Copper piping is the lifeline for medical gas distribution

For centuries, copper has been viewed as one of the most versatile metals known to mankind, and today, copper is the benchmark for plumbing applications because of its reliability. We all expect that when we open our faucet, water will be there, so we take this reliability for granted.  But what if a life is hanging in the balance.  Copper medical gas systems deliver gases necessary for successful patient treatment in all healthcare settings.  Having a reliable metal, and thus a reliable system for hospital applications is paramount.

Some common gases used regularly in hospitals are medical oxygen, nitrous oxide and compressed air. Usually these gases are used on patients who are having difficult breathing or who need anesthetic during surgery

“Medical grade oxygen is of extreme importance for patients who are hypoxic (low blood level of oxygen) to the point of being a basic life support measure,” said Gerald Schlette, MS, RRT and former Director of Respiratory Care Services & Hyperbaric Departments at Montefiore Medical Center in New York.

Proper delivery of nitrous oxide and oxygen to patients who rely on these gases as part of their treatment can mean life or death.  The medical gas delivery system that supports the work of the doctor needs to be clean, efficient and reliable.

For such an essential system, copper is the obvious choice. According to Dale Powell, Project Manager & Piping Applications Specialist at the Copper Development Association (CDA), “brazed copper systems form strong, leak-tight systems that ensure gases are delivered to equipment and patients at the high pressures required and as pure as when they entered the system.” This is the kind of reliability and endurance that is essential to medical infrastructure. Even in fire conditions, brazed copper joints will hold up and provide the service that is required of them. “Copper is also impermeable,” says Powell, “so as unlikely as it may seem, it will not allow substances from outside the system contaminate the gas stream, such as in the cases of spills of cleaning chemicals or other substances.”

It should also be known that copper piping does not support the growth of microbial bacteria, according to various studies. This is important because medical gas needs to be kept as sterile as possible on the way to the patient. Copper prevents the buildup of microbial growth on the interior tube walls, ensuring not only that gas quality is maintained, but also that excessive buildup in the system over time doesn’t restrict the gas flow – Both important considerations allowing the hospital to rely on the system for the lifetime of the facility.

For these reasons, medical practitioners have come to rely on copper for their facilities’, especially hospitals’, medical gas distribution systems.  As Schlette explains, the proper and reliable delivery of medical oxygen “is basic but very real, just multiply its importance by 100 percent when talking about life support: In comes the good air (oxygen enriched) and out goes the bad air (CO2 enriched)… Many times it is up to our medical professionals to achieve this goal, (which is) not as easy as it seems!”

Copper became the preferred material for medical gas applications because it is long lasting, corrosion resistant, lightweight, durable and virtually no maintenance is required.

This is why medical professionals choose to rely on copper for this basic but essential medical treatment.

Photo Credit: Liam Frederick and Bill Timmerman

Durability, longevity and high resistance to corrosion make copper attractive for builders

When starting a new building project or renovating an existing one, choosing which materials to turn to usually relies on two key components – aesthetics and performance. Regardless of the economic times, if there is a product that is highly desirable, it is not going to disappear.

Even with the weakened building and construction market, copper remains the preferred choice by architects, builders and developers designing commercial projects because its inherent qualities remain unmatched by other materials.

Mark Roddy is the AIA Design Principal for the SmithGroup in Phoenix and handles many of the new building projects in Arizona, and other areas in the southwest. Roddy said his firm will utilize copper for many types of building and construction applications because of its durability, longevity, high resistance to corrosion and sustainability attributes.

“We’ll choose copper over other materials because it’s almost alive,” said Roddy, referring to the metal’s ability to form a patina. “You never know exactly what you’ll get. It has a natural quality that makes it gorgeous.”

Earlier this year, Roddy submitted two building projects that both earned the SmithGroup a coveted 2011 North American Copper in Architecture (NACIA) award from the Copper Development Association (CDA).

The SmithGroup was recognized by CDA for the Arizona State University College of Nursing and Health Innovation Phase 2 and the Apollo Development Corporation Riverpoint Center projects. Both are excellent examples of how architectural copper can be adapted to achieve a wide variety of contemporary and cutting-edge applications. These, and other 2011 NACIA projects, can be viewed at www.copper.org

While cost does play a role in any project, it’s not always the deciding factor in material selection.

“Budgets are always tight,” Roddy said. “Between copper, zinc, stainless steel and aluminum, they all have different visual properties. So, the ‘big idea’ behind a project will dictate what material will be selected.”

Copper, brass and bronze are frequently used for roofing systems, wall cladding applications, flashing, gutters and downspouts, as well as to structurally or aesthetically enhance other architectural features.

While Roddy doesn’t specify copper for every new project he’s designing, he will consider it when an appropriate application comes along. Currently, he has two projects in the works that will incorporate copper.

“[With copper] you know you’re going to get a professional product that lasts a long time. Everyone really responds to it and it’s always very identifiable.”

Heather & Little located in Ontario Canada, has received several NACIA awards over the years for their innovative use of copper in restoring and renovating historic buildings.

“In the past decade, we are seeing the use of copper in building architecture more so,” said Cameron Forbes, vice president of Heather & Little. “The metal’s longevity and low maintenance play a major role in its continued popularity.”

Another advantage to using copper is its versatility.  There is a vast selection of copper alloys, available in numerous finishes and colors, from which designers can choose, giving them a creative freedom not possible with most other materials.

“Copper lends itself well to just about every type of building. Regional preferences and climate don’t appear to play a major role when designing copper; it is widely used throughout North America,” Forbes said. “As for cost, when comparing copper with other types of materials, in many cases it’s less expensive when its lifespan or years of serviceability are taken into consideration.”

So, while nobody can predict exactly what the building and construction market will do in the future, copper will surely be a mainstay as it has been for centuries before.

Willamette University turns to copper for exterior walls and solar PV panels

Sustainability, “going green” and environmental conservation are a few hot button topics everyone in new construction has been hearing or talking about over the past few years.  For many, this is only talk, or the incorporation of new “gadgets”, for others it is a call to rebuilding their design process from the ground up to make smart, sustainable choices throughout the building project.

Willamette University’s newest academic building, Ford Hall, is one such project that exemplifies sustainability throughout.

The $19.6 million architectural marvel opened in the fall of 2009. This new structure houses the departments of rhetoric and media studies, computer science, mathematics, digital art, film studies and music technology. It encompasses 42,000 square feet of highly efficient building space complimented by the beauty of copper wall cladding. .

This new addition to the Willamette campus, located in the heart of Salem, OR, is the university’s second project to earn LEED Gold status. Ford Hall attained this designation in part through the integration of copper in the overall design.

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While school is out for most teachers and students, every summer, project managers for the Copper Development Association head back to the classroom to teach the newest copper-related applications to instructors of the United Association of Journeyman and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada (UA).

The Instructor Training Program (ITP) draws close to 2,000 of the top craftsmen in their field and is held annually in conjunction with the International Apprenticeship Competition, a contest in which apprentices from all over the United States and Canada vie for first place in the five different disciplines — HVAC, pipe fitting, plumbing, sprinkler fitting and welding.

To actively support trade-related continuing education initiatives and a little healthy competition between colleagues, with member companies donating copper tubes and fittings and project managers judging copper–related sections of competitions, CDA sponsors many teaching and skills programs year-round including:

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Heather & Little Ltd. Continues Its Excellence with Architectural Restorations

Cameron Forbes celebrating the completion of the Lady Freedom project.

Dangling in the air, dozens of stories on top of the Georgia State Capitol Building to airlift an iconic statue for renovation can be nerve-wracking for the craziest of thrill-seekers. But for Cameron Forbes, it’s just another day in the office.

Forbes serves as the vice president of Heather & Little Ltd, a premier producer of custom ornamental sheet metal in Ontario, Canada, and is best known for their historic renovations — like the restoration job done on the Georgia State Capitol domed roof and its Lady Freedom statue.

Heather & Little has worked with the Copper Development Association (CDA) in the past, as a preeminent authority in copper architectural systems design and installation.

“Generally [CDA] will contact us for technical information on difficult installation or restoration issues if they come across any project that is unusual,” Forbes said. “Many times they’ll check to see if we have any projects in the works.”

Heather & Little received recognition in the North American Copper in Architecture Awards (NACIA) from the Copper Development Association (CDA) and the Canadian Copper & Brass Development Association (CCBDA) for the second straight year for their outstanding work in the following projects: Onondaga County Courthouse, New Brunswick Legislative Assembly Building, Wovoka residential project and the St. Patrick’s Basilica.

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From architecture to electronics, jewelry to plumbing to nutrition, copper continues to be the element we can’t live without

Few materials, natural or manmade, can match the contribution copper has made across the arc of human civilization.

Copper was the first metal discovered and used by man at the beginning of recorded history. Its principal alloy, bronze, ushered in the age of metals and machinery, enabling our modern world. Electricity, electronics and computers—the key components of progress today and for the foreseeable future—all rely on copper circuitry.

Infinitely versatile, whether in its natural state or alloyed with other elements, copper is also considered the quality standard when it comes to construction materials as diverse as plumbing pipe and architectural roofing.

Millions of miles of dependable, long-lasting copper pipe provide water to people around the globe. And copper’s superior conductivity and thermal transfer capability are critical to energy-saving products like high-efficiency motors, direct exchange geothermal heat pumps and solar collectors.

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Photo courtesy of Viega LLC.

Over the past three years, the mammoth MGM Mirage CityCenter project—a 66-acre, $14 billion new construction gamble in the heart of Las Vegas—has played out like a real-life cliffhanger novel.

Its main characters include a Hollywood movie empire, cash-rich Arab sheiks, high-rolling international financiers and some of the world’s biggest casino operators. The project has teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, but with completion now less than a year away, it’s about to pay off.

A city within a city, the project occupies some of the most valuable real estate on or off the fabled Las Vegas Strip. Nearly 50 buildings, a few up to 70 stories tall, will provide 18 million square feet of space devoted to hotels, casinos, luxury condominiums, restaurants, theaters and retail shops, and even a private fire department and security police force.

Miles of high-quality, high-value copper pipe and fittings have been installed to serve the water and air conditioning needs of this mega-project. But it is almost impossible to find a single soldered copper joint. The CityCenter project easily qualifies as the largest construction effort ever to use solderless, flameless pipe-joining methods—a testament to the trust the developers have placed in press-on fittings.

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Rumors of hidden message in “floating panel” design debunked

Maybe it was the building’s exotic title – the new Nanotechnology Research Center on the Georgia Institute of Technology campus – that caused rumors about its unique exterior design to run a bit wild.

A series of individual copper panels, spaced in an organized yet curiously random fashion, seemed to float just off the face of the structure, screening the façade. As construction proceeded, “sidewalk superintendents” offered up any number of theories.

Was there a subliminal message hidden in the pattern, something related to the Center’s purpose? A DNA sequence, perhaps? Or did the rectangular copper shapes imply “test strips,” like those used in metallurgy labs?

Sorry, sci-fi fans. While the pattern may be mesmerizing, and fascinating to speculate on, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

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An unusually severe pattern of storms, hurricanes and other extreme weather over the past decade has wreaked havoc on the nation’s commercial building infrastructure, especially in coastal areas and the Midwest.

Experts who have investigated the damage report that among the most common commercial roof systems in use today, hot-applied asphalt built up roof (BUR) systems offer better protection than synthetic roof membranes in severe weather.

“The reason is obvious – built up systems have substantially greater mass than single-ply systems,” says Reed Hitchcock, executive director of the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) and the Quality Asphalt Roofing Council (QARC). “A four-ply BUR system provides about 280 mils of waterproofing thickness, whereas most single-ply systems average 60 mils or less. The multiple layers of a BUR system result in a thick, heavy membrane that provides solid protection against wind uplift and penetration by wind-blown objects.”

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The first Catholic university established in 40 years is being built, and roofed, with long-term sustainability in mind.

Ave Maria University, Naples, Florida

Personal commitment to an idea is a rare commodity in business, where corporate interests, market forces and the need for profit often undermine the loftiest of goals.

So when Thomas S. Monaghan purchased 270 tons of copper sheet metal to roof his dream project—creating a Catholic university in southwest Florida—he had to do some serious soul-searching when the value of the copper more than doubled within two years.

Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza and former owner of the 1984 World Series champion Detroit Tigers baseball team, is without question a successful and savvy businessman. By cashing in the copper, he stood to gain a quick $1 million or more in profit, but it would require a major revision of his campus architectural plans.

For a man of big ideas and well-defined goals, like Tom Monaghan, the choice was easy.

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