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Green Pipes = truly Green Building Products

Green Pipes = truly Green Building Products
June 13, 2011 SNH Editorial Team

To many homeowners copper piping stands for the very best money can buy for their hot and cold water plumbing supplies.  Just because copper has been used so widely for such a long time it does not mean it is the best material out there.  It is time for serious change. Copper has serious negatives, which in the face of no alternative consumers have had to simply accept:

(1) While the use of lead was outlawed in plumbing joints back in the 1970’s build up of bacteria, sediments and other materials inside pipes is a serious matter

(2) Joints are sweated together with open flames – have you ever watched a plumber angling into tight corners, sweating together pipes and in the process charring or partially burning surrounding wood beams?! It happens more often than most consumers know…this is where plumbing can be outright dangerous business!

(3) Systems always fail at their weakest points: Joints

In Europe copper is largely considered antiquated.  There, green and/or blue piping systems such as the one made by Aquatherm Pipe are considered the best piping systems. When you study Aquatherm you are likely to agree:

For starters, the pipes made of a material called “Fusiolen” plus some color pigments and stabilizers are heat fused. No open flames are used during installation and no joints are left between pieces.  Instead a harmless heat treatment chemically bonds the material into one chemically uniform pipe.

Aquatherm pipes allow for significant higher flow rates and have much reduced scaling on the inside of pipe walls.  This is why pipe diameters can often be reduced resulting in cost savings.

Aquatherm pipes are VOC – free, have no harmful chemicals and can be recycled in most places (depending on your local recycling regs).  They are not only green in color they are indeed truly green building products.

Another nice –to-have is the fact that banging in metal water pipes commonly known as water hammer does not happen in polypropylene Aquatherm pipes.

While I have not personally seen Aquatherm used in geothermal installations in the US to date, the seamless pre-insulated pipe system combined with the chemical fusion to create on continuous pipe is an obvious winner.

Are kitchen remodels or bathroom remodels in your future? Install Aquatherm piped wherever you can. They  join easily  to the old copper sections – no problem.

Best of all, Aquatherm has been in business in Europe for over 50 years.  It is hardly one of the new age green building products – while largely unknown in the US but these pipes have stood the test of time.