With the new normal brought about by the global pandemic, high-performance building is now focusing on the safety of occupants. This is especially true for healthcare buildings. So now, in addition to ensuring the systems you design and install not only perform reliably and meet project schedules and budgets, you also must ensure they can support a superior indoor environment. How can contractors meet these new demands while also staying efficient and profitable in every project? Start by looking at the piping materials.
A domestic water system has the responsibility of bringing water from the main source and distributing it throughout the building. When that water is running throughout all the piping, it has the potential to pick up various contaminants depending on the type of system it is running through.
For example, copper, brass, and steel systems can corrode and experience scale buildup over time. That corrosion and scale buildup can impact the drinking water in a system — affecting everything from taste and odor to even bacterial formation.
Other piping systems, such as CPVC, use glues, cements and other chemicals to join the pipe to the fittings. These chemicals are not organic in nature and have the potential to pose risk if they seep into the drinking water system.
The safest material for drinking water requires a durable system that is immune to corrosion and scale buildup and does not use chemicals for joining purposes. This is why PEX is quickly becoming the professionals’ choice for commercial domestic water piping projects.
PEX, a flexible, durable, polymer piping product, has been used successfully in homes and businesses for decades. It naturally resists corrosion and scale buildup and offers several different joining methods, all of which do not use chemicals — or open flame.
Best of all, because PEX is flexible, it greatly reduces the amount of connections needed in a system. This gives you the benefit of a high-performing, durable, long-lasting solution that also helps you with labor time and installation costs.
To learn more about the different PEX piping solutions available for healthcare projects, visit uponor-usa.com/healthcare.
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