Underground Construction - May 2018 - 37

BUSINESS LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
PPI Creates New Geothermal
Steering Committee

The University of Central Florida (UCF) Utility Department wanted a better
excavation method.
"We have a lot of old utility lines in the ground that haven't been located in many decades," said Anthony Lugo, utility supervisor.
Traditional excavation methods - an excavator or hand shovel - for
finding and marking them, however, tended to be time consuming and
intrusive to the property. An even bigger concern for Lugo is safety of his
crew, "You don't want to hit electrical lines with a shovel."
Another excavation issue involved crew response to water line breaks.
"Prepping the area for a repair is a tedious job, and time is of the essence,"
he added.
In 2016, Lugo's search for a solution ended with his purchase of a VacTron AIR 373 SDT vacuum excavator.
Powered by an 83-horsepower Yanmar diesel engine, standard features include a 300-gallon debris tank, air pressure of 150 CFM at 170 PSI,
hydraulically operated full-open rear door with auto-engage safety latch,
and a 100-gallon water tank. It not only effectively removes debris, but its
patented Remote Debris Tank collects the dry material and can then be
positioned back over the hole and return the material, without causing
much disruption to the surroundings.
With plenty of experience using the Vac-Tron equipment, Lugo now
reports it's "the best value for our money."
For one thing, it has greatly increased efficiency. "What used to take
four to six hours, now only takes one to two hours," he said. "We aren't
spending any unnecessary time on the job."
Other benefits include quick potholing to locate old utility lines for
identification and mapping, faster response to and repair of water line
breaks, and easy cleanup of wastewater spills, while being less intrusive to
campus infrastructure and less disruptive to the environment.
It's also safer. "This is considered soft digging, which is just basically
pulling the dirt out of the ground, so you're not striking anything," he said.
Traditional excavators could hit a high-voltage electrical line,
high-pressure water or gas line, and other dangerous things. "The VacTron AIR unit helps to eliminate that," said Lugo.
UCF has also discovered applications beyond the Utility Department.
The Landscaping and Recreation crew uses it to clean out storm drains,
and the Design and Construction team will request it to locate lines for
future construction at the campus.
"For the value we are getting, it has turned out to be priceless," concluded Lugo.

The Plastics Pipe Institute
Inc. (PPI) has created a
new group within its
Building and Construction Division, which
represents plastic pipe
manufacturers that
produce various
types of (pressure)
piping systems used
within buildings and on
their premises. Those activities are now focused,
through the Geothermal
Steering Committee, on
a growing industry and
increasing popularity
of energy-efficient
systems.
"PPI and our
members promote the
adoption of geothermal
technologies to help
reduce energy consumption for heating
and cooling buildings,
Examples of horizontal (top) and vertical (bottom)
saving owners money," geothermal installations.
said Lance MacNevin,
director of engineering. "Other benefits of ground source systems are better reliability
and building resiliency, with no exposed outdoor components."
The new focus is timely for another reason. "The U.S. Bipartisan
Budget Act of 2018 reinstated the tax credit for fuel cells, small
wind, and geothermal heat pumps," said Tony Radoszewski, CAE,
president of PPI. "Signed into law in February 2018, it provides a 30
percent federal tax credit for geothermal, which, in some states,
also qualifies for a state rebate."
Geothermal Steering Committee activities include supporting
industry efforts to update standards and codes, such as ANSI/CSA/
IGSHPA C448, IAPMO's UMC and USHGC, and ICC's IMC and IRC;
working closely with related organizations; publishing documents
about the use of plastic piping systems for geothermal applications;
and serving as a technical resource for geothermal system designers, with regards to plastic piping technologies.
In addition, PPI has joined the Geothermal Exchange Organization (GEO) and was a first-time sponsor of the 2018 (March)
International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA)
Conference.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Vac-Tron, (888) 822-8766, vactron.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Plastics Pipe Institute, plasticpipe.org

Vac-Tron Vacuum Excavator is Valuable
Solution for Utility Department

UConOnline.com | MAY 2018

http://www.plasticpipe.org http://www.vactron.com http://www.UConOnline.com

Underground Construction - May 2018

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