Tag: radiant heating

Minnesota family’s new, healthy “forever home” features PEX-based plumbing and radiant systems

Veteran pipefitter and longtime PEX installer Justin Johnson chooses Wirsbo hePEX™ (radiant heating) and Uponor AquaPEX® (plumbing) to boost the health, comfort, and energy efficiency of his new home.

AFTON, MINNESOTA — Justin Johnson and his wife, Jessica, had been planning their “forever home” for five years when they decided in late 2019 that they were finally ready to begin construction. Johnson has worked as a union pipefitter in the plumbing and HVAC industries on a variety of commercial, industrial, and residential projects since the mid-1990s. Now, the 25-year industry veteran would have the opportunity to install many of the same comfort-enhancing and energy-efficient systems inside his new, 4,600-sq.-ft. home.

University of Iowa Visual Arts Building masterfully integrates striking aesthetics with innovative mechanical systems

Five-story, 126,000-square-foot, LEED® Gold building features numerous structural and mechanical innovations, including a thermally activated, bubble-deck slab, providing radiant cooling as well as radiant heating on six levels.

BY JOHN O’REILLY

IOWA CITY, IOWA — The Visual Arts Building (VAB) at the University of Iowa is a marvel of both aesthetic design and mechanical engineering. Six years in the making and completed in October 2016, the award-winning, 126,000 square-foot structure blends the artistry of the renowned Steven Holl Architects (New York) with an array of innovative mechanical systems that smoothly integrate with Holl’s aesthetics while meeting the numerous, industrial-like requirements of this challenging space.