Lubrizol CPVC Piping Offers Cost Savings, Simple Installation for Birmingham Hotel Construction

To accommodate the influx of conference attendees visiting the new Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) in Birmingham, Ala., a major global hotel chain began construction of a 290-room, nine-story, $50 million hotel in 2011. With city officials deeply invested in the success of the project and local media closely monitoring the construction progress, the hotel decision makers were committed to making sure the hotel was ready on budget and on time.

Plumbing Systems, Inc., a Florida-based company, was tasked with installing the new hotel’s piping systems, and Kris Martin, vice president, oversaw the project. “This was the number one development project in Birmingham, and it was important to everyone that it was done right, and done efficiently,” he explained. “A number of piping materials were considered, but ultimately the most cost-effective, easy-toinstall and best-supported piping solution was chosen for the job: CPVC technology from The Lubrizol Corporation.”

Copper was originally specified for the Birmingham project, but was quickly abandoned as a viable plumbing material for a number of reasons. “Copper is just too valuable,” Martin explained. “It’s expensive to purchase and the street value at which someone can sell stolen copper is extremely high. We were able to achieve significant cost savings by using CPVC and didn’t have to worry about theft.”

According to Martin, “There was also a lot of lobbying to specify polypropylene (PP-R) for this project. We were opposed to installing it, however. CPVC was significantly less expensive than PP-R. Material costs were reduced by nearly two-thirds when switching from copper to CPVC, whereas PP-R would have only yielded a savings of about 12 percent. CPVC is much less expensive to install, as well. It costs thousands of dollars for the tools required to join even small diameter PP-R pipe, and more for larger pipe. Solvent cement used to bond CPVC pipe costs a fraction of this amount.”

Martin continued, “PP-R piping is more difficult to install than CPVC, too. Installing elevated joints via melting techniques required for PP-R is no easy task. Also, if your joining machine breaks, installation has to be halted. Using solvent cement to join CPVC allows for avoidance of these issues.

Foreign-produced PP-R also poses problems related to metric system sizing, import costs and increased lead times to allow for shipping. CPVC piping, alternatively, is widely available.” Ultimately, Lubrizol’s FlowGuard Gold® and Corzan® piping systems were chosen for the new hotel’s plumbing system.

“We have installed FlowGuard Gold and Corzan piping systems in 30 to 40 high-rise towers in the past and have been installing products based on Lubrizol CPVC technology for 10-12 years,” Martin stated. “About 90 percent of what we use is FlowGuard Gold or Corzan piping systems; we only use other products if we don’t have a choice.”

“Besides making great products, Lubrizol materials are well supported, too,” Martin reflected. “The representatives at Lubrizol are very responsive and the training they provide is wonderful. We’ve never had any significant problems since we began installing FlowGuard Gold and Corzan piping systems, and we don’t anticipate any with this project. These are great products.”