Building Trades News

Job foreman Anthony Pelayo (left) with United Association members at the new Byrd Middle School. UA members are installing radiant ceiling panels that will significantly lower heating and cooling costs on campus.

Craft union members from UA Local 250 are on the forefront of helping to "green" the LAUSD school system. Over the past year, UA 250 members have been installing hydronic (liquid-based) radiant ceiling systems at East Valley Area New HS #1A in Sun Valley.

The particular radiant cooling and heating systems being installed on this project is distributed by Strle Enterprises, Inc, the contractor on the job. It radiant ceiling system is based on technology that has been in use for 40 years in Europe, but is has only recently been used in North America. Radiant panel ceiling systems are an energy efficient method for heating and cooling that provide approximately a 40 percent savings on heating and cooling costs over both traditional air-source heat pumps and electric resistance heaters. LAUSD Owner Representative Rimas Tumas estimated the energy saving on this project would be 37 percent.

"This is truly a green system, said Richard Strle, President of Strle Enterprises. "You are looking at between 35 to 40 percent energy saving. For a municipality or school system that's huge. It sets a new standard on energy consumption."

Additionally, pump energy required in hydronic systems is much less than that required for fans in forced-air systems. The amount of energy to distribute the same amount of heating or cooling in forced air systems is typically 10 times greater that that needed for pumps in a hydronic radiant system.

With radiant heating, people are warmed directly, in the same way as they are by the sun on a cool day. Cooling with radiant panels works on the same principle—the panels absorb heat from the space.

"It's basically a cool water ceiling. This is true radiant. The system has the ability to cut through the air and warm up an organism like the sun warms your face on cold day," said Strle. "The beauty of the system is that the more people in the room, the harder the panels will work and will shift its load to the parts of the building that need it most."

Radiant heat panels work by warming objects (including occupants) directly, instead of warming the air. Radiant heating systems allow a lower room air temperature than conventional forced air systems by concentrating heating on the occupants rather than heating the entire room.

In today's day and age, energy savings is an absolute necessity said Strle, which is why cities, school districts and even business are starting to look at these systems as an efficient heating and cooling alternative. "The moment you turn these systems on, they start paying for themselves," he said.

The school is scheduled for completion and occupancy in the third quarter of 2008. This school has been designed as three separate small learning communities and is one of the first schools to be designed specifically to suit this concept. This complex includes separate buildings for the small learning communities, plus shared facilities housing the library, gymnasium, multipurpose room, food services and locker rooms for a total of 9 buildings on 22 acres. The total construction budget for the project is estimated at $150 million.

Juan Garcia Journeyman 8 Years I joined the UA 250 Apprenticeship program and stuck with it. I liked everything about it—the benefits, the wages, and working with my hands. This project has been a little different. I’ve never worked with radiant panels before; this is the first time I’ve seen them. The work is similar to what we normally do. Now we have a mixing station that mixes hot and cold water and is then run through the radiant panels. This is a great craft because there is such a wide variety of work we perform. We can go from a refinery to heating and cooling. We aren’t just stuck doing one thing. You are always doing something different. This new technology is great because it keeps us busy. Then there’s maintenance work to be done—so that’s job security for us.

Marc Lopez 5th Year Apprentice I’ve been on this project over a year, so I’ve been here almost from the beginning stages. I’ve never gotten to work with "shark bites" before—where the PVC pipes connect to the cooper on the panels. We are always improving. Sometimes we get to a job and encounter something new, we learn it, install it and on the next job we do it even better. The best thing about this trade is that you are constantly in a new environment. You aren’t stuck in the same cubicle day in and day out. I’ve been here for over a year, but I know I’m not going to be here forever. You always know you’ll be moving on to the next job. There’s a lot of security with a union job—job security, Every Journeyman you work with has a different style and a different way of doing things--as an apprentice you pick-up what you works best for you.

Mark Nelson Journeyman 10 Years When I was a kid, I ran into a budd’s dad who seemed to have good life—he had a house, a nice car. I asked him what he did and he told me about the trades. I was working a dead-end job at the time. The trades seemed like a good career opportunity. I like the atmosphere the best—good people, it’s never the same place or same job. Everyday we learn something new. After 10 years, I’m still learning stuff. This project has gone pretty smooth. I am curious to see how [the radiant panels] work. Every so often they come out with new technology, which is good for us.