Pre-Insulated PEXa Pipe Provides Energy Efficiency at Two New Schools

Both Hladky and McLaren note that, although they had used REHAU products for indoor radiant heating applications, this was their first experience with the products in outdoor underground piping. They agreed that it was uncommon, in that climate, to bury building heating piping underground. Hladky said, “Plastic piping like REHAU’s was the clear choice for long-term durability — corrosion would be a concern for metal piping — plus INSULPEX comes pre-insulated right from the factory, so we were confident that the installation would be even, consistent, and gap-free throughout.”

Choosing PEXa piping that is already pre-insulated further streamlined the installation process. Metal piping must be manually insulated on the jobsite, which becomes costly, labor-intensive, and can lead to performance issues. The flexibility of PEXa supports faster installation because installers can easily navigate bends or obstacles without the need for extra fittings or couplings, minimizing potential leak points. Bell said, “We put in thousands of feet of pipe and had no leaks at all.”

Installers were able to achieve quick and secure connections using the user-friendly RAUTOOL hydraulic tool kit. Gord McLaren, Division manager of mechanical contractors at Professional Mechanical Ltd, explains, “Larger bore pipes are generally more challenging to work with, but the RAUTOOL does the work for you.” Project installer, Joe Bell, added, “You can’t put the pipe and fittings together wrong. The tool won’t let you misposition anything.”  

McLaren was also impressed with the hands-on assistance he and his team received from REHAU field reps. “It was great to have an expert available to bounce off ideas when it came to different ways to lay the pipe, work the joints, connect spools, terminate the pipe, and other aspects. It definitely gave us an edge in ensuring we did an optimal job.” 

REHAU also provides a lot of technical information online that helps their customers calculate relative flow rates, pressure drops, pump sizes, heat loss, and other aspects of typical projects. Having this information readily available allows engineers to efficiently calculate design parameters and determine product compatibility with their project in mind. 

The Sooke School District project incorporated a unique design that will not only provide lower overall HVAC costs over time, but allowed for quick and easy installation, and facilitated the requirements needed to achieve LEED v4 Gold certification. The REHAU products and installation tools were important for the project, offering the right materials and tools, while the company itself provided real time services when needed.