PLUMBING e Continued from p 30
Scott Kiffmeyer. “It was only 14 weeks from the day we started the underground installation to the day the store opened.” Both Rice and Kiffmeyer estimate
that installing PEX underground saved at least a week of installation time, as compared to installing overhead copper pipe. “On a grocery store project, saving a week is critical, especially toward the end of the construction schedule, when things start to pile up,” said Rice.
“Also, having the plumbers in and out so fast gave us more time to have other contractors that we needed on the jobsite.” Kiffmeyer echoed Rice’s
sentiments. “The time saved from not having to work overhead in a lift was insurmountable,” he said.
The plumbing system, which used ½" through 2" Uponor AquaPEX® tubing for the 36,330-square-foot store, ran the PEX tubing underground instead of overhead as with a typical copper plumbing system application.
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representative from Uponor, a PEX manufacturer located in Apple Valley, Minn. Uponor also offers design and technical support for plumbing, fire sprinkler and radiant floor heating and cooling systems. “They needed to get the plumbing
system in quickly, so this was a great application for speeding up their construction schedule,” said Swanson. “It was also much more cost effective than doing copper overhead.” The plumbing system, which used
½" through 2" Uponor AquaPEX® tubing for the 36,330-square-foot store, ran the PEX tubing underground instead of overhead as with a typical copper plumbing system application. The underground PEX system also incorporated Uponor’s unique engineered plastic (EP) fittings, which are approved for direct burial in soil. The fittings use a cold- expansion ProPEX® connection method, which uses a simple expander tool to make fittings, without the need for torches, glues, solvents or gauges. According to Mike Rivers,
technical support supervisor at Uponor and lead designer for the Coborn’s project, the plumbing system featured one cold-water main distribution header that fed three 2" supply lines and two 1¼" supply lines. The hot-water main line was 1½" PEX from the heat source, which was divided into three hot water zones for the deli/meat area, the bakery/produce area and the restroom area. Rivers also noted that the project incorporated a few firsts in PEX
commercial plumbing. “The flush bank was all PEX,
which is one of the first that we are aware of in the Midwest,” said Rivers. “Typically, these are installed with copper, but with PEX you have to increase the height of the header to allow for more play with the 1" lines that come down. Why do you have to allow for more play? We may need to explain this a little, although, if the audience is PHCC, this may not be necessary.” Rivers stated that designers
performed residual pressure calculations at both the farthest fixture and flush bank locations to verify that the system met minimum pressure requirements.
“We had them hang the 2" header line 4' 6" off the floor with 1" pulls to the flush valves located 2' 6" below,” he said. “This allowed for less stress on the fixture connections.” For the entire plumbing system,
the install started in mid-August 2009, and the system was turned over in mid-November. “PEX provided great time and labor savings, which, in turn, offered great cost savings for the owner,” said
“Additionally, having the plumbing in so fast was a big help so that they could pour the concrete and stay on schedule. With Uponor PEX, we got the walls done faster, and they were able to sheetrock a lot sooner.” Also, because the tubing was
below ground and not overhead, the contractors weren’t in the way of the coolers and freezers that needed to be installed. “This is a concept store for Coborn’s, so they’re trying new technologies such as a colored concrete floor,” said Kiffmeyer. “It was important to have less traffic walking over the finished floor. Not having to worry about the mess of solder on the new floor was a plus as well.” Both Kiffmeyer and Rice agree
that the durability, flexibility and adaptability of PEX make it the ideal product for commercial plumbing installations; not to mention the incredible cost and time savings that the system afforded them. In fact, PEX was also approved for Rice Building Systems’ corporate headquarters in Sauk Rapids, which opened in 2010. According to Rice, “After our
experience with the plumbing installation in this concept store, PEX will most likely be the product of choice for more of our projects going forward.” l
Project Data • Size of Structure: 36,330 sq. ft. • Floor Construction: Concrete slab • PEX Tubing: Uponor AquaPEX® tubing • Tubing Sizes: ½", ¾", 1", 1¼", 1½" and 2" • Total Amount of Tubing: 3,180 feet; 680 feet of straight lengths for the walls, 2,500 feet of coils for the underground
• Fittings: ProPEX® engineered plastic (EP) fittings throughout with some 2" brass fittings
• Accessories: Uponor PEX-to-copper stub outs
phc july 2011
www.phcnews.com
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