6/20/2007 FLATLEY COMPANY / ONE CORPORATE PLACE
When the original boiler in the Danvers facility started showing signs of aging, Flatley knew that it had to solve the problem before the winter heating season arrived.
The original heating system was comprised of a copper fin boiler connected to a heat pump loop that forced hot water through the various zones to provide baseboard heat throughout the building.
The new boiler had to be compatible with the existing heat pump system, require a minimal amount of plumbing and provide higher efficiency to minimize fuel consumption. Lastly, the new boiler also needed to fit into the small 12 x 12 foot boiler room.
Flatley turned to Sweeney-Rogers Corporation of Franklin, Massachusetts, a manufacturer’s representative firm serving the plumbing, heating and HVAC industry. The company specializes in commercial applications that require high efficiency solutions.
“After a thorough analysis of their system and needs, we recommended that they go with two HydroTherm KN-6 cast-iron boilers,” said Mike Rogers of Sweeney-Rogers. “This would provide Flatley with the same 1.2 million BTU of heating capacity, which was what the old system offered.”
Most importantly, the new boilers are much better suited for the application and low water temperature in the existing system.
“Water temperature was really what killed the old system,” said Rogers. “In a typical hydronic system with the old type of boiler, the water temperature would be in the 130° to 190° F range, depending on the actual heating requirements of the building and the outside temperature. The problem was the temperature was much lower, around 80° F, which required a condensing boiler for the system to work properly.”
Unlike the previous boiler, the KN-6 is a condensing or high efficiency boiler that operates with lower flue gas temperatures, lower flue gas emissions and reduced fuel consumption by recovering the heat that would otherwise be lost up the flue.
With a small footprint of less than 27-in. wide, Sweeney-Rogers was able to specify two boilers that had the same general footprint as the original boiler, and provided the owner with the added reliability and peace of mind of a redundant system.
High efficiency boilers typically operate at efficiencies of 85 to 95%, or about 10 to 15% higher than traditional boilers. This boiler design was ideal for The Flatley Company property and promised to provide an estimated 15% to 20% higher efficiency rating than the old boiler, resulting in significant potential fuel savings.
The Legacy Management Group, Inc. (LMG) of Wellesley, Mass., an integrated property management company that specializes in HVAC, general maintenance and janitorial services, was hired to install the new boilers for Flatley.
From start to finish, the job went very smoothly and was completed in October before the weather turned cold, and the start-up, supervised by Sweeney-Rogers, went without a hitch.Read the attached .pdf document for more information.
6/11/2007 RUSSELL SAGE COLLEGE
Smith Russell Sage College.pdf
The college turned to Carrier Corporation’s Commercial Service Division of Middletown, Conn., to design an updated and more efficient heating system. Al Berry, project engineer for Carrier explained the problem. “Each of the failing boilers was housed in a separate boiler room in the basement of the building that it was heating. To make the system more efficient, we wanted to centralize the boiler room and feed low pressure steam to several buildings from one location. Not only would a centralized boiler system be less expensive to install, but it would also be easier to manage and provide for maximum efficiency.”
The criteria for the new boilers were that they meet an efficiency rating established by NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
Due to the space limitations and the location of the central boiler room, the new boilers would have to be sectional and installed and assembled on location in the boiler room. The college also wanted a system that had vastly improved efficiency and would help them cut energy consumption in the long-run. We specified the Smith Series 28HE for several reasons,” said Berry.“First, it is a sectional boiler and available in several sizes and in different output capacities. Second, the Smith 28 HE boiler was the only steam boiler we found that met the 83.5% minimum efficiency rating set by NYSERDA.”
“We initiated this project in order to gain energy improvements,” said Bob Pattee, director of facilities, planning and management at The Sage Colleges. “We anticipate a payback for the new boiler system in terms of years, not decades,” he said.
FPI Mechanical of Cohoes, N.Y., was hired to install the system. “Our part of the project was to turn the plans into reality,” said Joe Herkenham, of FPI Mechanical. The new boilers were brought into the facility in sections and assembled on location in the boiler room. Three Smith boilers were specified for the job to meet the college’s heating and hot water demands year round. The two large 17-section boilers were designed to handle the winter heating and hot water requirements while the smaller, eight-section, boiler was designed to provide sufficient domestic hot water during the spring and summer months when it is not necessary to heat the facility.
Smith cast iron boiler sections are precision-machined to ensure dimensional accuracy. In addition, graphite port connectors provide the installation ease of a gasket and the longevity of a push nipple to minimize callbacks. The graphite connectors are made from flexible, inert carbon material and provide a lifetime seal that is impervious to chemicals, flue gases and high temperatures.
FPI Mechanical had installed another large sectional Smith Boiler in an apartment complex in Albany, NY recently, so the Russell Sage project went smoothly and on schedule.
The system was designed so that each boiler would fire alternatively – one on, the other off. This would not only provide a regular cycle for the boilers, but it would also allow one boiler to be serviced without a heating loss to the facility if necessary.
Not only was the project completed on time, but the boilers performed very well in their first semester away at college.
Read the attached .pdf document for more information.
6/11/2007 NAUGATUCK HIGH SCHOOL
“The boilers were oversized for the school,” said Hugh Leahy, project manager for the Boston office of Siemens Building Technologies, the company hired as the mechanical designers and general contractor for the project.
“One of the boilers ran all year long, the other stayed in stand-by mode. When it was time to replace them, the school district really wanted to make sure they installed an efficient boiler.”
In fact, the ultimate goal of the project was to help the school district to save money by cutting their energy consumption and fuel costs.
Siemens specified four, high efficiency, Smith 28 HE, 12-section cast iron boilers for the project, due in part to their thermal efficiency rating of up to 85 percent. As part of the project the new boilers were brought into the facility in sections and assembled on location in the boiler room. New concrete pads were poured for the new Smith 28 HE boilers, and the existing heating infrastructure was re-used. The only new piping required was from the new boilers to the header. Tucker Mechanical of Meriden, Connecticut installed the new system.
Cast iron sections are precision-machined to ensure dimensional accuracy. In addition, graphite port connectors provide the installation ease of a gasket and the longevity of a push nipple to minimize call-backs. The graphite connectors provide a lifetime seal that is impervious to chemicals, flue gases and high temperatures.
The Smith Series 28 HE boilers -- available in 15 basic sizes with output ratings from 931 to 4,622 MBH - are designed to provide the highest combustion and thermal efficiencies possible with forced draft firing. They can be used in either water or steam systems, and may be fired with light oil, gas or gas/oil combination.One of the primary objectives for the project was to help the school district to save money. And according to Leahy, the estimated fuel savings was nearly 25%. Perhaps more important, the school never had to run more than three boilers at any given time all year, so there is still plenty of heating capacity.
Read the attached .pdf document for more information.
6/6/2007 BENTLEY COLLEGE
WALTHAM, MA - Bentley College, with one of the Top 50 undergraduate business programs in the nation according to the U.S. News & World Report, enrolls approximately 4,000 full-time undergraduate students each year. More than 80 percent of those students live in housing provided by the college. The college recently needed to add two additional dorms to its housing repertoire. When it came to heating and air-conditioning for the new dorms, A&E Mechanical of Salem, New Hampshire was awarded the contract.
“We were hired to install the heating and cooling system for the new facilities,” says Scott Campbell, of A&E Mechanical.
“In addition to installing the new boilers, we also piped and installed all the baseboard heating for the buildings.” For the new construction, Bentley College had originally specified 2 million Btu boilers – one for each building.
However, the design of these boilers was problematic as Campbell explains. “We were concerned that the 2 million Btu boilers specified for the project would short cycle, and not really be what the college wanted in the long-run,” says Campbell. “So we contacted Sweeney Rogers, a rep firm based in Franklin, Mass., that we do lots of work with.”
After assessing the situation, Sweeney Rogers recommended two smaller 750,000 Btu modulating boilers for each dormitory – both RBI Futera III boilers. Working in full modulating mode, each boiler would operate at a peak efficiency of 88 percent – which would save Bentley a considerable amount of heating fuel. The boiler room would be set-up so that the boilers would run alternatively, ensuring that neither boiler would become overburdened. “Sweeney Rogers was right on target with their recommendation,” says Campbell. “The Futera III offers a large capacity in a small space-saving design, greater overall flexibility, reliability, and a much higher efficiency rating than what was originally planned.”
The RBI Futera III is a finned copper tube boiler that operates in a full modulating mode with 3:1 turndown, supplying the precise amount of heat necessary to maintain the desired building temperature. The boiler has a very small footprint of less than 22-inches square, so two units would easily fit into the very small boiler room in each building.
There was a fair amount of pressure to get this building completed in time for the students’ August move-in date, which was another reason that the Futera III boilers were selected.
“The boilers were immediately available and very easy to install. It was really just a ‘plug and play’ installation without any jobsite boiler modifications or construction,” says Campbell. AE Mechanical installed two boilers in each building.
The system was then designed so that each boiler would fire on an alternate basis – one on, the other off. This would not only provide a regular cycle for the boilers, but it would also allow one boiler to be serviced without a heating loss to the facility if necessary.Not only was the project completed on time, but the boilers performed very well in their first semester away at college.
Read the attached .pdf document for more information.
6/6/2007 DEXTER MANOR / PROVIDENCE HOUSING AUTHORITY
PROVIDENCE, RI - Three steel tube boilers had been in service since the 1960s at Dexter Manor, a 10-story low income housing complex located in downtown Providence, R.I. None of the existing boilers was up to the task of providing heat and hot water to nearly 300 apartments, managed by the Providence Housing Authority (PHA), in Providence, Rhode Island.
“Failure to provide our tenants with heat and hot water is simply not an option,” said Gary Sprague, HVAC manager at PHA. “We have many elderly and handicapped people living in Dexter Manor who rely on our ability to provide heat and hot water.” The Providence Housing Authority wanted new, high efficiency, gas-fired boilers that could be tied into the existing baseboard heating system in use throughout the building. Besides providing heat and hot water, the PHA wanted a system that would be economical to operate in the long run.
For the project, six RBI high efficiency boilers were selected and installed. Two RBI Futera II hot water supply boilers were installed to accommodate the domestic hot water needs, and four RBI Futera III heating boilers were installed for building heat.
The four Futera III boilers were each sized for 2 million BTU (2,000 MBH). The designed called for three to operate on an ongoing basis, with the forth boiler as a back-up unit in case of problems.
“We recommended the RBI Futera III series boilers for several reasons,” said Kevin Pickett of Aero Mechanical, the Johnston, R.I.-based contractor hired for the project. “First, they offer a very high efficiency rating of 88%. In addition, we feel that the RBI units are technically superior with respect to the air-fuel mixing system design. The system is also easy to service and offers a compact footprint to conserve valuable space.”
Futera boilers feature full modulation and 3:1 turndown, and are designed to supply the precise amount of heat necessary to maintain desired building temperature by matching heating demand without over-firing and wasting energy. A gasket-free heat exchanger with bronze headers and fittings prevents rust and corrosion for the life of the boiler. Finned tubes are industrial-grade copper with fins and tube walls formed as one for maximum heat transfer.
“The level of coordination by all parties was impressive”, said Peter Sweeney of Sweeney-Rogers, the New England representative for RBI. “Well before the project started a series of meetings was held to assure the synchronization of the boilers and jobsite requirements. Bringing the owner, mechanical engineer, mechanical contractor and boiler rep together before the job starts is always the best way to assure success.”
“We had not used RBI boilers in the past,” said Sprague of the Providence Housing Authority. “The project went very smoothly and everyone did an exceptional job during the installation. In addition, RBI has provided our maintenance staff with training for new equipment. We are very pleased with the boiler performance."
Read the attached .pdf document for more information.
6/6/2007 HUNTER ELEMENTARY
MERIDIAN, ID - The School District of Meridian, Idaho, serves over 30,000 students, and is the largest and fastest growing school district in the state. The district&rsquos newest school, Hunter Elementary, opened in the fall of 2005. Hunter Elementary is home to nearly 800 students.
When it came to the school&rsquos boiler needs, the school district required a high efficiency system that is also easy to maintain. The schools new HVAC system was designed by Charles Paulin (PE), of Musgrove Engineering PA of Boise. The low-temperature hydronic system design would be ideal for condensing boilers. Condensing boilers eliminate the need for low water temperature protection inherent with non-condensing boilers, and offer higher operating efficiencies. This is a deviation from the standard boiler system design used throughout the School District where two boilers were enabled/disabled (on-off fired) by a building automation system rather than using a modulating system. Buss Mechanical Services, also of Boise, was awarded the mechanical work for the project and owner Lenny Buss selected two HydroTherm KN-10 boilers for the job. The KN-10 from HydroTherm is a commercial gas-fired cast iron condensing boiler featuring unique &ldquoTru Flow&rdquo technology to control the fuel-air mixture at all firing rates and venting conditions. The combustion air is constantly measured to fine-tune the fuel gas flow for maximum efficiency. In addition, the boiler takes full advantage of the condensing feature by allowing it to operate at system return water temperatures of less than 128° F with no return water temperature limitation. These boilers are capable of maintaining temperature differentials of up to 100° F, and offer one of the best warranties in the market.
&ldquoThe KN-10 was the natural choice for this project,&rdquo said Trevor Thompson of Columbia Hydronics Company, a manufacturers&rsquo representative firm with offices in Boise and throughout the West. &ldquoThe KN-10 offers many unique features that go above and beyond the project requirements that will benefit the School District for years to come.&rdquo
For Hunter Elementary School, one of the key elements of the KN-10 is that the boiler comes standard with full modulation, resulting in reduced utility expenses for the life of the boiler. Although the KN-10 can be fired on-off, full modulation offers the opportunity for the boiler to operate at higher efficiencies. As an example, the KN-10&rsquos efficiency is approximately 88% at high-fire, with return water temperatures near 60° F as they will be in the heat pump loop.
With the same water temperature, but with the boiler at 1/3 input, the operating efficiency jumps to nearly 98%!
&ldquoModulation is now an integral part of the system,&rdquo said Thompson of Columbia Hydronics&ldquo and using the KN-10 boilers did not require any changes to the original system design by Musgrove Engineering.
&ldquoThe BAS is still only enabling/disabling each boiler as required by the building&rsquos heat pump loop temperature. However, each KN-10 boiler includes an independent, factory-wired controller that smoothly modulates the boiler via a PID algorithm.&rdquo
The KN Series, with models from 600 up to 2000 MBH ratings, offer 5:1 capacity modulation, low CO and NOx emissions of less than 20 ppm to meet SCAQMD and whisper-quiet operation &ndash in a compact footprint of less than 29-inches wide.
School officials are completely satisfied with the new KN-10 boilers and their performance, earning the KN-10 and everyone involved with this project an A+. The expectation of course, is to see honors-level grades for years to come.
Read the attached .pdf document for more information.
6/6/2007 FLATLEY COMPANY / ONE CORPORATE PLACE
DANVERS, MA - The Flatley Company is one of New England&rsquos leading real estate development and management companies. The firm operates more than a dozen corporate office facilities in the greater Boston area including One Corporate Place in Danvers, Massachusetts, a four-story office facility built in the mid-1980s.
When the original boiler in the Danvers facility started showing signs of aging, Flatley knew that it had to solve the problem before the winter heating season arrived.
The original heating system was comprised of a copper fin boiler connected to a heat pump loop that forced hot water through the various zones to provide baseboard heat throughout the building.
The new boiler had to be compatible with the existing heat pump system, require a minimal amount of plumbing and provide higher efficiency to minimize fuel consumption. Lastly, the new boiler also needed to fit into the small 12 x 12 foot boiler room.
Flatley turned to Sweeney-Rogers Corporation of Franklin, Massachusetts, a manufacturer&rsquos representative firm serving the plumbing, heating and HVAC industry. The company specializes in commercial applications that require high efficiency solutions.
"After a thorough analysis of their system and needs, we recommended that they go with two HydroTherm KN-6 cast-iron boilers," said Mike Rogers of Sweeney-Rogers. "This would provide Flatley with the same 1.2 million BTU of heating capacity, which was what the old system offered."
Most importantly, the new boilers are much better suited for the application and low water temperature in the existing system.
"Water temperature was really what killed the old system,&rdquo said Rogers. &ldquoIn a typical hydronic system with the old type of boiler, the water temperature would be in the 130° to 190° F range, depending on the actual heating requirements of the building and the outside temperature. The problem was the temperature was much lower, around 80° F, which required a condensing boiler for the system to work properly."
Unlike the previous boiler, the KN-6 is a condensing or high efficiency boiler that operates with lower flue gas temperatures, lower flue gas emissions and reduced fuel consumption by recovering the heat that would otherwise be lost up the flue.
With a small footprint of less than 27-in. wide, Sweeney-Rogers was able to specify two boilers that had the same general footprint as the original boiler, and provided the owner with the added reliability and peace of mind of a redundant system.
High efficiency boilers typically operate at efficiencies of 85 to 95%, or about 10 to 15% higher than traditional boilers. This boiler design was ideal for The Flatley Company property and promised to provide an estimated 15% to 20% higher efficiency rating than the old boiler, resulting in significant potential fuel savings.
The Legacy Management Group, Inc. (LMG) of Wellesley, Mass., an integrated property management company that specializes in HVAC, general maintenance and janitorial services, was hired to install the new boilers for Flatley.
From start to finish, the job went very smoothly and was completed in October before the weather turned cold, and the start-up, supervised by Sweeney-Rogers, went without a hitch.Read the attached .pdf document for more information.
5/18/2007 2007 Formtek Tradeshow Schedule
Formtek_Show_Chart_for_2007.pdf
See the attached document for the attendance schedule for Formtek brands at upcoming tradeshows.
5/16/2007 Winpro Formtek at GlassBuild America
This years's exihibition will be in Atlanta, Georgia during September 10-12, 2007.
Click here to go to the GlassBuild America website for more detailed information about the exposition.
5/16/2007 Winpro SFM-Series roll former
5/22/2006 Mestek, Inc. Gets New Home In Canada - New space for manufacturing and distribution
Westfield, Mass., May 4 - Mestek, Inc., a major U.S. holding company with more than 30 HVAC and metal forming companies in its structure, has a new manufacturing and distribution center in Canada.
The company's new location on Tranmere Drive in Mississauga, Ontario, is 94,000 square feet, more than twice as large as its previous Canadian facility, and combines both manufacturing and distribution operations for the company in Canada.
The company employs approximately 80 people at this facility. "We are thrilled to move into such a practical and modern facility," said Manny DaSilva, operations manager at Mestek Canada. "It is an exciting step in our overall growth, and provides us with a more efficient manufacturing facility, state-of-the-art laboratory and improved distribution."
On the manufacturing side, the new facility will produce commercial copper fin water heaters and boilers under the RBI name. In addition, inventory and distribute a wide variety ofMestek's commercial and residential heating and air-conditioning products in Canada, including:
- Smith Cast Iron Boilers - Commercial and residential boilers.
- HydroTherm - Commercial cast iron boilers and control systems..
- Beacon/Morris - Hydronic, gas fired unit heaters.
- Sterling HV AC Products - Engineered gas-fired make-up air units.
- SpacePak - High velocity (mini duct) residential air-conditioning systems.
- Heatrim American - Hydronic baseboard radiation.
Mestek products are shipped from the facility's five-bay shipping dock, and raw materials are delivered through two drive-in shipping and receiving bays. In addition to the RBI manufacturing operations, the facility is designed to provide in-depth product training and includes a presentation classroom for Mestek contractors, installers and customers, along with a 1,500 square foot hands-on, training laboratory.
For additional information about RBI or any of the Mestek products sold in Canada, please contact Mike Andersen at (403) 208-9844; for company products sold in the U.S., please contact Tim Markel at (413) 568-9571. Mestek information is also available on line at www.mestek.com.
2/4/2006 Winpro S-Series Roll Former
2/2/2006 Winpro SFM-Series Roll Former
4/5/2005 Springfield, Colorado knows the importance of reliable heat.
HydroTherm’s new KN-10, a 1 million BTU boiler, provides the town of Springfield, Colorado with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that its standby electrical generators are always ready.
The KN-10 Boiler was recently installed to maintain 110° F hot water to the diesel engines that drive the back-up generators. Power can be supplied immediately in the event that there is a failure with the main power grid which supplies electricity to southeastern Colorado.
By not keeping the engines warm, it would take three to four hours before the back-up generators could be started.
The KN-10 is a cast iron commercial, gas fired boiler specifically designed to condense in low temperature applications. The system features Tru-Flow technology to control the air-fuel mixture at all firing rates and venting conditions, and combines high efficiency (up to 93%) with a small footprint. It is ideal for use in demanding applications such as schools, hospitals, large apartment buildings and offices.
The HydroTherm KN-10 was installed by Wright Plumbing & Heating of Colorado Springs, Colorado in November of 2004.
3/5/2005 Spectrum Series Boilers Now Available With Stainless Steel Jacket
WESTFIELD, Mass., March 05 -- RBI now provides Spectrum Series boilers with an optional stainless steel jacket. The brushed stainless steel jacket provides corrosion resistance for indoor or outdoor installations in harsh environments such as coastal areas and processing applications requiring wash down.
Spectrum Series residential and light commercial gas boilers, water heaters and pool heaters allow for both indoor and outdoor, gas-fired application. The boiler features a reversible, two or four pass heat exchanger made from commercial grade 7/8” I.D. finned copper tubes. The fins are extruded from the tubing itself to ensure maximum heat transfer efficiency.
Spectrum Series units, from 100 – 400 MBH, are available with either cast iron headers for heating applications or with bronze headers for domestic hot water and pool heating applications. All units have a built-in draft hood which reduces the cost of installation and lowers the overall height of the unit. A self-diagnostic light package allows for fast easy assessment of boiler performance.
RBI, a Mestek Company, manufactures a full line of finned copper tube hot water heaters and boilers. For more information about the new Spectrum Series boilers, water heaters and pool heaters with optional stainless steel jacket, contact:
Tim Markel
RBI
260 North Elm Street
Westfield, MA 01085
Tel. (413) 568-9571
In Canada, (905) 670-5888
