Friday, January 29, 2010

Central Manifold System

I just had to share this with everyone, since I really felt that it has and will revolutionize the industry. For our new home in Pinecrest, we will be installing what the industry calls Central Manifold Water Distribution. The best explanation I can give you is this: Imagine a circuit breaker, but for water.


Each connecting line which feeds water to a fixture is controled by a single turn key which can be individually opened or closed. These lines feed water through PEX  pipes which allow for mind boggling pressure spikes and no leak connections at each end. With the use of the plastic pipes and the plastic connectors, welding is a thing of the past and leaks are 99.9% obliterated. A single family home can be fully furbished in a day...yes a day! And guarantee no leaks. There are a few companies out there that offer this system. The one we decided to go with is Viega, a German company that manufactures everything right here in the US. Their direct website to the system is this one
If you wish to learn more about this system, I will attach a few helpful sites that show videos and explain better how everything works.
http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/bp_mechanical/article/0,2617,HPRO_20151_4538091,00.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUCRpWrMfPA
http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/pac_ctnt/text/0,2595,HPRO_20196_55073,00.html?c=485&videoid=66987
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUwroRKMrBw&feature=fvw

I truly feel that all of South Florida must introduce this system in new homes in a matter of years...let us pray that plumbers don't shy away and learn to install them  and more GC's learn to design them.

Interesting approach

I know it almost looks as though I had died from looking at my last post date, but I've been extremely busy pushing for the new "hopefully" LEED certified house in Pinecrest. So please, forgive me for that!
I came across a small company in Miami called b-type design, which uses laser cutting to create rather different and interesting marketing material, from business cards to coasters. The interesting part about all this, is that they don't use ink for their creations. Everything is burned (which I admit doesn't exactly make it green, but lets be honest...it is better!) Even though printer ink is not toxic, it can still release toxic chemicals into the environment if not disposed of properly, aside from the fact that the cartridge itself is 100% plastic.This is a reason to dispose of cartridges properly and recycle when possible. Having said this, doing away with cartridges does help in one department and using recycled media even more so.
So, in just the green aspects of it, I wanted to share, but also being the design freak that I am...I think they have some cool stuff in there as well! Their website is:
 Enjoy!