Author Archives: chris

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (ABSMC) is located across two cities in California, Berkeley and Oakland. It’s comprised of three hospitals and is the biggest within the Sutter Health network. ABSMC’s in-house engineering team is unique because it maintains its own steam, domestic hot water and heating hot water production while being the only in-house team who maintains, operates, disinfects, and repairs the RO water.

Centrifugal pumps are probably the most common type of pump in use today. Centrifugal pumps are used in residential applications for hydronic heating systems, potable water supply from a well and other applications. Industrial and commercial use is by far the greatest use of this type of pump. They are used for hot water supply/return systems, chilled water systems, light oils and a host of other applications.

Investing in energy efficiency technology for your commercial laundry is more important than ever. As utility costs rise finding the right insulation is key. In many facilities large amounts of natural gas is used to run boilers to produce steam or heat water. Gas dryers, water heating and space heating are the kings for utilization of natural gas.

Removable insulation is critical to any component that requires routine maintenance as the “easy-on, easy-off” process of a Thermaxx jacket allows the components to continuously operate at peak efficiency. Thermaxx insulation is also used for many other applications including pipes, boilers, steam traps, and more. All jackets are custom made, so insulating unique equipment is our specialty.

According to insulation.org, “Steam valves should be insulated. Insulating them conserves energy and also provides personnel safety protection. Since valves require periodic maintenance, the form of insulation used on valves should be easily removable and replaceable. Many manufacturers provide custom-made insulation jackets that fit their valves. These are usually very snug fitting without voids and are very efficient.”

We returned to The Interchurch Center in February of 2020 to perform an annual insulation inspection. We interviewed Johnny D, Chief Engineer, re-tagged all existing jackets with new SLATE tags from The Slate Pages and performed a facility wide insulation inspection which resulted in a new phase of work. The Interchurch Center in NYC is comprised of over 60 non profit organizations. The building has saved over 400,000 gas therms since our first insulation project in 2012. We look forward to our continued efforts to assist The Interchurch Center with their energy and safety related goals.

A few years back, a very good customer asked Thermaxx and our partners at MIDCO insulation to perform an insulation audit in multiple manholes on a line running through a busy urban area. The customer expressed some apprehension and frustration because previous attempts at insulating these lines were unsuccessful, as the insulation quickly degraded. Read more.

Recently we were asked to perform a survey for a large property management firm in New York City. This had not been the first time we provided this company with insulation surveys and we hoped that we would be awarded the project. Even though we were able to show the client the benefits of using traditional fiberglass on straight runs of pipe and custom jackets on serviceable components, we did not “win” the job. So I asked my contact to address the objection to our quote and recommended solution. I was told that this is an issue with the onsite engineers. “They don’t believe jackets are worth it!”

Did you know that when we perform our insulation survey, we take every type of insulation needed into consideration? Thermaxx provides solutions for all your insulation needs. If you are looking for a way to make a big impact quickly in your facility, consider the pipe insulation condition in your mechanical rooms and heating plant. Often we are asked, should this be replaced? YES!