a com-
pelling sovereign reason to stop. The
courts reasoned it didn't serve the
public interest to force the govern-
ment to continue a project that be-
came unnecessary or otherwise un-
usable because, for example, a war
ended or hazardous materials were
found on a site.
The typical T for C clause provided
that the owner would pay costs in-
curred to date and reasonable termi-
nation expenses, meaning unavoid-
able costs incurred due to an early
termination (i.e., un-cancelable ma-
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terial orders, restocking charges, un- tors (and subcontractors because of plied duty of good faith.
expired rental contracts). flow-down provisions). For example, In 1982 the "good faith or abuse
Currently, nearly all public con- what about the situation in which of discretion" test was challenged
tracts, standard form construction there really was no compelling rea- in a case where the U.S. govern-
contracts and even stand-alone son to terminate the contract? Or ment used the termination for
contracts, now contain termination what if the owner terminates the convenience clause to terminate a
for convenience clauses. The Con- contractor merely so that he can get contract for convenience because
sensusDOCs has a provision leav- a lower price or better terms from another bidder was able to perform
ing a blank where the parties are to someone else? The typical termina- the service for less. The court held
insert the amount/percent of pre- tion for convenience clause doesn't that the government could not
mium over and above costs incurred set any limits on the circumstances terminate for convenience absent
that the contactor will receive if the under which an owner can just cut changed circumstances. Since this
contract is terminated without fault. the contractor off. Particularly in decision, other federal courts have
The AIA General Conditions allow these days of limited economic re- reviewed terminations for conve-
nience on numerous occasions, un-
til finally in 1996 when it was held
Nearly all public contracts, standard that the federal government could
get away with using the termination
form construction contracts and even for convenience clause as long as
stand-alone contracts, now contain the termination wasn't "tainted by
bad faith or an abuse of contracting
termination for convenience clauses. discretion." Since the government
is presumed to have acted in good
faith in contracting, contractors
have rarely succeeded in demon-
for termination for convenience, but sources, it is not unheard of for an
strating the government's bad faith.
obligate the owner to pay for work owner to want to jump ship to save
This means you should assume that
executed, costs incurred because money.
a court will uphold a termination
of the termination, along with rea-
for convenience clause.
sonable overhead and profit on the What can be done?
work not executed - in effect, giv- Unfortunately, not much can be Even so, there are a few things
ing the contractor the same profit it done. Few states have addressed the you can do to minimize your risks.
would have made had it completed issue adequately, and those that have First, try to include language that
the work. In most cases, the owner generally look to federal guidance provides for lost profits if the owner
seeks to delete the language allowing for authority. Because all standard terminates the contract for its con-
the contractor to recover his profits. termination for convenience clauses venience. This is your best case,
Aside from the unfairness of losing are one-way, giving only the owner but owners are often reluctant to
profit that a contractor was counting the right to terminate, in order to agree to this. From the contractor's
on, there are other issues relating to avoid the clause leading to abuse, perspective, it's only fair that it not
termination for convenience provi- they have implied into the termina- be penalized for the owner's conve-
sions that should concern contrac- tion for convenience clause an im- nience. If the owner won't agree to
this, then you might agree to be let
go with no extra payment for lost
profits, but only if the project does
not go forward for at least a period
of time (one or two years), and if
anyone else continues with the
work in your scope, you are entitled
to be paid for your unearned profit.
An owner acting in good faith
would be hard-pressed to explain
why this proposal is not fair. If the
owner won't agree to this, then in-
sist upon payment for work com-
pleted to date (owner may require
properly completed work) plus any
costs of termination. Payment for
work completed to date should in-
clude overhead and profit for that
work. Subcontractors, don't forget
to review the prime contract, as
they often contain "flow down"
clauses that give subcontractors
similar rights. Q

Call for a Free Quote

1-888-375-7908
Find an Agent
ProgressiveCommercial.com
7/ PfíOGfíESSIVE
COMMERCIAL
Michael Callahan is a partner at Stin-
son Morrison Hecker LLP (the same
firm as long-time columnist Susan
McGreevy) where he assists clients
UnilMl Financial Casualiy Company amj its äfiiiatES. Mayfield Viiiage, Ohia Available in mcsi slates. No. I truck from Highline Data's 2007 written premium data. 09P()O5ÉO.6A (i2/G9i
with all aspects of their construction
For information circle 218 law needs, including litigation. Contact
him at MCallahan@stinson.c()m.

32 • MAY 2012 www.contractormag.com CONTRACTOR

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 Finance
by Irv Blackman
TAX AUTHORITY

How to win at succession planning

I
f you own or run a family business,
a business you want to continue af-
ter your leadership ends, then you
need a succession plan. Let's start with
three basic succession plan problems:
Who will own the company, who will
run the company, and who will have
control of the company?
Here's an example: Joe owns 100%
of Success Co. and runs it. Joe has three
basic choices, when it comes to deter-
mining who will finally own Success
Co.: One or more family members
(66%), one or more employees (24%),
or some third party (or company) to
whom Success Co. will be sold (10%).
It's a fact that succession planning
does not have a one size fits all solu-
tion. Who will ultimately own your
company drives the exact terms of
your succession plan. Taxes are the ex-
ception of course! Our example focuses
On Joe's ñrst choice: family. The follow-
ing four family situations come up in
practice on a regular basis:
1. Joe has no children or none of his
children (even those now working in
the business) could run Success Co. Of
course, one or more of these kids could
own all or part of Success Co., if a pro-
fessional manager ran the company.
2. One child, Sam, Qoe's only child)
works for Success. Co. and Joe is con-
fident that Sam could run the com-
pany.
3. Two or more children and all are
in the business. Most of the time Joe
wants each of them to own an equal
number of shares, such as 50/50 if two
children are in the business. This cre-
ates a problem: There must be a leader
with voting control to make the final
business decisions.
To solve this problem we create vot-
ing stock (say 100 shares) and non-
voting stock (say 10,000 shares). This

j^adiant tax-free transaction, recapitalization,

is simple to get done. As long as Joe

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For information circle 220
34 • MAY 2012 > www.Gontractorinag.coin
Succession
planning does not
have one solution.
is alive, he keeps the voting stock and
has absolute control of Success Co. The
non-voting stock goes to the business
kids. When Joe goes to the big busi-
ness in the sky, 51 shares of the voting
stock (and control) goes to Sam or the
other child who is the leader. Sam's
non-voting shares would be reduced
by the exact number of extra voting
shares he receives. Now all of the busi-
ness children would be equal.
4. There is one (or more) child in
the business and one (or more) non-
business child. Typically, Joe wants the
stock of Success Co. to go only to the
business children. The non-business
children get other assets owned by Joe.
We have the problem of treating all of
the kids equally. Often, there are not
enough other assets to accomplish the
"treat-them-equal goal." Second-to-die
life insurance is the first choice to get
to the equalization goal for the non-
business kid(s). But what if Joe is not
insurable? Or if insurable, the premi-
ums are too high for Joe's cashflow?If
these problems apply to you, call me
and we will talk.
The tax cost of the wrong succession
plan is a nightmare. Let's run the num-
bers: Joe sells Success Co. for $1 mil-
lion to Sam. Assume the tax rates are
40% for income tax (35% federal and
5% state) and 50% for estate tax.
Suppose Joe's tax basis for Success
Co. is zero. Okay, let's follow the num-
bers starting with Sam. He must earn
$1.7 million, pay $.7 million in in-
come tax, leaving $ 1 million, which
Sam pays to Joe. With the top capital
gains tax rate at 15%, Joe must pay the
tax collector $150,000. He only has
$850,000 left. So, Sam must earn $1.7
>- Turn to Planning, page 46
CONTRACTOR
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For information circle 221
The System is the Solution"
 Project Management
by H. Kent Craig
PROJECT MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY

Join Documenting
jobsite production
The I 'm still shocked in this modern
day and age that so many con-
tractors of all stripes are still not
a new hospital job, it wouldn't seem
to be fair to compare this apple with
that orange?

Green
using even basic techniques to docu-
ment and analyze actual field crew
performance in relation to expected
performance as evidenced in the
original estimates.
Well, it's not about comparison of
one employee's production to an-
other similar employee's production
on different kinds of jobs. It's about
creating and establishing a compa-

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WATCO MANUFACTURING COMPANY
1220 South Powell Road,
Independence, MO 64057-2724
Phone 816-796-3900 • FAX 816-796-0875
A Division of WCM Industries, Inc.
It truly flabbergasts me that the
"because this is the way it's always
been done" mentality is given as a
the reason by project managers and
upper-end executives not to spend
1% to 2% of extra time during the
day to write down information that
could conceivably increase a compa-
ny's net by lO'K) to 20% over time, all
for the act of actu-
ally giving a care.
I'm not talking It's about creating
rocket science here,
I am talking about and establishing
using a concept fa- a company-wide
miliar to so many
who read this col- policy.
umn of using a
modified approach
to SABERmetrics that many who par-
ticipate in fantasy baseball leagues
know well. Instead of using accumu-
lated historical statistics to analyze
an individual baseball player's and a
baseball team's probable future be-
havior by measuring in-game activ-
ity, we as project managers simply
note on an employee's time card or
within the job's daily logfile in Excel
who did what and where and how
long it took them and then transfer
that data into a master file for use
back at the office.
Actual SABERmetrics is about us-
ing information about a player in the
micro and a team in the macro to
predict what player or team will do
best, or worst as the case may be, in a
given situation, game or season. Us-
ing a modified version SABERmetrics
to fit in with contracting practices is
to simply record for the record what a
given field employee does on a given
day, with no negative or positive con-
sequence for what they do or don't
do because of the documenting of
such.
If a pipefitter starting this morn-
ing runs a hundred feet of 2-in. steel
pipe by the end of the day, then on
their time card or within the daily
job log write it down as attributable
to them. But what if they're work-
ing in an open space such as on a
new slab-on-grade warehouse job,
working in the clear off of a lift, as
opposed to working in a cramped co-
ordinated space on an upper story of
ny-wide policy that any labor spent
on the job is written down and is
transparent enough to be traceable
to where both current problems and
opportunities can be addressed and
future trends of potential profitabil-
ity can be exploited. When studying
the data you notice that a given me-
chanic runs rings around others in
hanging fan coil
units in half the
estimated time or
produces double
the amount of
footages for 3-in.
and above weld-
pipe, but is just
average when run-
ning 2" to 1/2"
and below or just has the magic touch
when it comes slapping up smaller
low pressure duct, but is barely ade-
quate when wresting with larger high
pressure duct, why on earth wouldn't
you take advantage of this knowl-
edge?
I know that many in our industry
still assign personnel to and run their
field crews "by feel," but in this day
and age of literally not just trying to
but needing to squeeze every possible
dime of net from each job, you and
the company need to create and re-
ply on objective, not subjective, per-
spectives as much as possible.
When an estimator estimated
the job they didn't throw spaghetti
against the wall to see if it would
stick. Instead they used time-and-
tested tools and methods to count
the footages of pipe and the number
and measurements of pipe fittings,
the number and kinds of fixtures and
pieces of system equipment, etc., and
then assigned a specialized standard
labor unit number to each individ-
ual component. This gives executive
management a true picture of actual
raw material and equipment costs
and a very accurate within +/- 2%
guess of the number of labor hours
that would be needed to install a fin-
ished job.
I know for a fact there are many
companies still out there even in the
depths of this Great Recession that
don't bother to keep reasonably accu-
>- Turn to Documenting, page 46

For information circle 222

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 Columnists

Regulatory burden hurts innovation

>• Continued from page 12 sumer greatly hinders other
ter heating. However, these
technologies are often at the
highest end of a contractor's
portfolio and, given today's
economic climate, contrac-
tors have found that con-
sumers aren't trending to-
ward high-end water heaters;
they're likely buying either
value-oriented products or
ones that provide a measur-
able, quick payback.
Forcing manufacturers to
focus R&D efforts on meeting
NAECA standards that likely
aren't even going to resonate
financially with today's con-
positive industry innovations
that could drive more effi-
cient product development at
price points that homeown-
ers can handle. Rheem, for
instance, last year introduced
the Rheem XR90 Extreme
Recovery Gas Water Heater,
which is a 29-gal. water heater
that delivers more hot water,
faster and more efficiently
than a standard 50-gal. (0.58
EF and 40,000 Btu/h) gas wa-
ter heater. This unit has an EF
of 0.70 and costs 17% less to
operate annually than a 50-
gal. gas unit — only $217 for
the Rheem XR90 versus $315
for the 50-gal. gas model,
based on DOE annual operat-
ing cost figures.
While the Rheem XR90
exceeds NAECA's 2015 re-
quirements specific to water
heaters, the company did not
create this product to meet a
mandated regulation. Rheem
developed the XR90 so that
contractors could leverage a
competitive solution that
meets consumers' demands
for energy efficiency. This is
just one example of the kind of
innovation that could be aug-
mented if manufacturers don't
have to focus the majority of
their R&D efforts on meeting
mandated regulations.
As the industry navigates
this unusual regulatory cli-
mate, it'll be more important
than ever that manufacturers,
distributors and contractors
initiate open dialogues ahout
the ramifications of signifi-
cant regulations, and work
together — along with our re-
spective trade associations —
to continue urging the DOE
and other regulatory bodies
to reconsider imposing so
many rulings that could have
dramatic consequences on
these industries. Q
Karen Meyers is corporate di-
rector, government relations,
for Rheem. She is on several
AHRI committees and chairs
the Unitary Regulatory Com-
mittee, which negotiated the
consensus agreement on re-
gional standards with the en-
ergy advocates; serves on the
Government Affairs Commit-
tee; the Certification Programs
and Policy Committee; and the
Water Heater Regulatory and
Policy Committee. She can be
reached at Karen.Meyers®
rheem.com.

Flushing too much potable water

> Continued from page 24 If the HET lasts for 20 years gallons (includes a 10,000- First year WCV = $1,376.15. Dave Yates material in print
(WCV) to sell HET and UHET and the costs for water and gallon leak-rate per average If we project a 3.5% annual and on Contractor's Web site
toilets. Let's use that family sewage treatment rise 3.5% home). increase, a look 20-years into is protected by Copyright 2012.
of four and the 21,134 gal- per year, the accumulated Their new conservation: the future reveals the WCV = Any reuse of this material (print
lons of conservation. WCV = $12,547.98. WCV = 42,000 X $0.013 = $38,917.08. or electronic) must first have the
If that family lived here, Let's imagine the same $546.00 As you can see, water is expressed written permission
the WCV would look like family of four gets water Sewage = 42,000 x $0.008 rapidly becoming the new of Dave Yates and Contractor
this: WCV = 21,134 x $0.013 conservation fever and de- = $336.00 "oil" and plumbers will be magazine. Please contact via
= $274.74 (reduction in wa- cides to swap out all faucets Water heating = $875.64 - leading the charge forward email at: dave.yates@fwbe-
ter billing). and fixtures to ones compli- $381.49 = $494.15 where WCV is concerned. Q hler.com.
Sewage = 21,134 X $0.008 = ant with WaterSense.
$169.07 (reduction in sewer They're using an electric
billing).
Their first year WCV =
water heater and electric-
ity costs $0.12 per kWh.
The leak job from hell
$443.71. If a 1.28-HETcost According to WaterSense, >- Continued from page 26 merous units that were over tently at 80°F. This unit was
$100 more than a 1.6-gpf. www.epa.gov/watersense, wanted temperature in in- heating within the complex. abandoned by the previous
model, the ROI would be 100 they would reduce their po- dividual units. This heating In some cases, the amount owner and was in receivership
-^ 443.71 =22.5%. table water usage by 42,000 system had recently received of saturated heat made it vir- by the bank that had financed
a circulator replacement be- tually impossible to utilize it, so it was empty. No one
cause the original pump had my thermal infrared imaging was home to complain about
failed, probably due to excess camera. excess heat. Stay tuned for
makeup water. One (wrongly) Part 2 of this mystery! Q
HydroData Multimeter has to assume that the per-
I should mention that the
means of heat distribution
0-250 PSl Gage & Differential Pressures son/company that replaced was hot water haseboard, with All Mark Eatherton material
Associated High Side & Low Side Pressures the pump at least attempted the heating lines running un- on this website is protected by
-67 to 250 °F Temperature to match the performance der the concrete on grade Copyright 2012. Any reuse of
curve of the existing pump floors, creating many oppor- this material (print or electronic)
100 Reading Memory with Sequential Recall with the curve of the replace- tunities for leakage. I could must have the expressed written
English & Metric, Auto-Read ment pump. I suddenly real- see in these overheated gar- permission of Mark Eatherton
ized, that assumptions can be den level apartments one and CONTRACTOR Magazine.
wrong, and will come back large blob of orange hot sur- Please contact via email at:
to bite you. There were nu- faces. One unit was consis- markeatherton@mac.com.

Business in the 21st century

> Continued from page 10 dotal point of view; it is
trades are to survive intact
into the new century.
Adapting to the realities of
the industry as it exists today
will require foresight, inno-
vation and a willingness to
Shortridge Instruments, Inc. try new things. Nothing
should be off the table. Noth-
7855 E. Redfield Road Scottsdale, AZ 85260
ing should be considered ta-
480-991-6744 Fax: 480-443-1267
boo when the problem is so
www.shortridge.com
severe. From a strictly anec-
For information circle 224
sometimes noted that the
military always seems to be
ready to fight the last war.
Making a new plan with in-
novative ideas and acting
upon it is what will make the
difference in the long run.
Remember that Albert Ein-
stein once said that the defi-
nition of insanity is doing
the same thing over and over
again and expecting a differ-
ent result.Q
The Brooklyn, N.Y.-born au-
thor is a retired third generation
master plumber. He founded
Sunflower Plumbing & Heat-
ing in Shirley, N.Y., in 197S
and A Professional Commercial
Plumbing Inc. in Phoenix in
1980. He can be reached at al-
len@proquilldriver.com.

40 • MAY 2012 > www.contractonnag.Goin

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 Industry News

PHCC—NA members lobby, build relationships

> Continued from page 3
PHCC lobbied Congress on the issue.
"PHCC has greatCTedibilityon Capi-
tol Hill, and we need to make sure
members of Congress know who we
are and what we do," said Riso. "It's a
continual effort, we can't relax. The 3%
Withholding was a great victory. This
is thanks to PHCC members getting in-
volved in government relations and
reaching members of Congress. This is
about building, establishing and main-
taining relationships with Congress."
"PHCC has had many successes
throughout its strong 130-year his-
tory," said Keith Bienvenu, president of
the PHCC. "We were extremely pleased
with the success of two issues we lob-
bied on last year: the repeal of the 3%
Withholding tax as well as new Form
1099 requirements. We worked on the
3% Withholding for several years."
Bienvenu said that the association's
grassroots efforts are one of its greatest
strengths.
"We sent out a legislative alert to
Chairman Cliff Steams, subcommittee
on oversight and investigations of the
House Energy and Commerce Com-
mittee, regarding the workforce guide-
lines for the Federal Weatherization
Assistance Program (U.S. Department
of Energy)," said Bienvenu. "Within
24 hours 250 responses were faxed to
Stearns' office."
Bienvenu added that in the 112th
Congressional cycle alone, PHCC
members generated more than 4,600
letters to Capitol Hill and the U.S. De-
partment of Energy. This was accom-
plished through PHCC's letter writing
service available to its members.
"To expand our impact, we are pro-
viding expanded grassroots services to
members," said Bienvenu. "This in-
cludes monitoring and tracking indus-
try issues on a regular basis, and mobi-
lizing members to lobby for important
legislation or federal regulation."
The PHCC of Louisiana delegation
met with Caroline Bruckner, general
counsel, committee on small business
and entrepreneurship, representing
Senator Mary Landrieu.
"I was pleased with the meeting with
Senator Landrieu's office," said Bien-
venu. "Although Senator Landrieu
was not able to be there, we talked to
Caroline Bruckner about PHCC's issues
of interest, including estate tax repeal.
We are disappointed that she does not
support permanent repeal of the estate
tax, but we are encouraged that she is
willing to compromise. I look forward
to following up with Senator Landrieu
when I see her back home in our state
of Louisiana."
"Overall I was very impressed by the
PHCC Legislative Conference," said
Matt Sullivan, licensed journeyman and
vice president of marketing at Plumb-
ing Solutions Inc., Dedham, Mass. "I
was pleasantly surprised when I found
our nation's leaders very eager to talk
to us business types, it was refreshing to
see that they understood that we repre-
sent the majority of Americans."
To read the entire PHCC - NA arficle
go to www.Contractormag.com and click
on the article Unk. Q

Adoptions of lAPMO green code continue to grow

> Continued from page 1
on college campuses. Coincidentally, at
around the same time that the GTC was
meeting, students at Loyola University
in Chicago voted to phase out sales of
bottled water in favor of personal refiU-
able water bottles.
The GPMS is being adopted in vari-
ous forms, reported Dave Viola, LAPMO
director of special services. Lincoln,
Neb., has adopted the plumbing por-
tion of the Supplement for its code. Cal-
ifornia has this under consideration for
their next code cycle, and IAPMO is in
discussions with the California Energy
Commission and Building Standards
Commission. California is planning
to adopt the 2012 Uniform Plumbing
Code along with provisions from the
GPMS.
Rob Zimmerman, manager - Engi-
neering, Water Conservation, and Sus-
tainability at Köhler Co., asked Viola
what it meant that Lincoln, Neb., had
adopted the GPMS as "reference mate-
rial." Viola explained that means the
Supplement is a path of compliance,
so if a contractor or engineer wants to
design a rainwater system, for example,
he can follow either the regular plumb-
ing code or the GPMS and the system
would be in compliance either way.
Hot water expert Gary Klein, Affili-
ated International Management, Ran-
cho Cordova, Calif., noted that he has
been working with California Energy
Commission on hot water system per-
formance, and asked if the GPMS sec-
tion on hot water distribution had been
accepted into CalGreen. No, Viola said,
but CalGreen staff is working to merge
CalGreen into the UPC, the Uniform
Mechanical Code and the GPMS.
Engineer Bill Hoffman, H.W. Hoff-
man & Associates, Austin, Texas, re-
ported that he is meeting with Texas
officials who are developing rainwater
and graywater codes for the state to get so that the plumber is responsible for all Calif., representing the American Soci-
them to adopt or reference the relevant water on the site, not just inside. ety of Plumbing Engineers, noted that
sections of the 2012 Supplement. He "We have to recognize that ground- combined sewer overflows that mix
promised to keep the panel up to date. water recharge is one way we can deal stormwater and sewage put the kibosh
The area of alternative water sources, with water that we collect on the site," on water reuse.
including rainwater and graywater, is Viola said. "We're getting Into an area that's big-
fertile ground for the Green Techni- Pete DeMarco, IAPMO director of ger than what we can do today, and it
cal Committee that will probably be special programs, pointed out that a lot ties in with landscape irrigation," Hoff-
plowed for years to come. E.W. "Bob" of water infrastructure in place inhib- man said. "This is a big and necessary
Boulware, Design-Aire Engineering, In- its re-use. "We have to look at this as a topic ... We need to start a discussion
dianapolis, the president of the Ameri- universe of issues," DeMarco said. "We before we leave. Let's set up an informa-
can Rainwater Catchment Systems As- have a water Infrastructure that needs tion group that can put together a Tech-
sociation, noted that research across so much improvement, how do we pri- nical Committee to tackle this."
the country shows that water tables are oritize this and create a roadmap?" To read the entire IAPMO green code
falling and land is actually settling. Eng- Echoing DeMarco, Ed Saltzberg, Ed- article go to www.Contractormag.com
land and Canada are revising standards ward Saltzberg & Associates, Van Nuys, and click on the arficle link. Q
Bullitt Center hopes to be the world's greenest
> Continued from page 3 system will be cut off from the city water lines." The intent
mechanical room where four water-to-water heat pumps is to use filters and chlorination to make the cistern water
make the energy exchange from the well side to the build- every bit as safe as city water.
ing side. The heat pumps then deliver either hot water In an effort to conserve water all fixtures and toilets —
or chilled water. "That changeover happens seasonally," which have yet to be installed — will be low-flow. All toilets
Brune said. "The building is essentially in all-heating or all- in the building are composting. "Everything gets sent
cooMng mode at any given fime." down to the basement," Bmne said, "where there are com-
The radiant PEX tubing is set in a 3-in. poured topping posfing units that break down the compost so a contractor
slab. A pump in the mechanical room circulates through can come and haul it away."
the main loop, and each floor has four manifolds. "We laid The project has been a series of challenges from first
it out so that each of those loops can become an individual to last, most involving the balance between the energy
zone," Bmne said, the thinking being that future tenants the building uses vs. the energy the building generates.
might want to parfition certain areas and have them indi- But Brune believes that encountering and solving these
vidually controlled. types of problems is a large part of what the project was all
(Electricity for the pumps and manifolds — in fact all about.
electrical power for the entire building, including lighting "It's something for everyone, the design team, the design
— comes from a 14,303-sq. ft., 242 Kw photovoltaic array community and the greater community to learn from,"
on the roof.) he said, "from the places we ran into difficulties and the
Potable water comes from a 56,000-gal. cistern in the solutions we came up with, so someone else can build a
basement that will harvest rainwater from rooftop catch- building like this and not have to worry about the same
ments. Net-zero water usage is a key goal of the Bullitt things we did."
Center. Right now, the right to use rainwater in potable To help consolidate those lessons, the first floor of the
applicarions is one of the court hurdles the building still Bullitt Center will house the Center for Energy & Urban
needs to overcome. Ecology. Programmed by nonprofit and public agency
A city water line will be connected and feed to the fix- partners including the University of Washington's College
tures, however, "Once the rules get figured out," Brune of Built Environments, it will feature an open resource li-
said, "and the health department signs off on it, then the brary, classrooms and exhibifion space. Q

42 • MAY 2012 > www.coiitractormag.com CONTRACTOR

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