Problem: As more families moved to Victoria, British Columbia, the Sooke School District built two new schools for 1,200 elementary and middle schoolers. Remaining earth-friendly was important, leading the project planners to target LEED v4 Gold certification. To achieve this goal, the planners followed a district heating model, in which a central plant collects and distributes energy between the schools for flexible heating and cooling. According to project engineer Michael Hladky, the key to success in these applications is keeping the heating or cooling energy from escaping while it travels to the schools.
Solution: To meet the challenge, the team specified 2,800 feet of REHAU INSULPEX pre-insulated PEXa piping to deliver energy from the plant to the schools. INSULPEX is designed to efficiently transfer hot or chilled fluid through buried pipelines, minimizing energy loss while supporting labor and material savings.
Result: In the field, installers noticed the durability and user-friendliness of INSULPEX paired with the RAUTOOL hydraulic tool kit. “The system is just bulletproof,” says installer Joe Bell. “You can’t put the pipe and fittings together wrong; the tool won’t let you misposition anything.” INSULPEX further delivered favorable performance results, supporting the schools’ energy targets. 800-247-9445; na.rehau.com
