coppertalk

By Harold Moret, CDA Project Manager and Piping Applications Specialist

The Copper Development Association (CDA) has produced a series of five short, instructional how-to videos for anyone working with copper on architectural and plumbing projects. CDA Project Managers Larry Peters and Harold Moret developed the series of videos appropriate for both new construction and remodeling projects.

These educational videos were made to be helpful for the professional installer or do-it-yourselfer, who wants to learn about the correct techniques for installing copper piping and copper roofing, flashing, or other architectural systems. These videos are a great resource for someone looking for guidance on their next project.

We have a video on Copper Sheet Fabrication, describing the tools and basic preparation steps required for soldering copper sheet materials.  The steps reviewed in this video are required for most of the application techniques employed to fabricate copper strip, sheet, and plate for architectural use.  The video also describes the melting point for solders used with sheet copper.

The tinning copper and sheets video explains that before beginning the soldering of sheet materials you have to tin the soldering copper.  This video covers cleaning, marking, flux and solder.  Also, it shows the basic steps to tinning an edge.  The program describes how to create a lap seam which is recommended when the copper sheet is too thick to form a flat lock seam and how to solder copper sheet material in roofing on relatively flat slopes.

There’s a video about soldering preparation and the materials used in soldering preparation.  This program shows the different types of copper tubes, and how to measure and to cut copper tube.  The soldering video reviews the proper techniques for fluxing and soldering.  The first part of the program includes a description of certain flux and how to apply it.  Part two shows how to properly apply heat and solder to a copper joint.  Testing all assembly for joint integrity is emphasized in the program.

A fifth video program is about solderless fittings which are gaining acceptance throughout the industry.  Push connects and press connects are demonstrated in the program. 

The video series is available on the CDA web site and on CDA’s YouTube Channel. We plan to expand the how-to video series this year with additional architectural and plumbing techniques.

By Harold Moret, CDA Project Manager and Piping Applications Specialist

Harold Moret, a CDA piping applications specialist, spends each June judging young people participating in the SkillsUSA Championships, sponsored by the National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC). More than 15,000 people, including students, teachers and business partners come to the event each year in Kansas City. The 46^th annual event in 2010 will be June 20-25 in Kansas City.

If it’s not in a kid’s blood to become a lawyer or a doctor, a trade is an alternative career for them. SkillsUSA works in conjunction with high schools and technical colleges so kids can learn trade skills that help them to be successful in pursuing a career.  As a part of the program, they can also choose to show their skills by competing against one another in local, state and national competitions.  The SkillsUSA Championships is the final, premier showcase of their skills.  There are all kinds of trades represented at the conference – plumbing, electronics, hair cutting, air craft mechanics – and more.

June 2010 will be the 5th year I’ve participated as a judge in the SkillsUSA plumbing contest. The contests are run through donations by the industry and with the help of people like me, who’ve been in the business a long time and want to help students to learn their trades properly from the bottom up.

My part is to judge the copper installation.  In the contest, copper is used for all of the water lines.  The plumbing students have a platform that represents a bathroom – it’s eight feet by four feet.  There’s a sink, shower, and commode all on the little table and they have 8 hours to put them all together and to make them work.  They have to install all the fixtures, the water going to them, and the drain and vent lines.  There’s a group of seven or eight judges who judge each part and make sure that all contestants work in a safe manner.  It’s tough to watch them start out as they shake out their nerves.  It gives us all a sense of pride when the students do a good job and also have fun with each other as they compete.

But there’s still a lot of work to do in educating our young people. I tell the young students, if they apply themselves, the sky’s the limit in any industry they decide to go into. A lot of them are there because they know they can make good money. But I also want to see them put their heart into their work.

I find teaching very satisfying, especially when I help a journeyman understand how to work to today’s installation standards. They tell me, “You know, I’ve been doing this wrong for 20 years.” It feels good when they see how my approach makes sense. I tell them it will feel awkward at first and you feel like you’re starting all over again. But it doesn’t take long for them to put a joint together so easily they don’t even have to think about it. It feels great to teach the older people how to do it properly too. If they do it well, they can then pass on that skill to their apprentices.

By Harold Moret, CDA Project Manager and Piping Applications Specialist

Harold Moret, CDA Project Manager and Piping Applications Specialist, has worked in the construction field for more than 25 years. He was a home builder and worked for a plumbing manufacturer before joining the CDA five years ago.

I’m based in Atlanta, but I don’t consider the southeast my only service area anymore. At the CDA, we’re branching out and training people all across the country. When we go to a city, we talk to several industries, not just one. And now I’m offering training for both the architectural and plumbing industries.

I’m also involved with the plumbing industry’s trade associations – the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association, the United Association of Plumbers, Fitters, Welders and HVAC Service Techs, and the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC). We get together and share industry information and I do training classes and installation seminars for their members. Most involve the proper installation of copper piping systems. Read more…

By Craig Thompson, Copper Development Association, Project Manager & Architectural Applications Specialist

Craig Thompson is an Illinois-registered architect.  He holds a graduate degree in architecture and, in 1972, began working in construction on residential, commercial and retail projects.  He joined the CDA in 1992, working primarily with architects.  He provides them with information for working with copper, including design assistance and help locating products and installers.

I recently attended hearings of the International Code Council (ICC) on the subject of copper roofing and fire ratings.  Some Building codes exist to enable architects and builders to specify the level of fire safety of the materials chosen for new construction – Class A, Class B or Class C.  For example, if someone building a home in an area of California where there are brush fires wanted to do something extra to protect the home, they would go with Class A materials.  For decades there was an exception for copper in the building code because it had always been considered non-combustible. Read more…

By Richard deFay, Copper Development Association Inc. Project Manager, Electrical Applications Specialist

Prior to joining CDA three years ago, Richard deFay spent five years working for Applied Proactive Technologies in the NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) Premium Efficient Motor Program.

If you’re a facility manager, plant electrician or anyone who purchases motors, I encourage you to save your organization money and boost efficiency many times over by factoring in life cycle cost in addition to the initial cost of the motors you’re considering.  Since about 2000, manufacturers have been making more efficient motors which are called NEMA Premium (NEMA stands for National Electrical Manufacturers Association), and they can reduce your operating costs significantly, depending on three things:

1. How many hours you run the motor.
2. Cost of electricity.
3. Efficiency of the existing motor compared to the new one being considered.

NEMA Premium motors are almost always vastly superior when it comes to overall lifecycle cost.

A tool I use for comparing options (number 3 above) is MotorMaster+ software, developed by the U.S. Department of Energy.  It’s a database of 25,000-plus motors that enables easier industrial motor energy audits.  I have used it to assist companies and organizations, from Kodak, AMF Bowling, Roswell Cancer Center and Corning to high schools and universities in looking at their inventory of motors to determine whether it’s more beneficial to repair old ones or replace them with new, more efficient motors.  A second opportunity to replace older, running motors with newer improved efficiency motors also exists. When you run the numbers, it’s clear that NEMA Premium motors offer significant savings, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars a year.

There are less expensive motors, but less efficient motors currently available, but starting in December, NEMA Premium becomes the minimum standard efficiency for covered motors sold within the U.S. and with good reason.   Initial cost represents only 2% or so of the total cost of ownership.  Energy costs, maintenance, etc. make up the other 98% of the cost over the lifetime of the motor.  And that’s where high-efficiency NEMA Premium motors make a significant difference.

Another area where copper helps increase motor efficiency is in the rotors, which are traditionally made of aluminum.  Copper is a better conductor of electricity by 60% over aluminum, but in the past, it wasn’t possible to make copper rotors because of copper’s high melting point of 1083C compared to 660C for aluminum.  In 2001, CDA metallurgists developed the technology to enable casting of the copper rotor motor, making it possible to make them commercially viable.  Copper reduces the rotor I² R losses, improving efficiency dramatically.  CDA patented the technology and gives it away free to any motor manufacturer who wants to use it.  Siemens was an early adopter in the U.S. market, as are others across the globe, some using their own proprietary technology. As energy costs continue to rise, companies such as NYCO Minerals in upstate New York, have learned the advantages of NEMA Premium also.  I urge anyone who purchases motors commercially to consider joining them.  CDA features detailed information on its Web site about the cost savings and annual payback of different kinds of motors.  Have a look, and contact CDA so we can assist you in making the smartest, most cost-effective choices.

By Dale Powell, Copper Development Association, Project Manager and Piping Applications Specialist

Dale Powell provides information for a wide range of industries regarding copper plumbing, pipefitting and process piping applications.  Prior to joining CDA 15 years ago, he was a UA Pipefitter and Master Plumber as well as an Estimator/Project Manager for a large mechanical contracting firm in Harrisburg, PA.   He received his education at Harrisburg Area Community College, Penn State and the University of Kentucky. 

When specifying materials for a project, contractors have to weigh the issues of affordability versus quality.  Copper costs more than many other materials to start with, but its advantages are significant, especially when you look at them in light of the move toward what most people call “green” building.  A contractor pursuing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification will find lots of benefits to using copper piping. 

Copper has some phenomenally great characteristics for green building.  To begin with, it’s a 100% recyclable material.  The process for most of our tube and fitting manufacturers involves the use of scrap (roofing, wire, cable, strip plate, bar), which is commonly 99.96% copper.  In fact, about 85-90% of the copper tube put in today is from re-used scrap.  You hardly ever see copper tube or other copper products in a landfill or dump but often see plastic tubing going to the dump.  Another strong case for copper piping is that it’s extremely long-lasting.  You can reliably figure that the piping you put into a building will last longer than the building itself.  There again, the copper remains available and serviceable after many other materials have deteriorated.  It simply gets melted down and re-formed for other uses.  Copper doesn’t burn, so it can be installed in open plenums without adding to the smoke load.  Sun exposure isn’t an issue, either, so you can store the piping anywhere.  If you leave PVC or cross-link polyethylene PEX materials out in the sun, stacked at a building site, for example, they can be adversely affected by the sunlight. 

There are many green building projects throughout the United States, many of them award-winning.  And there will continue to be more and more as contractors understand that specifying copper is one of the smartest, greenest choices you can make.